Is this bad? (Lighting Coil)

[Phaeacian]

I took a look at my lighting coil recently and discovered that one of the fins (laminations?) is a bit jagged/bent:

Here's a close-up:

Will this cause any problems, and if so, is there a fix? Also, there's about four decades of crud built up on this thing... how do you clean a lighting coil?

Thanks!
-Michael

 

[jeep2003]

shouldnt be a problem you can probrobly even squeze them back into shape with some pliers. i wouldnt worry about it though. i usually clean parts like that with just regular dish soap and water and a soft bristle brush

 

[Phaeacian]

Thanks! What are those fins for, anyway? Are they magnets?

 

[jeep2003]

they are just steel plates. when the magnet on the flywheel sweeps over them it puts force on the outer part then the center then the oututer part again and that switches back and forth the pulse which excites the coil of wire around it and makes electicity.