[brians1bad68]

Hello, I have a 68 Ford Fairlane 302. I am installing an H.E.I. distributor. I plan on feeding the batt. side of the dist. from the solinoid I terminal. My question is can I remove the pink resistor wire from the ignition inside the car, now that I am not using the point distributor. I am also removing the guage feed wiring under the hood, because I will be running guages. Thanks.

 

[5.0 Chero]

If you feed a GM style HEI Dizzy from the batt side of of solinoid it will run all the time. Read the instructions with the Dizzy

12. If converting from a point type ignition, remove any resistance wire, or
ballast resistor that may have been previously used.
If a resistance wire is present: replace the wire with a 12-gauge copper
stranded wire. Most resistance wires begin at the engine compartment
side of the
fuse block.
If a ballast resistor is present: remove the wires attached to both sides
of the resistor. Connect all of the wires removed together at a single
point. Isolate the connection from any grounds.
Plug the Ignition switch wire into the position marked BAT on the
distributor cap.
13. If a tachometer is used, connect the tachometer wire into the position​

marked TACH on the distributor cap.

 

[brians1bad68]

I do not have it hooked to the batt. side of the solinoid. I have it hooked to the "I" terminal, the coil side were the brown wire is for the original ignition. What I want to do is cut the pink resistor wire from the ignition switch and remove it. I was wondering if that was possible, or will it cause other problems, or things not to work.

 

[PSIG]

In a nutshell - no. First, the solenoid "I" terminal is only hot when cranking. The factory wiring takes battery power, through the key switch, through the PINK wire to the firewall. Then it splits with one wire to the "I" solenoid terminal, and the other wire to the coil.

This way (originally) the coil sees resisted power all the time, except when cranking, where full battery power flows through the solenoid and out the "I" terminal to the coil, for better spark during cranking when the voltage is down due to starter load. The only reason you see voltage on the BROWN wire at the "I" terminal the rest of the time is because it's feeding from the key switch through the PINK wire. So, the source for running distributor power is from the key switch.

You have two choices. Run a new wire from the key switch to the distributor (bypassing and removing the original wires). Or, run a fresh wire from the battery through a relay direct to the distributor, and switching the relay with any of the original wiring.

The first method is simple and straight-forward. The second method is generally preferred, as it removes load from the 40 year-old switch, and avoids doing any wiring under the dash. The choice is yours.

David

PS: Examine your wiring, as it's common for POs to add accessories to this circuit, and yes, they would be affected by the wiring change.