HEI conversion help

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plymouth73

plymouth73

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1973 Plymouth scamp 318


hello all,

I purchased an external HEI e-core coil and ready to run distributor. I am fairly confident on how to install this setup but I am not sure on what wires and parts I can remove from the engine bay to make it look clean and neat.

A list of everything that can be removed and discarded before installing new setup would be great. Also is a relay recommended for install?
 
those threads definitely gave me some insight but with so many different inputs it can be confusing. I am hoping for a straight forward step by step so I don't cut or remove a wire that I will be needing. I have a brown and blue wire coming from ballast do I get rid of those or do they get spliced together?
 
connect them together...then the wire at the coil with get the full 12 volts.
 
Ditto post #4. Don't cut any factory wires. Remove your ballast. Connect the two connectors together. Neatest is using a male-male "spade" (56 terminal). They exist, that is what I did, and I heat-shrinked over it. Otherwise make a short jumper cable w/ male-male terminals.

For those w/ a "dual ballast", leave the terminal that went to the ECU hanging. You have 2 terminals (in parallel) on the +12 V upstream side. Use either one and leave the other hanging.
 
cant I cut the blue wire and brown wire down a bit to get rid of excess wire and solder them together? then run my own 12v wire from battery to relay to coil? seams I would get a more solid 12v this way.
 
plymouth73 said:
cant I cut the blue wire and brown wire down a bit to get rid of excess wire and solder them together? then run my own 12v wire from battery to relay to coil? seams I would get a more solid 12v this way.
Click to expand...

If you want to clean things up and get rid of old wire, yes.
I'll tell you how I did my HEI, and you can decide how far you want to go with yours.

I cut the two ballast wires all the way back to the harness at the firewall and connected them together, and used those to supply the HEI coil with 12v a single new wire.

All the wires that went to the Mopar box were also removed all the way back to the harness with no complications. (just cut them back and tape em over as they will be dead now)
The original coil wiring was also removed.

The one wire from the two ballast wires to your distributor will do everything needed.
ALL the other stuff can go.

A relay can help if there is a question over available power to your coil, but not needed otherwise. (more complication and less reliability of the ignition system if not needed)
 
plymouth73 said:
cant I cut the blue wire and brown wire down a bit to get rid of excess wire and solder them together? then run my own 12v wire from battery to relay to coil? seams I would get a more solid 12v this way.
Click to expand...

If you want to clean things up and get rid of old wire, yes.
I'll tell you how I did my HEI, and you can decide how far you want to go with yours.

I cut the two ballast wires all the way back to the harness at the firewall and connected them together, and used those to supply the HEI coil with 12v a single new wire.

All the wires that went to the Mopar box were also removed all the way back to the harness with no complications. (just cut them back and tape em over)
The original coil wiring was also removed.

The one wire from the two ballast wires to your new coil and distributor will do everything needed.
ALL the other stuff can go.

A relay can help if there is a question over available power to your coil, but not needed otherwise. (more complication and less reliability of the ignition system if not needed)
 
from the two ballast wires connected together my voltage reads 11.2 volts and battery reads 12 volts do you think I should add a relay or is that sufficient voltage? battery is probably a little undercharged because I haven't ran the engine for awhile but with a 1 volt difference is a relay recommended?
 
You want the full 12V's, might not hurt to throw a charger on the car just to make sure its there. I bet it is and like you stated just from a low battery. Myself I would not add a relay. Like Trailbeast said, it could complicate it more.

Myself I bet your ok once you get that battery charged up. Let us know where your voltage is at after you do that.
 
plymouth73 said:
from the two ballast wires connected together my voltage reads 11.2 volts and battery reads 12 volts do you think I should add a relay or is that sufficient voltage? battery is probably a little undercharged because I haven't ran the engine for awhile but with a 1 volt difference is a relay recommended?
Click to expand...

The voltage will be higher when the engine is running so you are probably good.
 
Hey TrailBeast, I'm trying to do this same thing in my 73 Duster. I would like to delete some of the older wiring as well. Did you keep the "voltage regulator" that runs to the alternator, or did you delete that as well? I just assume not keep the ballast "jumped" wiring if I dont need it. I have a GM E-coil with both pig tails, and a 4 point ECU for my set up.
 
7Du$ter3 said:
Hey TrailBeast, I'm trying to do this same thing in my 73 Duster. I would like to delete some of the older wiring as well. Did you keep the "voltage regulator" that runs to the alternator, or did you delete that as well? I just assume not keep the ballast "jumped" wiring if I dont need it. I have a GM E-coil with both pig tails, and a 4 point ECU for my set up.
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Regulator and all wiring for it stays as is.
Remove or bypass any ballast resistor.
Connect your new coil + to the two (both) wires Ignition 1 and Ignition 2 that used to go to your ballast.

Once that's done you can clip all the wires from the Mopar ECU all the way back to the harness, then wrap the taped off ends back into the harness.

When done you can move on with mounting and connecting the new module and distributor reluctor wires.

This might help if you don't have it.
 

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thanks for the simplified drawing Trailbeast , I was hoping to do this hidden in an old chrome box for looks. I called about the "new" Flamethrower 3 HEI module but the folks at Pertronix told me it was in pre-production with a release date of 2/16 , didn't bother asking if that's Feb 16 of this year or Feb 2016 , I was too discouraged to bother .Hate it when companies show new products and list them on supplier sites like Summit before they actually exist .
 
cannucky said:
thanks for the simplified drawing Trailbeast , I was hoping to do this hidden in an old chrome box for looks. I called about the "new" Flamethrower 3 HEI module but the folks at Pertronix told me it was in pre-production with a release date of 2/16 , didn't bother asking if that's Feb 16 of this year or Feb 2016 , I was too discouraged to bother .Hate it when companies show new products and list them on supplier sites like Summit before they actually exist .
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Ignitor 3 you mean?, as the coil is the Flamethrower. :)

Amazon.com shows one in stock and says it would be shipped here before that deadline.
Maybe they are doing the same thing, but you ,might like to know it's $121.30 plus tax for part number 71385 there.
I found them for a ton more than that at other places. (Like up to $180)
 
cannucky said:
No they have a new 4 prong Gm HEI module called the Flamethrower 3 HEI , it has a built in digital rev limiter , thats what caught my eye . It's part number D72000 and is on the front page of their company site but not their store page ,Summit shows it as well for $69.95 but they ship direct from Pertronix which is why I called for availability.

http://www.summitracing.com/int/search?SortBy=BestKeywordMatch&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=d72000
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Ah, for the four pin module.
Not sure how I missed that, but probably because I was looking for one that could go inside the OEM Mopar electronic distributor.

Yea, I don't see anything wrong with that one if a person was doing the external mount and going to use a four pin module anyway.

Thanks for adding to the knowledge base. :)
 
It's supposed to also maintain multiple spark throughout the RPM range so I wanted to hide it in an old Mopar box and make everything look stock , it's insane the things they require us to maintain in order to keep our Collector Plate status here .I can lowjack the car but I can't put any sort of aftermarket radio that doesn't fit into the factory location and appear to be original , a trunk or glove box mounted stereo voids my insurance .
 
cannucky said:
It's supposed to also maintain multiple spark throughout the RPM range so I wanted to hide it in an old Mopar box and make everything look stock , it's insane the things they require us to maintain in order to keep our Collector Plate status here .I can lowjack the car but I can't put any sort of aftermarket radio that doesn't fit into the factory location and appear to be original , a trunk or glove box mounted stereo voids my insurance .
Click to expand...

LOL, but wearing earbuds while driving because you cant install a newer stereo probably doesn't I'll bet.

That's messed up.
 
Thanks for the reply TrailBeast, I appreciate the information!!
 
Just wanted to throw out an update of my progress, I figured it out with yalls help and it purrs like a kitten!!! Everything went together like it should have, I had to switch the wires around but it worked. I have not been able to go drive it on the raod yet but looking forward to it. Thanks again!
 
7Du$ter3 said:
I had to switch the wires around but it worked.
Click to expand...
Great result.

I assume you mean you had to get the polarity right for the 2 pickup wires from the distributor. For those starting from scratch, I suggest spinning the distributor by hand, with the main coil wire to a spark tester. Clamp a timing light over that and when it flashes you should see the reluctor teeth aligned. If not, reverse polarity and try again.
 
cannucky said:
It's supposed to also maintain multiple spark throughout the RPM range so I wanted to hide it in an old Mopar box and make everything look stock , it's insane the things they require us to maintain in order to keep our Collector Plate status here .I can lowjack the car but I can't put any sort of aftermarket radio that doesn't fit into the factory location and appear to be original , a trunk or glove box mounted stereo voids my insurance .
Click to expand...
Any more word on the Pertronix multi spark module? anyone try it? Looks interesting.

Trailbeast: I think one of your HEI kits are in my future, how long is the coil wire you ship with the kit?

thanks
danny
 
equium said:
Any more word on the Pertronix multi spark module? anyone try it? Looks interesting.

I just got a notification that Pertronix shipped mine today, due to arrive on 3-31-15.

I paid for it on 11-7-14, I hope it was worth the wait.

If it works good, I plan on ordering 2 more for my other cars/trucks.
I have been running HEI conversions for over 10 years and have never had a problem.
Click to expand...
 
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