Runbaken Oil Coils

[Tony Griffiths]

There is a step at the bottom of the thread for the acorn, which would appear to prevent the ignition cable from actually making contact with the coil output. Is this intentional? Is it an air gap? In which case to what purpose? I have always got around this by dropping a small nut in the void.

Anybody got any bright suggestions?

Any chance that they originally came with a unique Runbaken nut (like the Lucas 422792 one the SA12  'red' sports coils used) which has been lost in the mists of time?
I've handled second hand Runbaken coils back in the day but being young and foolish I never paid too much attention to design details.
Also regarding the void, what would be wrong with an insulated spacer on top of the split washer to take up the slack (rather than the other way round like you've done) ?

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A post from another forum about the very dangerous PCB oils inside these coils: 
"I hate to be negative but while these coils are very quaint, PCB oils are so thoroughly nasty they have been banned for over 30 years. Contact with PCB's offers a generous selection of serious health hazards including cancer. PCB oils do not burn like other oils, which is great for use in coils and transformers but challenging for safe disposal. PCB's do not readily break down in the environment and remain potentially deadly for generations. Your local Environmental Health people can help deal with these safely and the service is free.If you can be certain your Runbaken coil will never get broken or leak or get opened up it is probably perfectly safe for you and your children and your grandchildren. But is it really worth the risk?"

It's also not unknown to find PCB oils in older fluorescent light ballasts.

When I built my current garage in 1979 the cheapest fluorescent light fittings I could find were made in East Germany - from memory about £2 each for a 6-foot unit. I took the last surviving one to the tip just a few months ago. One wonders.....