Hey guys. Gearing up for a Y-block swap soon, and giving some thought to wiring ...

Where is the ballast resistor located on a '60 F100? Is it a separate resistance, or a resistance wire? Thanks for your help.

 

The ballast resistor, as I recall, is located in the same place for '57-'60 trucks, on the firewall, located above & off-side of the Master cylinders for the brakes & clutch.

 

That sounds like my 56.
If a internal resistance coil was used would that would do away with the firewall mounted resistor?

 

Funny...
I was wondering the same thing, since I just picked up a '60 not too long ago.
There is no ballast resistor on my truck either and does'nt look to be a mounting hole for one in the typical spot as compared to my 57 & 58 cabs that I have.
Also, the wiring harness is different on the 60 compared to the earlier cabs.
Plug in connections at the firewall instead of running right through it with the grommet that holds it to the firewall.
I was wondering if in '60 they had a different type of ignition that did away with the resistor?
Somebody on here must know!

 

Yes. All it does is drop the voltage to the coil. Internal resistor does the same thing.

 

My 60 292 doesn't have one.

 

Your truck will have an internal resistor in the coil.

 

I checked my 1960 shop manual. I says that a resistance wire was used in 60. The stock resistance wire was apparently pink in color. It also says you should see a 6.6 volt drop from the ignition switch to the coil if the wire is OK.

The coil wire on my '60 pickup looks more red than pink, but appears to be a resistance wire. It has an unusual rubber covered ring connector on the coil terminal. I read a 5.6 volt drop from the positive battery terminal to the coil with the ignition on and the engine not running.

An interesting note, when the little puke(s) stole my truck a few years ago, he/it just stripped a section of the wire about a 18" from the coil and twisted it around the starter relay to power the coil. He/they only drove the truck a few miles then abandoned it. Apparently that was not enough to damage the coil. The shop manual tells you not to splice the resistance wire, but I did so to repair the damage (not knowing any better) and it seems to work fine. I doubt the splice accounts for the slightly lower voltage drop (5.6 vs 6.6 V) that I see; if anything, it should increase the resistance.

Cal

 

Thanks for this new to me info.
Seems Ford used afew different ways to drop the vlotage to the points.