Looking to see if anyone can help me with this , have a 56 olds rocket 88 i need to know how to wire the coil / resistor up i believe that the yellow wire coming out of the harness goes to one side of the resistor then from the res. To the plus side of the coil ,then the black wire from the hareness to the minus side of the distrubutor along with the wire for the distrutor . Thank you in advance to anybody for the help. Mark

 

I don't have a diagram of your car but I think the yellow (resistor bypass wire provides 12v during start) goes to the coil+ from the starter. The black wire from the harness should have power when the key is on, goes to one side of the resistor. From the other side of the resistor run a wire to the coil+ also. The wire from the distributor goes to the coil-.

 

I believe you have it correct. The wiring diagram in the 1956 Olds shop manual shows the following:

A 16 gauge yellow goes from the #1 ign. position on the starter switch to the ignition coil resistor.

An 18 gauge black wire goes from the #2 ign. position on the starter switch to the other end of the ignition coil resistor and the + side of the coil.

An 18 gauge black wire goes from the - side of the coil to the distributor.

And, of course, the "high tension" wire goes from the coil to the distributor cap.

 

Thank you fellows for the info . I still dont have spark out the coil, or at the points i,m going to check the fuse on the back of the switch this morning i've got a new coil,resistor,points, condenser cap, rotor . It has me baffled it should run. Thanks again . Mark

 

How did you wire it? Do you have power at the coil+ terminal in both the key on and key in start position.

 

I have power at both post on the coil switch on & now power at either when i turn the key to start. I wired the yellow wire to one side of the resistor then a 14 gauge wire to the plus side of the coil then the black from the harness to the minus side of the coil along with the dist. Wire i just checked this out again before sending this off .the only wire on the plus side is the one from the resitor . Thanks again, mark

 

It needs to be wired like this. Disregard the colors used in the drawing but picture the bulkhead connector as your resistor. The yellow wire should come from the starter and the black wire should be power from the ignition switch (pink in this drawing). Check the voltage on the black wire with the key on. Check the voltage on the yellow wire during start. If you don't have a tach the only wire on the coil- post is the black wire from the distributor.

 

I once got really frustrated trying to start my '55 with a new defective condenser. "New" doesn't necessarily mean "good".