electronic ignition help...

Hi guys,

At a swap meet last weekend I picked up a neat little piece, it's a
Studebaker V-8 distributor with the guts from a B/RB MoPar distributor
swapped in so that I can have a fully electronic ignition. (I was
actually trying to build one of these for another project last year but
I got to the stage where I had all the parts laid out and that was about
it... other things got in the way of me finishing that project..)

ANYWAY... the questions. I have the distributor, the wiring harness,
and the orange control box. So far so good. Did not have a ballast
resistor so I went to the parts store and got one for a '73 Chrysler, I
figured that would be about right. When I opened up the box to look at
it there are four terminals on it... all the wiring diagrams for this
setup that I have found online show a single ballast with two
terminals... what gives? I'd actually like to install this next weekend
as I am having driveability problems in my '55 Stude coupe and would
like to eliminate the distributor as a possibility.

thanks,

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

In article >,
Nate Nagel > wrote:

> Hi guys,
>
> At a swap meet last weekend I picked up a neat little piece, it's a
> Studebaker V-8 distributor with the guts from a B/RB MoPar distributor
> swapped in so that I can have a fully electronic ignition. (I was
> actually trying to build one of these for another project last year but
> I got to the stage where I had all the parts laid out and that was about
> it... other things got in the way of me finishing that project..)
>
> ANYWAY... the questions. I have the distributor, the wiring harness,
> and the orange control box. So far so good. Did not have a ballast
> resistor so I went to the parts store and got one for a '73 Chrysler, I
> figured that would be about right. When I opened up the box to look at
> it there are four terminals on it... all the wiring diagrams for this
> setup that I have found online show a single ballast with two
> terminals... what gives? I'd actually like to install this next weekend
> as I am having driveability problems in my '55 Stude coupe and would
> like to eliminate the distributor as a possibility.
>
> thanks,
>
> nate

Ohm both sides of the resistor, one will be 5 ohms, one will be
1.2 ohms or so. Use the 1.2 ohm side as described in the wiring
diagrams that you found. This all assumes that your orange
control box has 4 pin terminals instead of 5.

-Or- go back to the FLAPS and have them pull a ballast resistor
for a 1979 Pick Up truck with a 360 engine. That should yield a
single ballast resistor. (Echlin # ICR23)

Make absolutely certain that the control box is well grounded,
run a braided ground wire between it and the engine block.

Mount the control box so it will receive some air flow to help
keep things cool. (inner fender, firewall, radiator support)

aarcuda69062 wrote:

> In article >,
> Nate Nagel > wrote:
>
>
>>Hi guys,
>>
>>At a swap meet last weekend I picked up a neat little piece, it's a
>>Studebaker V-8 distributor with the guts from a B/RB MoPar distributor
>>swapped in so that I can have a fully electronic ignition. (I was
>>actually trying to build one of these for another project last year but
>>I got to the stage where I had all the parts laid out and that was about
>>it... other things got in the way of me finishing that project..)
>>
>>ANYWAY... the questions. I have the distributor, the wiring harness,
>>and the orange control box. So far so good. Did not have a ballast
>>resistor so I went to the parts store and got one for a '73 Chrysler, I
>>figured that would be about right. When I opened up the box to look at
>>it there are four terminals on it... all the wiring diagrams for this
>>setup that I have found online show a single ballast with two
>>terminals... what gives? I'd actually like to install this next weekend
>>as I am having driveability problems in my '55 Stude coupe and would
>>like to eliminate the distributor as a possibility.
>>
>>thanks,
>>
>>nate
>
>
> Ohm both sides of the resistor, one will be 5 ohms, one will be
> 1.2 ohms or so. Use the 1.2 ohm side as described in the wiring
> diagrams that you found. This all assumes that your orange
> control box has 4 pin terminals instead of 5.

Ayup, the instructions say to disregard one of the wires in the harness
(the kit was never installed in a car, the guy just lost the ballast
resistor) so I am ASSuming you are correct.

>
> -Or- go back to the FLAPS and have them pull a ballast resistor
> for a 1979 Pick Up truck with a 360 engine. That should yield a
> single ballast resistor. (Echlin # ICR23)
>
> Make absolutely certain that the control box is well grounded,
> run a braided ground wire between it and the engine block.
>
> Mount the control box so it will receive some air flow to help
> keep things cool. (inner fender, firewall, radiator support)


Thanks! That should get me going. Now to find some free time to run
out and work on the beast again...

Just curious, what is the 5 ohm resistor for? ISTR a discussion about
this a while back but don't recall the answer.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

On Sun, 15 May 2005, Nate Nagel wrote:

> ANYWAY... the questions. I have the distributor, the wiring harness,
> and the orange control box.

Yeah, good luck getting that orange box to work reliably and last. They
were good some years back (though no better than the stock box, flowery MP
catalogue description notwithstanding); they got ****tier a few years
after introduction. Early failures are not uncommon.

When(!) the orange box in my '62 fails, I'm going to swap in an HEI
module. It's a dead-simple swap, supports larger plug gaps and requires no
ballast resistor -- two real improvements.

> So far so good. Did not have a ballast resistor so I went to the parts
> store and got one for a '73 Chrysler

That'd be a dual resistor, which is not what is needed with the 4-pin
Mopar modules. The dual resistor is used with the 5-pin modules.

DS

I never had one fail nor have anyone I know???
Dodgem

Daniel J. Stern wrote:

> On Sun, 15 May 2005, Nate Nagel wrote:
>
>
>>ANYWAY... the questions. I have the distributor, the wiring harness,
>>and the orange control box.
>
>
> Yeah, good luck getting that orange box to work reliably and last. They
> were good some years back (though no better than the stock box, flowery MP
> catalogue description notwithstanding); they got ****tier a few years
> after introduction. Early failures are not uncommon.
>
> When(!) the orange box in my '62 fails, I'm going to swap in an HEI
> module. It's a dead-simple swap, supports larger plug gaps and requires no
> ballast resistor -- two real improvements.
>
>
>>So far so good. Did not have a ballast resistor so I went to the parts
>>store and got one for a '73 Chrysler
>
>
> That'd be a dual resistor, which is not what is needed with the 4-pin
> Mopar modules. The dual resistor is used with the 5-pin modules.
>
> DS

In article >,
Dodge-Him > wrote:

> I never had one fail nor have anyone I know???
> Dodgem

I've had numerous failures of the MP boxes, both orange and
chrome as have friends who opted for the conversion.

I switched to the Echlin brand, now at least when they fail, the
parts store will warranty them.

In article >,
Nate Nagel > wrote:

> aarcuda69062 wrote:
>
> > In article >,
> > Nate Nagel > wrote:
> >
> >
> >>Hi guys,
> >>
> >>At a swap meet last weekend I picked up a neat little piece, it's a
> >>Studebaker V-8 distributor with the guts from a B/RB MoPar distributor
> >>swapped in so that I can have a fully electronic ignition. (I was
> >>actually trying to build one of these for another project last year but
> >>I got to the stage where I had all the parts laid out and that was about
> >>it... other things got in the way of me finishing that project..)
> >>
> >>ANYWAY... the questions. I have the distributor, the wiring harness,
> >>and the orange control box. So far so good. Did not have a ballast
> >>resistor so I went to the parts store and got one for a '73 Chrysler, I
> >>figured that would be about right. When I opened up the box to look at
> >>it there are four terminals on it... all the wiring diagrams for this
> >>setup that I have found online show a single ballast with two
> >>terminals... what gives? I'd actually like to install this next weekend
> >>as I am having driveability problems in my '55 Stude coupe and would
> >>like to eliminate the distributor as a possibility.
> >>
> >>thanks,
> >>
> >>nate
> >
> >
> > Ohm both sides of the resistor, one will be 5 ohms, one will be
> > 1.2 ohms or so. Use the 1.2 ohm side as described in the wiring
> > diagrams that you found. This all assumes that your orange
> > control box has 4 pin terminals instead of 5.
>
> Ayup, the instructions say to disregard one of the wires in the harness
> (the kit was never installed in a car, the guy just lost the ballast
> resistor) so I am ASSuming you are correct.
>
> >
> > -Or- go back to the FLAPS and have them pull a ballast resistor
> > for a 1979 Pick Up truck with a 360 engine. That should yield a
> > single ballast resistor. (Echlin # ICR23)
> >
> > Make absolutely certain that the control box is well grounded,
> > run a braided ground wire between it and the engine block.
> >
> > Mount the control box so it will receive some air flow to help
> > keep things cool. (inner fender, firewall, radiator support)
>
>
> Thanks! That should get me going. Now to find some free time to run
> out and work on the beast again...
>
> Just curious, what is the 5 ohm resistor for? ISTR a discussion about
> this a while back but don't recall the answer.

IIRC, the 5 ohm resistor controls current to the base of the
switching transistor, the 5 ohm resistor is now (on the 4 pin)
mounted internally to the ECU making failure a box replacement
instead of a ballast resistor replacement.

Carry a spare. Seems the best way to ward off evil spirits.

Daniel J. Stern wrote:
> On Sun, 15 May 2005, Nate Nagel wrote:
>
> > ANYWAY... the questions. I have the distributor, the wiring
harness,
> > and the orange control box.
>
> Yeah, good luck getting that orange box to work reliably and last.
They
> were good some years back (though no better than the stock box,
flowery MP
> catalogue description notwithstanding); they got ****tier a few years
> after introduction. Early failures are not uncommon.
>
> When(!) the orange box in my '62 fails, I'm going to swap in an HEI
> module. It's a dead-simple swap, supports larger plug gaps and
requires no
> ballast resistor -- two real improvements.

I have heard of that swap, and also am told that any number of
aftermarket ignitions can be triggered by the distributor directly
without a module... but I have the orange box now so I might as well
give it a try. I thought however that the ballast resistor was more
for the coil than for the module, i.e. if I use the stock Prestolite
coil I still need the ballast; if I use an aftermarket coil with an
internal resistor I don't need a ballast, yes? I was thinking it would
be preferable to keep the ballast resistor esp. since I am using an
Avanti (4-pole) starter so that I could install a bypass wire from the
starter solenoid. (right now I am using the stock 6V wiring and a
cheap aftermarket coil with internal resistance, but I'm not so much a
purist that I won't do a little modification to the wiring harness.)

>
> > So far so good. Did not have a ballast resistor so I went to the
parts
> > store and got one for a '73 Chrysler
>
> That'd be a dual resistor, which is not what is needed with the 4-pin
> Mopar modules. The dual resistor is used with the 5-pin modules.
>
> DS

Just for curiosity's sake, can someone explain this to me or point me
to an explanation?

thanks

nate

Nate Nagel wrote:

> Hi guys,
>
> At a swap meet last weekend I picked up a neat little piece, it's a
> Studebaker V-8 distributor with the guts from a B/RB MoPar distributor
> swapped in so that I can have a fully electronic ignition. (I was
> actually trying to build one of these for another project last year but
> I got to the stage where I had all the parts laid out and that was about
> it... other things got in the way of me finishing that project..)
>
> ANYWAY... the questions. I have the distributor, the wiring harness,
> and the orange control box. So far so good. Did not have a ballast
> resistor so I went to the parts store and got one for a '73 Chrysler, I
> figured that would be about right. When I opened up the box to look at
> it there are four terminals on it... all the wiring diagrams for this
> setup that I have found online show a single ballast with two
> terminals... what gives? I'd actually like to install this next weekend
> as I am having driveability problems in my '55 Stude coupe and would
> like to eliminate the distributor as a possibility.
>
> thanks,
>
> nate
>

Measure both sides with an ohmmeter, and then connect to the LOWER
resistance side. The other side was only used in EI systems through
about 1975 (? or somewhere around there). Its a resistor that is
internal on the newer electronic ignition boxes, which you can identify
because they only have 4 pins in the 5-pin connector.

Steve wrote:
> Nate Nagel wrote:
>
> > Hi guys,
> >
> > At a swap meet last weekend I picked up a neat little piece, it's a

> > Studebaker V-8 distributor with the guts from a B/RB MoPar
distributor
> > swapped in so that I can have a fully electronic ignition. (I was
> > actually trying to build one of these for another project last year
but
> > I got to the stage where I had all the parts laid out and that was
about
> > it... other things got in the way of me finishing that project..)
> >
> > ANYWAY... the questions. I have the distributor, the wiring
harness,
> > and the orange control box. So far so good. Did not have a
ballast
> > resistor so I went to the parts store and got one for a '73
Chrysler, I
> > figured that would be about right. When I opened up the box to
look at
> > it there are four terminals on it... all the wiring diagrams for
this
> > setup that I have found online show a single ballast with two
> > terminals... what gives? I'd actually like to install this next
weekend
> > as I am having driveability problems in my '55 Stude coupe and
would
> > like to eliminate the distributor as a possibility.
> >
> > thanks,
> >
> > nate
> >
>
> Measure both sides with an ohmmeter, and then connect to the LOWER
> resistance side. The other side was only used in EI systems through
> about 1975 (? or somewhere around there). Its a resistor that is
> internal on the newer electronic ignition boxes, which you can
identify
> because they only have 4 pins in the 5-pin connector.

AH now it kind of makes sense. So the higher resistance resistor in
the dual ballast is some kind of power supply for the old control box
which would be wired to the pin which is now unused on the newer boxes,
yes?

thanks guys for all the help

nate