ok guys, i need some help here. the car is a 1966 chevelle with a 283. my dad told me the stock ballast resistor looks like a condencer and is located behind the coil. i replaced it with one from oriley. BUT my 1969 c10 pickup has a porcilen one ( the white ones). the stock one only has one wire and it goes to the + side of the coil. should i try a porcelin one? because the engine wont start. the coil is getting power but the spark plugs are not. any help would be great!

dale

My 66 has the ballast resistor function done by a resistor wire from the bulkhead connector to the coil plus. Iirc, it is a white wire with a cloth or woven textured cover and slightly different in appearance from the other wires. My 66 wiring diagram does not show any separate ballast resistor. The resistor wire cuts power to like 9v or so with the key in run. The round metal thingie behind the coil is most likely the radio noise control capacitor. It is not shown separately on the wiring diagram. You might want to remove it and see if that helps, if it is connected to the ignition it may be grounding out the system.

I am guessing your car still has points. Power in run is from the wire noted above. In the start position, power to the coil comes as full 12 v from a wire from the starter solenoid.

So you should have 2 wires to the coil plus. If the 12v start wire is not present, or not properly connected at the starter, the car most likely will not start.

If all that works, then check the points for gap, dwell, and proper timing. Note the condenser, is a round metal thingie inside the dist, with one wire that goes onto the points terminal. Its function is to absorb spark so that the points do not burn up very fast. If it fails and shorts, it grounds the points and the car will not start. For points, it is iimportant that the wire from the neg side of the coil to the points, and the condenser wire are installed, tight, and do not have accidental shorts to ground. I hate points, and run from them, except my 59 Cub has them so I have to remember how they work. Still do not like them. Settings are point gap is a matchbook cover and sparkplug gap is a paper match thickness. Well a good starting point.

Assuming all that is good, you should have spark. Other things to check are that the wires are in good shape, the cap, rotor and sparkplug wires are all good, etc.

Note that I have an HEI 350 in my converted six banger car and no clue what it looked like in 66, so others may have better details.

ok you are my new best friend! lol there is a wire that looks like it is covered ( looks different from all the rest) so that should be the resistor. ok i will double check the starter wires tommorw. if the resistor wire has a break in it were can i get a new one? also the spark plugs, plug wires, starter, coil are all new, so they shouldnt be it. thanks

dale

The resistor wire runs from like the third from the bottom terminal on the inboard side of the inboard bulkhead connector to the coil plus.

Simply measure it with an ohm meter, or, if you have 12 v at the coil with the key in the on position, it should be ok. With no current, it should read close to 12 v or so. Yes, they can have some broken strands, and conduct enough current to start the car, but then overheat and quit. Been there done that.

Actually had the HEI connected to that wire in mine when I got it, and the HEI was unhappy with the reduced voltage. No start on a warm engine.

I think you can buy that wire, or simply replace it with plain wire and one of those Mopar ceramic ballast resistors. If you do that, keep a spare in the car. Not sure about a parts store, but the resto folks and wiring vendors should have it.

This is fresh in my mind because had changed it to plain wire a couple years ago, for the HEI and soldered it at the bhd connector. That joint failed a month ago causing untold havoc for a Sunday afternoon. I would put an HEI in that car as quickly as possible.

also if i did ground the points or condencer, then how do i go about un grounding them? thanks

dale

Ensure that the wire terminal ends(s) where the coil wire and condenser connect don't accidently touch anything but the points terminal. Should not be hard on the Chevelle, but on the Cub it is a delicate task to install points.

Remember, in a points car, if you leave the key on, you are draining the battery if the car is not running, if the points are closed at the time. Murphy's law indicates they will be closed most times when the car is off. This can also melt them.

That's why us old folks don't leave the key on and our kids get annoyed when we tell them to shut it off. Not a problem as much these days.

ok i found the resistor wire. but it does not conect to the ingnition switch all the way. there is a normal copper wire from the switch to the firewall then the resistor wire runs from the firewall to the coil. also i tried to remove the switch to see behide it but i cant get it all the way off. i tried to do what the manual says to do but still cant get it all the way off..... waiting on freind to get here with battery to see what i can. thanks

dale

If these wires look good and check you do not need to remove them. Do you have power to the coil with the key in run?

The ignition switch can be removed with the dash in the car, but it is a pita. And getting the bezel off without scratching it to crap with pliers is not practical. I got mine out but later decided to drop the dash. On a 66 that only takes a half hour or so.

Correct, the ignition power wire is a plain wire except for the part from the bulkhead to the coil.

To start the car, why not just run a jumper from the bat plus term to the coil plus term.
That powers the ignition and will quickly tell if the car is going to run. Two people is the best way to do that, and you have to pull it off to shut the car off.

If these wires look good and check you do not need to remove them. Do you have power to the coil with the key in run?

The ignition switch can be removed with the dash in the car, but it is a pita. And getting the bezel off without scratching it to crap with pliers is not practical. I got mine out but later decided to drop the dash. On a 66 that only takes a half hour or so.

Correct, the ignition power wire is a plain wire except for the part from the bulkhead to the coil.

To start the car, why not just run a jumper from the bat plus term to the coil plus term.
That powers the ignition and will quickly tell if the car is going to run. Two people is the best way to do that, and you have to pull it off to shut the car off.


cool. i tryied the jumping thing from the + side of the battery to the + of the coil, still nothing. im going to replace the points monday. thanks

dale