I just found a burned wire at the firewall of my '64...which only has 35 new miles on it.

The burned wire is black/purple (pink?) and comes from inside the firewall then connects to a purple (pink?) wire. I think the purple wire was originally intended for the resistor. I'm using the Pertronix Ingitor II with no ballast resistor, so the 18g purple wire to the starter is not connected.

I located the black/purple (pink?) wire where it comes through inside and it is not burned inside the firewall. It appears as though the insulation burned off a four inch section outside the firewall. I'm guessing the black/purple (pink?) wire goes to the ignition switch.

When wiring the car, I added the female connector to the black/purple (pink?) wire to connect it to the pink wire. Should I have wired the black/purple (pink?) wire to the positive post on the coil?



I drove the car yesterday and it ran fine. I have not attempted to start it since I found the burned wire. I've also disconnected the battery 'till I find the problem.

What have I done?

 

Your connection to the harness should have done the same thing. Any black/stripe wire can be substituted for a wire the color of the stripe. You connected the pink (B/P) wire from the ignition switch to the harness pink (P) wire for the ballast resistor.
If you look at the wiring diagram linked through the help section at the bottom of my web page http://home.mchsi.com/~magicv8 you will see that it connects right to the coil, along with the 12volt pink wire from the starter solenoid.

What you may NOT have done is made good electrical connections at the wire connectors that you spliced in. Poor connections can overheat the wire near the connection without overloading it electonically. I always solder the wires into the original style brass spade lugs used in factory harnesses, after crimping the wire, just to be sure I won't have trouble.

Looking at the picture you posted, it is possible that something touched the coil terminal while the ignition was on. It's also possible that someting may have touched/grounded the pink wire to the starter solenoid, which would ground the ingnition circuit. Normally in those cases, the ignition wire burns off in a few seconds.

If the line to the ignition switch is the one that burned, you will have to unwrap the main dash harness to be POSITIVE that no other damage was done.

Unless you have something else attached to the coil pink wire besides Pertronix, it may have been overloaded by the Pertronix. I have had one in my car for years without a problem.

 

I only have the ignition wire connected to the resistor (pink) wire. The only wires on the coil + are the double pink and red from the Pertronix. The other end of the pink wire is not connected to the starter solenoid. I read, when doing my wiring, that with the Pertronix, that wire should not, or need not, be connected to the starter solenoid. Did do that right?

Thx, Dave

 

Yes, as long as the stray disconnected P wire doesn't get grounded and burn up the B/P and P wires. I would have left it connected for security. Electronically it doesn't make any difference.

I assume that you have a coil that is rated to stand being connected to 12volts all the time. Most cannot. Pertronix claims their Flamethrower coil can, but, in my experience, it will melt down in a matter of weeks, at the most. I continue to use my ballast resistor.

PS: if you want to do something useful with the B/P to P connectors, put a 10amp inline fuseholder there.

 

Learned something new today~Thanks!!! Dave

 

You have some odd wire colors, which complicates diagnosing the cause of the burned wire.

The stock arrangement on a '64 has a black/pink wire from the "IGN" terminal on the ignition switch that goes through the firewall grommet and connects to the bottom terminal on the ballast resistor; from the top terminal on the resistor, another black/pink wire goes to the coil (+) terminal. That circuit supplies reduced current to the coil when the engine is running.

There's another black/pink wire from the "R" terminal on the starter solenoid to the coil (+) terminal; that supplies a full 12 volts to the coil when the starter is cranking. That's why there are two black/pink wires at the coil (+) terminal.

The only purple wire runs from the ignition switch "Start" terminal to the "S" terminal on the starter - it energizes the starter, and carries no current unless the key is in the "start" position.

With a Pertronix, the module red wire requires a constant 12 volts, which you can get from the black/pink wire where it connects to the bottom terminal on the resistor; don't connect it to the terminal on the other end or to the coil (+) terminal, as those two points are after the resistor and have reduced current.

The coil, however, requires reduced running current from the other end of the resistor (unless it's specifically made to run at a full 12 volts all the time, and only the coil manufacturer can tell you that). Running a stock coil continuously at 12 volts will eventually fry it.

The normal wiring for a Pertronix installation has the red wire from the module connected to the black/pink wire from the ignition switch ahead of the resistor for a full 12 volts, and the coil (+) is fed from the downstream end of the resistor, for reduced running current. The black wire from the Pertronix module goes to the coil (-) terminal.

Leave the other black/pink wire from the "R" terminal on the starter solenoid connected to the coil (+), or the Pertronix module won't get power while the starter is cranking (the "IGN" terminal on the original ignition switch is dead while cranking).

 

So, I should connect the black/purple (currently burned) wire to the Pertronix red wire. Run the pink (to which the burned black/purple wire is currently connected) to the coil + terminal.

Am I now on correct track?

I failed to mention that I'm using an MSD Blaster 2 coil.

I just removed the splice in the black/purple wire and found that the wire was burned only to the splice inside the firewall. The black/purple wire beyond the splice (between ignition switch and splice) had absolutely no indication of burn. The wires are all shiny as they should be. The wires all look good at the ignition switch.

Thanks,
Dave

 

ttt...

Dave

 

IMO put a 10 amp fuse in the ignition line, connect the pink wire to
the solenoid S terminal, put a regular coil in the car, and reinstall the ballast resistor.

I looked up the coil you are using and I wouldn't put it in my car without a ballast
resistor or a larger primary ignition wire.

 

That's just what I'm going to do first thing in the morning. I read all the info you guys gave me and it all finally sank in. Thank you guys very much.

Dave

This morning, I reinstalled the ballast resistor, connected the Ignitor lead to the inginition side and fired her up. All is well. Now, to tackle the A/C...
See you in Prescott on Saturday...

Again, thanks for the help.

Dave