[*67firebird*]

i have looked for this info online, and i am looking at my old pictures i took before i took the engine apart....

my first problem im trying to figure out is which wires are supposed to go to the starter....i have two choices, there is a yellow and a either black or purple wire....after doing some research i believe i read somewhere that the purple wire goes to the starter...i currently have the yellow wire to the starter with no success. so next move will be switching those around.

Second would be coil and distributor wiring.
I have an resistor in line with my ignition system as you can see in the old picture connected to it is a set of Black and yellow wires. Does anyone know what that is? I wired the yellow-black wires back to the resistor because its the only thing i am sure about thanks to old photos

with that in mind i still have that yellow wire that i curently have connected to the starter, if i disconect it and replace it with the purple wire where does That single yellow wire go to...


Also one thing that might help... when the ignition is in the On position one of the wires that has some sort of fibrous cover/coat gets really hot, so im sure i have a short or simply wired incorectly.

["QUICK-SILVER"]

The bigger purple wire, 14 guage, is the starter solenoid engage wire, it goes to the terminal marked with a (S) on the solenoid. The purple wire is hot with ignition switch in the crank position.

The smaller 18 guage yellow wire goes to the terminal marked (R) on the solenoid. When the starter solenoid is engaged, it puts power to the (R) terminal, sending battery voltage through the yellow wire up to the (+) side of the coil. The (R) terminal is only hot with starter engaged and provides extra power to the coil for cranking.

If you are running a point distributor and still have the factory resistor wire for the coil, you shouldn't need the ballast resistor spliced in the wire. The factory resistor wire was all that was needed for the point distributor to work right. The factory resistor wire has a braided like coating, it and the yellow wire hook to the positive (+) side of the coil.

With key on/engine off and the ignition points are closed, the resistor wire to the coil will get hot, can't help from it, power coming through the wire goes straight through coil to ground at the points.

If you have the purple and the yellow wire crossed up on the starter solenoid, wires will get extra hot, if not melt. Solenoid would pull more amps than the resistor wire could handle.
If you are going to use the ballast resistor and the starter solenoid wires were crossed, you had better check and see if it blew out. Ballast resistors have a coil of very small wire in them, it doesn't take much to melt it.

[*67firebird*]

Thanks for that quick silver. looks like my thinking was right but my doing was wrong.

the ballast was not connected when i was experimenting so i should be good.
one thing i forgot to mention is that i have a powermaster Mini Starter and unlike the original starter it only has a big pole for the starter and one smaller pole. it does not say S or R on it. so i am goin to assume that it is the S pole and connect only the purple wire to it.

another thing i forgot to mention is that i have a Pertronix HEI conversion kit and i believe the instructions said i needed to use the extra ballast dont know if misread it or not. My dislexia really does not help when i read directions.


does this change anything?

[engineer]

suggest you get the factory wiring diagram and follow that for the basics. Then look at the aftermarket parts you are installing and follow those instructions. If no instructions, go to the manufacturer's site and download what you need. It is difficult to help without knowing what all you have, since some things can be wired multiple ways.

["QUICK-SILVER"]

Originally Posted by *67firebird*

Thanks for that quick silver. looks like my thinking was right but my doing was wrong.

the ballast was not connected when i was experimenting so i should be good.
one thing i forgot to mention is that i have a powermaster Mini Starter and unlike the original starter it only has a big pole for the starter and one smaller pole. it does not say S or R on it. so i am goin to assume that it is the S pole and connect only the purple wire to it.

another thing i forgot to mention is that i have a Pertronix HEI conversion kit and i believe the instructions said i needed to use the extra ballast dont know if misread it or not. My dislexia really does not help when i read directions.


does this change anything?

It's not you it's the Petronix directions. Figure 2 on there diagram should show the ignition switch wire as being a resistor wire, fig.2 would be the directions for your car. With resistor wire you don't need a ballast resistor. Cars that didn't have resistor wire (fig3) use a ballast resistor.

Purple to engage starter is correct.
With electronic conversion, yellow wire shouldn't be needed.

[*67firebird*]

i didnt think i needed the yellow one.

Well after messing with it. i wired the purple wire to the starter and i was able to get the engine to crank over from ignition . so now im going to try to figure out where My TDC is and relube my cam put the intake on and distributor and try to break it in.

Thanks Quick Silver.