I have an old Nautique

[bchesley]

If it is an oil filled coil it must be stood up and down not on its side. Marine coils are designed to work laying flat. That is why you buy a marine coil. If you want a hot coil you can buy an MSD blaster marine and its epoxy filled and can be run laying on its side. You must use a ballast resistor though as the resistance in the coil must match the EI resistance. If you run the wrong resistance you risk premature failure.

[horkn]

the original coil from my 78 martinique was laid on its side (per usual) and it was not an epoxy filled one. It was still fine when I took it out.

I really do not think that really has much to do with it, although even accell and msd recommend the oil filled ones to be stood up, and not laid flat..

the epoxy filled ones are recommended because they are more vibration resistant, and in reality, these coils do not see much vibration.. not compared to an off raod truck or similar application, which the epoxy coils are really designed for.

the msd does have a different ohmage, so a resistor should be used, at least for a pertronix conversion

[Bob's2001]

Summitracing.com has the Pertronix conversion kit for $75.99. This is the marine version.