65 Barracuda electronic ignition, orange box, ballast resistor questions

[JeffreyLee]

I took out my stock harness and have painstakingly been comparing side by side with a new Classic Industries front engine forward harness meant to be used with an upgraded electronic ignition. I purchased a new starter relay and voltage regulator (not used I have determined...right?) Things are matching up pretty well. There is a modular plug in the new kit that plugs directly into the Mopar orange box. 4 conductor pins on the orange box, 5 wires going in from the harness. Green wire not used, that's the one that has no corresponding pin. So far so good.

1. You can see in the picture the triangular plug with blue and green. I assume that it goes to the distributor yes? The distributor that I purchased has a 2 wire plug that does not look at all like this. What is happening here?

Next question:
The Classic Ind. kit comes with 2 sets of wires which look like they are located to connect somehow to the new ballast resistor. The new Distributor came with a small, simple, 2 wire ballast resistor in the kit. Again, the plugs do not even come close to resembling the ballast resistor wires that are on the old harness (pictured) What is going on here?
Again, thanks in advance for your guys' help.

 

[Dana67Dart]

Doesn't the blue green wire triangular connector go to the voltage regulator?

 

[Mike69cuda]

You got the upgrade harness that incorporates electronic ignition and the 70 up regulator. I bought that same harness and it worked great. Most people want to get away from points and mechanical voltage regulators. I just bought the 4 pin ballast as it didn’t matter with my 4 pin ECU. The new ballast has holes for alignment on both connectors.

I bought a new 70 and up voltage regulator that has the triangle connector and swapped the grounded field connection on the alternator with an ungrounded one from an old alternator. Or you could just get another 70 up alternator.

 

[Mike69cuda]

There should be a matching connector on your new harness for the distributor, if the harness has the ECU 5 pin connector.

 

[67Dart273]

What happened to my post???

 

[Mike69cuda]

Something wierd happened when I tried to post too. I had to copy it and try it over.

 

[67Dart273]

What I had said in part is that there has to be a matching connector for the distributor

The triangle one you showed is for the 70 and later VR. That must use a 70 and later alternator with the two field connections, properly called "isolated field."

I have no idea why they have the dual connectors for the 4 pin ballast and yet supplied a 2 pin ballast. Maybe the harness is simply supposed to be compatible with a 4 pin ballast and 5 pin ECU

5 pin ECU must use a 4 pin ballast

4 pin ECU can use either 4 or 2 pin ballast

 

[JeffreyLee]

What I had said in part is that there has to be a matching connector for the distributor

The triangle one you showed is for the 70 and later VR. That must use a 70 and later alternator with the two field connections, properly called "isolated field."

I have no idea why they have the dual connectors for the 4 pin ballast and yet supplied a 2 pin ballast. Maybe the harness is simply supposed to be compatible with a 4 pin ballast and 5 pin ECU

5 pin ECU must use a 4 pin ballast

4 pin ECU can use either 4 or 2 pin ballast

Thanks for the response. The dual connectors were part of the wiring harness I got from Classic Ind. The small 2 pin ballast was supplied with the distributor that i got from Mancini Racing. I still don't understand those 2 connectors with the long plastic tang hanging off them. Those connectors look very specific to something.

 

[JeffreyLee]

You got the upgrade harness that incorporates electronic ignition and the 70 up regulator. I bought that same harness and it worked great. Most people want to get away from points and mechanical voltage regulators. I just bought the 4 pin ballast as it didn’t matter with my 4 pin ECU. The new ballast has holes for alignment on both connectors.

I bought a new 70 and up voltage regulator that has the triangle connector and swapped the grounded field connection on the alternator with an ungrounded one from an old alternator. Or you could just get another 70 up alternator.

Hi Mike, The problem I'm having is identifying the ballast wires and how they connect to those strange looking connectors?

 

[Mike69cuda]

You need to go to Auto parts store and buy a new 4 pin ballast resistor for a 70’s mopar. They have holes in them that will match up with your new connectors on your harness. Once you have one it it will be obvious.

 

[Mike69cuda]

The 4 pin ballast resistors have a 1 ohm and 5 ohm resistor ( approx values) in them. The funky plastic nubs on the connectors makes sure they are connected right.

 

[67Dart273]

^^This is correct^^ but if it were me I'd go the other direction. There are no current ECU modules that require a 4 pin ballast. I'd obtain the single terminal connectors and to with a 2 terminal ballast. That is one way to deal with it. As said, the protruding pins index the connectors so that the correct resistance is in the correct circuit. The low resistance feeds the coil exactly like a 2 terminal ballast, and the high resistance side went to the (now unused) 5th pin on the ECU connector

 

[JeffreyLee]

The 4 pin ballast resistors have a 1 ohm and 5 ohm resistor ( approx values) in them. The funky plastic nubs on the connectors makes sure they are connected right.

View attachment 1715305153

Hi Mike,
Thanks for helping me get to the "Ah Ha" moment.....I just went out to the shop and matched up the old, crusty 4 pin ballast to the plugs and there it is! By using a new 4 pin ballast, I can keep the wiring neat and use the better looking pre made connectors. What about a coil? Are they all pretty much alike? Lastly, I just need to find the wires that lead to the distributor...I'm sure they are in there somewhere.

 

[Mike69cuda]

Cool, I didn’t remember you had one in the pictures.

Coil choice depends on what you want, stock or performance.
I bought a stock coil because I had a road breakdown. It was a master pro, which I largely consider to be cheap Chinese junk, but it was the only one they had. The terminals were the “one side flat” bolts to make sure you got the right wires on the right terminals like the original coils. The metal used in the bolts was so soft that they stripped out & got loose. More problems. I took it back & was going to trade it in for a Borg Warner ( or maybe it was a Bosch). Opened the box & it was the same crappy coil. I bought a chrome Mr Gasket for a few more bucks and it looks nice and has worked good.

It is just a stock coil, as that is all I wanted. There are a lot of others who have a lot more experience with performance coils on the forum that should be able to give you some good suggestions if that is what you want.