I have a yellow wire running from the + on my coil through the firewall into the dash I assume to the ignition but it also runs down to the N terminal on the starter. I just removed the points and swapped to a pertronix ignitor II. Question is does the wire still need to run to both the starter and the coil?

 

It won't hurt if it does, and it may help.

- Eric

 

As long as it doesn't hurt anything now that I switched to the electronic ignition.

 

Just provides a full 12V while cranking. Never a bad thing.

- Eric

 

Good to know. Thanks.

 

Just be sure the one going to the ignition is a full 12+ volts. The Pertronix system can not have the lower voltage from a coil style resistor circuit. The wire would likely be pink or at least stripes if it were a resistor wire but not always.

 

It depends on which coil he is using as to whether the resistance wire is used:



If there is voltage at the coil in both the start and run positions of the ignition switch without the bypass wire from the starter, I would just tape and stow that wire.

 

To reiterate what Eric said:

Whether to use a ballast resistor depends on the characteristics of the entire ignition system, but in a practical sense, in our own ignition systems, it depends on the coil, and the coil's internal resistance (actually its impedance, but we won't go there),

If the triggering system itself can tolerate the lower voltage of the ballast resistor, then it is fine to use it that way (HEI's trigger circuit cannot tolerate low voltage, in general most others can).

If you connect full voltage to a Pertronix system with the car's original coil, the coil will perform badly and overheat.

- Eric

 

It is a an MSD Blaster coil.

 

Look at the instructions for the coil.

- Eric

 

Sorry, I was not paying close enough attention to the question. I was referring to the Pertronix module and not the coil. The Pertronix needs at least 12 volts. I believe the Blaster II coil is a 12 volt coil also but not 100% on that.

 

Well the solution may have resolved itself. The mini starter I purchased has only two connection points. One to the positive battery and one to the ignition. Looks like the yellow wire will be going to only the coil.

 

Ditch the ballast resistor with health. That coil is designed to be driven with more volts, more current and multiple sparks per trigger directly from an MSD unit.

 

Stupid question, but where do I find the ballast resistor?

 

It's probably a resistance wire and not a discrete resistor as shown in the diagrams above.