Air turns into a condctor at 30kiloVolts/cm. So to jump one centimeter, you will need 30,000 volts. It is linear in behaviour, so you will need 60,000 volts for 2 centimeters. It is however proportional to pressure as well. As pressure goes up, the voltage must rise as well to perform the same gap jumping feat. Hence why turbo charged cars will suffer from the spark 'being blown out' at high pressures. Simply, the coil is unable to rise to a sufficient enough voltage to jump the gap.

Once the air has has broken down it will self sustain very efficiently until such time as the arc is interrupted (the arc rises vertically because of the heat generated and becomes to long to sustain) or the circuit is turned off..

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

problem solved!!!

its still acting up. mind you, i ahvent done anything to it yet so this can be expected.

im also getting alot of mayo inside my rocker cover. i dont think it is a BHG since a) it is new and b) it runs really well when its firing on 4. but i'm losing coolant...

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78 Leyland Mini - Prince

This might sound really stupid, but is it possible to use two coils for greater spark?? (ie for turbo app. etc)

My XJS has two coils connected together in series. It enabled the second coil to rebuild charge faster as it was replenished by the first. Worked well.

But was so you could fire 12 cyclinders @ 7500 rpm

nah the spark itself is really really great, its the plug that is the problem i think. got a bosch gt40 coil (about a year old)

but i'm starting to lean towards BHG anyway, theres alot of mayo about, its really hard to start, and this wierd spark thing...

but it flies along...

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78 Leyland Mini - Prince

Yep sounds head gasketty to me. Check it proper like before before you kill the little guy.

You should continue cleaning your teeth just in case