Many thanks, fellas. We had the mildest winter in quite some time here, and he's been in the garage being worked on more than he's been on the road.

Now I have a new question - Gary's photo of the capacitor on the coil. I just went out and checked again - no capacitor, only one red and one green to the cap. So am I missing something here too? (older photo from the Push Rod Cover job on my thread)

Or is that capacitor tied into the Red (+) line under the distributor?

 

By the way - here's how it looked when I brought him home October 22.

 

That engine looks FANTASTIC, WilleyJoe.62! Very nice work!

And I would like to thank you for consistently taking the time to take pictures and add them to your posts.

#1 = Stock connection for the factory tachometer.

#2 = Stock connection for factory fog lamps.

#3 = Stock connection for underhood light.

 

Thanks, brother! He's getting there, bit by bit.

 

This is page 6-33 from the Chilton manual.

Surrounded in yellow (lower) is NOISE FILTER; is that the capacitor, and is it somewhere under the distributor?

I've highlighted the regulator in yellow (upper), and that same icon doesn't appear for a noise filter. Chilton oversight?

Lastly, the green arrow points to a BRN/PNK line running directly to the coil, and on to the starter relay. Is this BRN/PNK line tied somewhere else in the harness, instead of directly to the coil? Because I definitely don't see it.

Festus starts right up and runs like a top - I'm just obsessing...

 

So I was right, on my deduction for fog lamps. That's the factory plug in location. Looks like the Chilton's wiring diagram was right.

Oh, and I already saw the photos of your engine in your thread, WJ. It still impresses me. I'm in the process of painting the majority of my engine bay. Gonna have new rocker arms and push-rods soon, so my motor will be hummin' again.

There's nothing wrong with being obsessive WJ! It's part of what makes the automotive hobby so great. You can obsess and get away with it (mostly )!

 

From what I see, section two is for computer controlled models, whereas section one is the standard carburetor.

Your truck isn't a cali truck, right?

Looking at section one, you'll notice a lot of the solenoids and stuff gone from the wiring. The standard, non-feedback carburetor doesn't have a noise filter off of the coil, at least I don't think so. I haven't seen one anywhere near the coil or coming out of the wiring near it either.

It's also clear that the Chilton's manual doesn't elaborate in section one as to what wires are what coming off the coil, the ignition module, or whatever.

 

a-HA. And no, definitely not a Cali.

Thanks to a tip from Gary Lewis, I bought the 81 shop manuals for Engine, and Body/Chassis/Electrical. I'm still working my way through them - haven't found any electrical schematics yet, which is why I was looking at the Chilton, half of which doesn't apply to my truck.

BUT, in thumbing through the Body/Chassis/Electrical manual, this just leapt out at me - it's in the Radio section, no wonder I couldn't find it.

Coil capacitors on engines other than the 300. Mystery solved!

 

The RF capacitor is a carry-over from older Fords and older AM radios. Newer radios don't have the problem of picking up the static buzz like old radios did with certain plug wires and alternators.

Jim

 

That makes no sense as the ignitions are identical with the exception of fewer lobes on the reluctor. And, IIRC, the Ford wiring schematic shows it for all gas-powered engines. I'll confirm that tomorrow.

 

Please do - looking forward to seeing what you find out.

 

Brown is, indeed, used by the front marker lamps, tail lamps, parking lamps, license plate illumination, roof-mounted marker lamps (if equipped), headlight-on buzzer,, one or two other things inside the cab that I forget at the moment.

There should be a connector like that #2 behind the driver's side kick panel, down near the parking brake assembly; this supplies power for the roof lights.

No idea why you'd have a brown wire connector there by the ignition module, your truck must have had some sort of optional package or was specially-ordered.

Probably Ralph would know for certain.

 

Both Rusty and Dad's truck have the same connector in the same place, neither of which are used. My guess is that the fog lights plugged in up there, which would save Ford a lot of wire compared to putting the connector by the radiator since very few fog lights were sold.

 

Roger that, thanks much!

 

The brown wire threw me for a loop. The rest were pretty easy, as you found out.
The round connector with the green wire, near the ignition module, should have a matching plug somewhere, though it will likely have a green and black wire (the plug has 2 ports, but only the green wire on the one you pictured). It was often not plugged together on trucks that did not recieve a factory tach, but both halves *should* be there, somewhere. I bet the other plug is hidden under the brake booster.
Should you ever upgrade to a tach cluster, that plug will need to be connected, otherwise, it can be left alone.
FWIW, the engine harness side of that green wire plug is the main difference between I6 and V8 engine harnesses. V8 uses the black wire as an extra ground for the tach, where the I6 doesn't. The black wire grounds the "V8 corrector" built into the factory tach.

That brown wire has me curious. I wonder if it has power when the parking light circuit is in use? If it is for fog lights, I bet it doesn't, but has a matching unused plug under the dash........

The capacitor/condensor at the voltage regulator (yellow wire) was only installed on trucks that left the factory with a radio. No radio = no chance of having an alternator "buzz" thru the speaker......
Not sure about the one on the coil. It may well be the same way.