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Hi all
I am putting in a HEI (Chinamade) in my 74 and wonder where or how I can get rid of the resistorcable that is the original power from ignitionlock to the original coil? Do I need to exchange the whole cable from ignitionlock to coil or is there a resistor on the way?
Need run a wire from the +12 pink under the dash/fuse block/switched, NOT the RED, but the PINK, and through the firewall with a 20 amp fuse, to the BAT or +12 on the dizzy.....
the tach wire can be the same, or use the mechanical .....
The factory for the most part used resistor wire to supply only 9 volts to the coil when running, that is what you measure on a meter anyway....
The way GM did it when they went to HEI in '75 was they replaced the resistor wire with a 12ga pink wire that carried 12v to the distributor. If you follow the resistor wire back to the bulkhead connector on the firewall, you can carefully pull out the terminal from the bulkhead. Put a new Packard 56 terminal on the new 12ga pink wire and follow the same path to the distributor. This is what I did on my '71 when I went with electronic ignition.
Need run a wire from the +12 pink under the dash/fuse block/switched, NOT the RED, but the PINK, and through the firewall with a 20 amp fuse, to the BAT or +12 on the dizzy.....
the tach wire can be the same, or use the mechanical .....
The factory for the most part used resistor wire to supply only 9 volts to the coil when running, that is what you measure on a meter anyway....
and to an HEI it would be even less.....
I thought it must be something like this and I think I will hate doing it but I am also on way of taking column away so I can change my speedo to km/h, my tach is mechanical so no problems. The HEI needs 12V according to the manual.
The way GM did it when they went to HEI in '75 was they replaced the resistor wire with a 12ga pink wire that carried 12v to the distributor. If you follow the resistor wire back to the bulkhead connector on the firewall, you can carefully pull out the terminal from the bulkhead. Put a new Packard 56 terminal on the new 12ga pink wire and follow the same path to the distributor. This is what I did on my '71 when I went with electronic ignition.
There are also a black cable connected to the pink since I dont have any chart showing the cables I have no idea what this black one do or go to?
Is it for keep since it is connected with the pink?
There are also a black cable connected to the pink since I dont have any chart showing the cables I have no idea what this black one do or go to?
Is it for keep since it is connected with the pink?
NO, that other black wire goes down to the starter solenoid, and it picked up 12 volts from the battery, switched ONLY when the starter was activated, feeding a solid full battery voltage to the + side of the coil....you do not need that when you do the change at the firewall to the pink/switched 12 source.....HEI is a YUUUUUGE improvement over them old breaker points, don't believe me, mess with it when it's running.....
NO, that other black wire goes down to the starter solenoid, and it picked up 12 volts from the battery, switched ONLY when the starter was activated, feeding a solid full battery voltage to the + side of the coil....you do not need that when you do the change at the firewall to the pink/switched 12 source.....HEI is a YUUUUUGE improvement over them old breaker points, don't believe me, mess with it when it's running.....
I know I tried it before I will install it and the it give a spark more than 1 inch and the papers say 60000V so dont worry I will keep my hands of when it is running
NO, that other black wire goes down to the starter solenoid, and it picked up 12 volts from the battery, switched ONLY when the starter was activated, feeding a solid full battery voltage to the + side of the coil....you do not need that when you do the change at the firewall to the pink/switched 12 source.....HEI is a YUUUUUGE improvement over them old breaker points, don't believe me, mess with it when it's running.....
I forgot to mention that wire. It is no longer needed with HEI like mrvette said.
The way GM did it when they went to HEI in '75 was they replaced the resistor wire with a 12ga pink wire that carried 12v to the distributor. If you follow the resistor wire back to the bulkhead connector on the firewall, you can carefully pull out the terminal from the bulkhead. Put a new Packard 56 terminal on the new 12ga pink wire and follow the same path to the distributor. This is what I did on my '71 when I went with electronic ignition.
You dont happen to have a photo of "how to" and I am also curious how the harness is situated behind the dash. Someone been fiddled a lot here!
You don't need to get under the dash== the bulkhead connector Kubs is talking about is on the front side of the firewall. It's the connectors where the front light harness and the engine harness connect to the back side of the fuse block. All you need is a length of 10ga wire and a couple of Packard type 56 terminals. Disconnect the bulkhead connectors from the firewall and track the ignition wire from the coil back to the left side of the 2 connectors, Pop the resistor wire out and plug your new wire in. Hook it to the HEI, plug the 2 connectors back in to the fuse block and done.
Alternate is to run a 10ga wire inside the car, and hook to the pink 10ga wire at the ignition switch.
You could just use a relay.
Use the existing resistance wire to energize the relay and have the relay use 12V from the horn relay bus to the HEI. The relay could live behind the dist.
I did tried to get that f..... wire out of the harness but it wouldnt and to take down the fusebox ............
I was thinking to tap the cable on the steering column but the wirediagram is not so good but if someone can give me a hint wich cable is live when ignition is on I would be happy so far I can locate the orange but I am not 100% sure. So any advice please.
You could just use a relay.
Use the existing resistance wire to energize the relay and have the relay use 12V from the horn relay bus to the HEI. The relay could live behind the dist.
Trace the resistor wire back to where it comes out of the bulkhead connector. You can splice a 'normal' wire into that resistor wire just an inch or so after the connector. That will allow you to roll up and keep the original resistor wire [attach it somewhere on the firewall with a cable tie] and then run the new wire up to the ignition. Only that inch or so will be resistance wire; and that will not cause any problem to the HEI system.
If you (or a future owner) ever wants to go back to points, it will be a simple matter to do so.
Trace the resistor wire back to where it comes out of the bulkhead connector. You can splice a 'normal' wire into that resistor wire just an inch or so after the connector. That will allow you to roll up and keep the original resistor wire [attach it somewhere on the firewall with a cable tie] and then run the new wire up to the ignition. Only that inch or so will be resistance wire; and that will not cause any problem to the HEI system.
If you (or a future owner) ever wants to go back to points, it will be a simple matter to do so.
When I had a problem with my T.I., I used an HEI module in place of the T.I. Amplifier.
Since I was not using the traditional resistance wire with the T.I., I used the TI pink 12v wire that was used to power the TI amp.
Although it worked, I was not comfortable with the small gauge of the pink wire. A real HEI configured car has a much larger gauge wire.
This is the reason I went with a relay.
When I repaired my TI, I kept the relay and used that to power the TI. Starting the engine improved greatly with the relay powered TI. Better than it ever started before. I converted back to pink wire only powering the TI and starting was degraded.
Reconnect the relay, starting greatly improved. I know it doesn't make any sense, just enjoying the great starting.
Note: When using the HEI module, starting was greatly improved also.
HEI convert
I forgot to mention that wire. It is no longer needed with HEI like mrvette said.
so far I can locate the orange but I am not 100% sure. So any advice please.
