I'm going to eliminate points with a conversion kit and if I understand this correctly, I need to provide full 12 volts at coil.

Question: Where under the dash is said ballast resistor ( research has shown me it's a wire somewhere after the ignition switch imbedded in the loom, which one? )

Being not electrically inclined, or, at least not with this truck and without a diagram of my own, I want to do this correct the first time and not create more problems.

Any help will be greatly appreciated, Plus, any horror stories from anyone who has done this before so as to show me what NOT to do and really screw things up ! LOL

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First off, I have a newer truck,1986, so I don’t have any experience on one of your age but I still have some ideas.
Ford used a “resistor wire” downstream of the ignition switch as the “ballast resistor”. It is basically acts as a voltage divider to lower voltage applied to the coil. Lower voltage means lower current and less point wear arcing. Coil runs cooler.

The simplest and cheapest would be a Duraspark 2 (DS2) conversion. You would need a new DS2 distributor and a blue module and a DS2 harness.
The harness looks like this one ebay. Item # 220411289817
DURASPARK wiring harness, module to distributor & coil :eBay Motors (item 220411289817 end time May-15-09 15:28:33 PDT)

You will also need the “2 wire power connector” to power the DS2 module as your truck does not have one.
DS2 will still need the current resistor wire so the only wiring change would be to run the wire from the negative side of the coil to the DS2 harness (this is the same wire that is currently going to the points in your distributor).

1: install distributor
2: install blue module
3: plug in DS2 harness
4: connect DS2 green harness wire to coil NEG
5: connect 12 volt switched (key on) power to blue module
6: start and set engine timing

Do a search on duraspark II upgrades for more info.

Jim

 

What kind of conversion kit are you using? The original coil used in your points system would have been rated for 7-9 volts or so. Running a full 12 volts to the original coil will cook it, points or no points.

 

Some conversion modules do self-regulate the current flowing through them, and thus the coil also. You just have to read the instructions that come with the kit, since there are ones that do, and ones that do not require a resistor.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I will do some more research and make a decision as to which kit I will use. Kind of like measure twice, cut once. Thanks again for all your help.