HELP! Looking for a switched 12 volt source for the HEI.

The previous owner had unhooked the ballast resistor & had wired this original (cloth covered) ignition wire direct to the (+) batt spade the HEI. My cheapo multi meter is fubar, so I can't check it to be sure its 12 volts.

Is this wire 12 volts when its been disconnected from the ballast resistor block?

TIA

Curt

I believe it is 12V- but you really should verify that with a good multimeter. If you absolutely cannot get one- wire a bulb to the battery- look at it's brightness, then connect it to that wire to see if it's equally bright- if it's dimmer- than something's wrong with the line (you may want to think about replacing the cloth-covered wire anyways- tends to disintegrate over time that close to the engine).

I borrowed a good mulitmeter & checked it........voltage was at 11.97, so I think that's close enough. I reconnected it & it seems to be working fine.

Now just have to dial in the Holley.

If its the original wire that went to the points dist, it has a resister built in, the wire itself is the resister. Check the voltage again, this time with the car running, if voltage is low (12 or less volts {system voltage should be around 14}) the wire should be replaced. It is only a resister wire from the firewall bulkhead to the dist. Voltage won't drop unless current is flowing.

yes, the pink resistor wire should be replaced. just pull the spade connector out of the bulkhead connector and put a nice gauge wire (like 10 or 8) in there with a new spade connector... you can get a new gm spade connector from the parts store... this is what i did and it works great and keeps the harness clean looking.

Pink ?

It was black on the pre 75 cars I've seen.


yes, the pink resistor wire should be replaced. just pull the spade connector out of the bulkhead connector and put a nice gauge wire (like 10 or 8) in there with a new spade connector... you can get a new gm spade connector from the parts store... this is what i did and it works great and keeps the harness clean looking.

Pink ?

It was black on the pre 75 cars I've seen.

I thought (don't remember now) mine was dark brown on my 70.

on my 71 it was pink (brand new harness from M&H - year accurate)... if you scrape up that brown wire, you might see the pink underneath? mine looked brown too after 30 years in the engine compartment...

IIRC my 73 has a black wire that says "resistive wire do not cut" .

It is always solid black. With white letters explaining it is a resistor wire, not to be cut etc etc.

Those are factory stock harnesses that I'm talking about.

I thought about checking it's impedance, putting a plain wire in series with a resistor. Or installing diodes for the necessary voltage drop. Or install a switched mode power supply etc etc. Then I gave up.

on my 71 it was pink (brand new harness from M&H - year accurate)... if you scrape up that brown wire, you might see the pink underneath? mine looked brown too after 30 years in the engine compartment...

http://www.nastyz28.com/camaro/wire/73w-eng1.jpg

Very interresting. Pink with black lettering it says. It is also the same on the 74 drawings. Hmmm

i knew i wasn't going crazy :)