adding ballast resistor instead

so if i wanted to use a ballast resistor in place of the stock resistor wire, can i just run new wire from my ignition to the ballast to the coil and be set? also the coil should get resistance in run and in the start position right?
thanks

Yes just wire it up like you said, The coil should get full power during starting so you may have to add a wire from the solenoid since your bypassing the stock wiring. But you may not need full power during startup. but it does help for easier starts.

Yeah, just find the end of the Brown wire that comes from the solenoid and run it to the COIL SIDE of the resistor. That bypasses the resistor and gives you the same function as stock.

Paul

well there is no brown wire on this truck anyways so i will have to figure something out, but do i want full power on start and then resistance during running? or do some coils want resistance all the time?
thanks

I would like to see how you mount that thing and where(ballast resistor). That sucker gets hot.

bluebronco69 said:

so if i wanted to use a ballast resistor in place of the stock resistor wire, can i just run new wire from my ignition to the ballast to the coil and be set? also the coil should get resistance in run and in the start position right?
thanks

Click to expand...

wHY? It seems like takin the long way around the barn

bluebronco69 said:

well there is no brown wire on this truck anyways so i will have to figure something out, but do i want full power on start and then resistance during running? or do some coils want resistance all the time?
thanks

Click to expand...

You should have two small pins on your starter relay. One is marked "S" and that's the one that comes from your key and energizes the relay for starting. The other is marked "I" and is your ignition jumper.
If you don't have a wire there already, you can buy the new push-on connectors at most autoparts stores and make your own "brown" wire.

Unless you have a super-duper ignition system already, you usually do want a little boost during start to give you some extra spark power and easier starting. It's not absolutely necessary, but in older systems it does help to fire things up quicker.

I'm not aware of any coils that require resistance/lower voltage all the time. It won't hurt anything to have more voltage just during the starting process. You can even run full voltage for some time if you have to.
An example of that is if you ever lose power to that circuit and don't have the time to figure out why, you can hook a jumper wire straight from some other source right to the coil. Won't hurt a thing in the time it takes to get you home.
If it does, then your coil was about to go bye-bye anyway.

The only reason coils want less voltage going to them is so either they, or your points and condenser don't overheat or burn out. It's not an immediate thing though, so it won't hurt anything to be running higher voltage for mere moments.

Paul

ok well i found the brown wire which is indeed hooked to the I terminal ont he solenoid, and runs up to the pigtail for the coil, i think i will just leave the factory stuff there (resistor wire and brown pos wire) in wake of installing a ballast and trying to wire around it. any thoughts on that? the PO had an accel coil in it, and a ballast resistor is this because it needs the resistor while running? and the way he had it it was getting double resistance when starting not good. since the factory resistor wire also ran through the ballast resistor
thanks

No, that's too much. Although I think you said you were still getting around 8 volts or so? If so, then maybe the original resistor wire was not working properly or something. The generally accepted range of voltage to the coil should be between 7 to 9 volts.

And, there's no reason for you to put still another ballast resistor in line if you've already got one. BR's are kind of a pain anyway since you have to make certain that they're nowhere near anything that doesn't like a LOT of heat. They get hot enough to burn the paint off the steel body, so putting them next to the carburetor or a fuel line is not advised!

Why don't you measure the voltage that's coming from the original Green w/red strip wire through the firewall to the coill. If it's 10 volts or below, get rid of the BR that the PO installed. If for no other reason than to keep things simple!
He probably just put it there because it came with the coil and he figured it was supposed to be there.

Originally these coils and points ignitions were designed to work with 6 volt electrical systems on the cars. When we went to 12 volts the resistor was added so as not to overheat the coils and wear out points prematurely.
Many newer coils are designed to work well with 12 volts and can usually supply better sparks with the higher voltage. And, generally speaking, more is better in that department.

Paul

thanks fo rhte tips i dont have the battery installed o r many of the other electrical components like ignition or dash switches or dash for that matter ya the guy before had the ballast in there so i think ill just get rid of it and use the factory stuff also my resistor wire is red with green letters saying do not cut etc same wire though
thanks for all the tips everyone especially paul