Hello all! I was off this forum for awhile until I bought a 71 Eldo Conv. I converted the 500 to the 425 more efficent and looking for a great cruiser. I have a question about the Distributor, I have an HEI distributor that I upgraded to from the old point/coil sys. Can anyone help me out with the wiring off the tach/Bat part on the cap, Do I just need to run a wire to the Battery, or the Fuse box? which would be the best, and which wiring do I look for or just add new?

I am in the middle of putting in an HEI for the first time also. I was told to find a wire that is hot (12 volts) while cranking and also when the key is in ON position. It should NOT be hot when key is in ACC or OFF. The people I have talked to said it is OK to go off the fuse box, but better to go off the ignition. I was going to buy a fuse tap for the glass-type fuses and hook into the fuse box. I am in the weeds now trying to hook into the ignition switch. There is a pink wire coming out of the ignition switch that I think is the correct one, but I think you need to pick it up on the engine side of the wiring harness or you will lose something else. In my case, I think I cut the wire too soon and killed my transmission downshift switch! Fuse box method sounds easiest. And the wire should be 12 gage minimum. I have also heard of running a wire straight from the battery, with a toggle switch so that you can manually turn it on and off from inside your vehicle. (That would work as a cheap theft-deterrent system!)

I always use the hot wire from the coil, put a HEI plug on it and plug it into the BAT terminal. If there is a resister in the coil wire , then I take it out.

I was going to use the hot wire from the old coil, but it was a really skinny gage. It was recommended to use a 12 or 10 gage wire. But what do I know, my car doesn't even run!

I was going to use the hot wire from the old coil, but it was a really skinny gage. It was recommended to use a 12 or 10 gage wire. But what do I know, my car doesn't even run!

The hot wire from the old coil is a ballast wire, it has resistance and is also too small a gauge to be reliable (not to mention the fact that you can't solder it), I replaced the entire wire with a ten gauge wire and it works great.

Well, then I want to try this! I am aware of the ballast wire. I understand there is one wire running from the starter that is regular wire to give you 12V when starting. The ballast wire cuts the voltage down to about 8V when running. Is this wire hot when cranking? And would you please explain how to replace the entire ballast wire with a new 10 gage wire? I chickened out on trying this because the ballast wire goes into the harness and I don't know how to remove the ballast wire and put in the new one. Electricity is Magic! (to me)

Yes the ballast is hot when cranking. If you want to do a really professional job of replacing the wire you can take the harness off and undo the tang for the ballast wire and it will come right out, then put in your new wire and run it to the coil. The way I did it was I cut off the ballast wire neatly and spliced into the wire on the other side of the firewall where it is just normal wire instead of a resistance wire. Of course before I cut the ballast wire I used a multimeter to make sure the wire I thought was the ignition wire was indeed the ignition wire, it's hard to be sure where wires meet on those harnesses sometimes! I'm pretty sure it was a pink wire on the top left corner of the harness (looking from the inside of the car) though, I can check if you want tomorrow.

Edit: That starter wire can be eliminated once you get power going to the coil by the way.

You are right. My wiring diagram shows a pink wire from the ignition switch that is hot in START and RUN. That wire changes from pink to the ballast wire as it passes thru the harness. This is the wire that I tried to use. But I screwed up and cut it too soon. I cut it right by the ignition switch. If I am reading this correctly, it branches off for the transmission downshift solenoid and some gages. I need to put it back together and then cut it closer to the firewall. Sound right?

I don't think I am ready for doing it the professional way yet.

Thanks a lot, eldorado99!

You are right. My wiring diagram shows a pink wire from the ignition switch that is hot in START and RUN. That wire changes from pink to the ballast wire as it passes thru the harness. This is the wire that I tried to use. But I screwed up and cut it too soon. I cut it right by the ignition switch. If I am reading this correctly, it branches off for the transmission downshift solenoid and some gages. I need to put it back together and then cut it closer to the firewall. Sound right?

I don't think I am ready for doing it the professional way yet.

Thanks a lot, eldorado99!

Glad to help! Sounds right to me, thats what I did anyway, I cut it right next to the harness on the inside of the car. I didn't do it the professional way either because I didn't want to mess around with that harness, there are a lot of really old wires on there, and they don't look like they want to move so I just let them rest.

Good luck!

Yes the ballast is hot when cranking. If you want to do a really professional job of replacing the wire you can take the harness off and undo the tang for the ballast wire and it will come right out, then put in your new wire and run it to the coil. The way I did it was I cut off the ballast wire neatly and spliced into the wire on the other side of the firewall where it is just normal wire instead of a resistance wire. Of course before I cut the ballast wire I used a multimeter to make sure the wire I thought was the ignition wire was indeed the ignition wire, it's hard to be sure where wires meet on those harnesses sometimes! I'm pretty sure it was a pink wire on the top left corner of the harness (looking from the inside of the car) though, I can check if you want tomorrow.

Edit: That starter wire can be eliminated once you get power going to the coil by the way.
Starter wire can be eliminated? What would be the benefit to that? Thanks

Im having a hard time locating the ignition wire????

Im having a hard time locating the ignition wire????

The ballast wire is a white or beige wire going to the coil of your old points system, it has a braided cloth like insulation, it goes through the wiring harness and becomes a pink wire on the other side, that is what you need to tap into for your new HEI coil. And the starter wire can be eliminated because the coil no longer needs 12V when cranking (which this wire provides) it needs 12V all the time. You can trace this wire back to your starter motor and remove it.

Edit: The benefit of removing the starter wire is simply tidyness, you can leave it alone if you want to.

Just a little bit more on top of what eldo99 said, this how it goes in my car. My ignition switch is on top of my steering column. There is a pink wire coming out of it that eventually passes through the wiring harness on the firewall. As it passes through the firewall, it changes from a 12 gage pink wire, to a skinny whitish yellowish wire that has a braided cover on it like eldo99 said. It's much easier to find the ballast wire (aka resistor wire) under the hood, it's one of only 2 wires connected to the coil that runs back through the wiring harness. NOTE: In another thread entitled HEI upgrade, TheApeMan said you can just keep the resistor wire and run it right to the B+ terminal on the hEI distributor. You still don't need the wire that goes from the starter to the old coil. That would be easy!

Starter wire can be eliminated? What would be the benefit to that? Thanks

Just having one less wire. The wire to the starter was to provide a full 12V to the coil while cranking for easier starts. Once the car is running with points, the coil only recieves 6V due to the resistor wire. With HEI you are supplying 12V all the time so the wire to the starter is just unnessacary.

Just having one less wire. The wire to the starter was to provide a full 12V to the coil while cranking for easier starts. Once the car is running with points, the coil only recieves 6V due to the resistor wire. With HEI you are supplying 12V all the time so the wire to the starter is just unnessacary.
Thanks, which wire would I eliminate? I looked at it last night, and was a bit confused. Thanks

The starter solenoid has 3 electrical connections, I think. One is where the battery is connected to it. THree more wires are also connected where the battery wire is connected. There is a 18 gage yellow wire connected to another terminal ("R" terminal) on the starter solenoid. There is a 12 gage violet wire connected to a third terminal ("S" terminal). It is the yellow wire that you no longer need. All five of these wires _may_ pass through a connector before proceeding on. The 18 yellow gage should eventually make its way to the ignition coil. The ignition coil has two wires connected to the + terminal. One is the yellow wire that you no longer need, the other is the resistor wire. The resistor wire is the one that has a woven covering on it and runs through your firewall.

Just having one less wire. The wire to the starter was to provide a full 12V to the coil while cranking for easier starts. Once the car is running with points, the coil only recieves 6V due to the resistor wire. With HEI you are supplying 12V all the time so the wire to the starter is just unnessacary.

Voltage drop is a function of current draw. Resistance wire drops voltage to one amount on a points system which uses an oil filled coil whose primary is broken with a mechanical switch in parallel with a capacitor. H.E.I. coil in saturated switching mode with transistor switch draws less current and is much more efficient. The resistance wire does not drop 6 volts in a retrofitted H.E.I. circuit. Maybe we can find someone to measure this with a scope to clear this up.