They can get pretty hot in my experience, but as others have said, in the old days this type of coil needed a ballast resistor to lower the primary voltage.  They were mounted right next to the coil, hidden in the wiring, or internal. 

I think the Vanagon needs a coil with an internal ballast resistor, so be sure you have the right part or it will fail prematurely. Vanagon's are old school in many ways, modern ignition systems use high power coil packs, but they are subject to failure too!

Stuart

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Bruce Todd
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2014 3:39 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Coil boil

I just recently had some work completed on my Syncro Westy which included a new coil for a 2.1 digifant  - when I got home from the mechanic (about a
15 minute drive) and shut down the motor,  I decided to touch the new coil and was surprised at how hot it felt  - I could not touch it for any length otherwise I would have burned my hand.

This is a new silver Bosch coil - is this normal?

Thanks,

Bruce