HEI wiring: just dont get it

[surveyor ryan]

I'm certainly not trying to make this any harder than it needs to be. I'd love it to be really simple. But the more I keep reading about how to do this, the more confused I get. It's a 1972 F250 with a FE 360 in it. I have the brand new HEI distributor in place and ready to be wired power, but how the heck do I do this as easy as possible? Just run a new 10 gauge wire with a female connector from under the HEI cap to any old wire that has power when the key is in the on position? What would be the point of having a 10 gauge wire then if the wire you're tapping into isn't 10 gauge also? That's one answer I've read. What's all this about a brown wire coming off the starter solenoid that I need to trace under the dash until it changes to a pink wire, which is some kind of resistor wire, and remove the entire pink segment of the wire? And replace the entire thing with 10 gauge then? What happened to just tapping into any old wire with power if that's the case? That's another answer I've read. I've also read there is a ballast resistor to be removed somewhere between the stater solenoid and the starter, but looks like just a thick wire to me. I think I lack an understanding of what all is going on with how all the wires tie together here.

Anybody who has done this and can get me unwound from the confusion knot I'm tied in I would sure appreciate it

[sargentrs]

The original ignition set up on our trucks is based off of a reduced voltage feed to the distributor when running. The old points were not able to handle full time 12v power, they would fry with that much juice. So, to compensate, Ford installed a "ballast resistor wire" off of the ignition switch to reduce the voltage down to around 9v to feed the points. This was done at the ignition switch. In "start" position, a full 12v goes to the start circuit to kick the starter in, then in "run" position, the circuit is switched through a pink resistor wire to lower the voltage to 9ish volts while running to preserve the points. With an HEI distributor, or other electronic ignition distributor, they require a full time 12v power source. The pink resistor wire will need to be bypassed to feed your ignition. What ignition box are you using to go with your HEI distributor?

[surveyor ryan]

Thanks for the reply, I sure appreciate it. As for the ignition box, my understanding is that it's built into the HEI underneath the rotor assembly. It was advertised as an all-in-one unit where the only thing I was supposed to have to do was wire power to it and it would be ready to drive. I should've realized nothing is ever this easy. Just getting the distributor in place was a HUGE headache. When I removed the old one the oil pump shaft decided to hang on and that was a pain to get back in the hole, then was a pain to get aligned so the new distributor would drop onto the oil pump shaft. Had to keep spinning it just a tiny bit at a time until the rotor aimed at the right spot. Plus not to mention the shaft wouldn't sit in the middle of the hole and kept leaning to the side so the distributor wouldn't line up and fit over the oil pump shaft. But anyway....

So can I just use a tap splice to tie into the brown wire going into the ignition switch and run a new #10 wire straight to the HEI cap then? It sure appears the brown wire and pink wires are just crimped together at the back of the ignition switch so would this effectively bypass that resistor wire?

[Busboy]

Your previous point about tapping into a wire smaller than 10 gauge is correct,what's the use. Come directly off of the ignition switch with a crimped and soldered terminal to 10 gauge wire and then straight to the distributor.

[AZf100]

When I Installed the " all In one" I traced the wire back as clse to the ignition switch as possible and splice it in. I don't think you need 10 AWG, all your doing is supplying power, I Used 14 AWG. Runs like a champ,

[Busboy]

You don't understand electricity then. Running 10 gauge part way does no good if it is spliced with a smaller gauge. It's just like a 1 inch water pipe with a 1/2 inch splice, you might as well run 1/2 inch all the way.