major distributer issues...

[Caveman]

ok so bare with me on this one..need to do a little explaining first.. got a 90 camaro rs with a caddy 472 in it. am in the process of rewiring the ignition system up... stock distributer for the car is an hei system so i pulled it and went straight point system (for simplicity) with an msd blaster 3 coil. msd said to run a .8 ohm ballast resistor between the power source and the + terminal of the coil..i ordered and installed. the - terminal says its to be hooked up to the origional coil negative wire or the points system. i have a single black wire coming from the brand new points distributer...connected it to the coil...turned the system and cranked the motor. got no spark still so i pulled the high volt wire that goes from the coil to the distributer and the resistor started smoking. have no power leaving the coil at any point. all of my wiring as far as power from battery to fuses, relays, resistors, and switches is correct..im positive...its something im messing up between power into the coil, that negative terminal, and going to the distributer....

kind of confusing i know...crossing my fingers for a gear head with no life to come tell me what im messing up lol

[TB2]

If I'm reading your post right, it sounds like you have a dead short on the point side of your circuit. What's your voltage downstream of your resistor?

[Caveman]

gotta pick up a volt tester to get exact numbers...but when i flip my switch for the ignition system the relay clicks and i get power from the batt. through the resistor and into the coil...so i know that much is right... the distributor is brand new...like i seriously pulled it out of the box yesterday so i know its good but i only got one wire out of the distributor... a little black one... all other distributors i see have at least 3... my issue is what to do with the negative part of the coil and that little black wire.... i think im gonna go take a picture of the system and highlight all the ignition wiring with paint and put it on the post for better unterstanding...

[TB2]

That black wire coming out of your Dist. should come right off of your points. That black wire from your points should go to the negative on your coil.

[Caveman]

here you go... light green is from relay to resistor to coil, dark green is from the coil to the only wire on the distributor (problem wire) red is power to relay and blue is the switch to open the relay


<a href="http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n...t=Melton6a.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...2/Melton6a.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[Caveman]

dont think the code worked... here is the link to the picture...

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...2/Melton6a.jpg

[Caveman]

ok cease fire on this problem..figured it out...forgot to put the rotor on the distributor lol thanks for the help anyways TB

[TB2]

LOL, Yea, it looked like you had it right. I noticed your running your power through a relay. It will probably work that way, but you shouldn't need the relay. You should be able to use the 12volt power wire that went to the HEI and run that straight to your resister. The other end of that 12volt source comes off of your starter and has a fuseble link in it to protect it. Anyway, good luck with the build.

[lozanoa11]

oh the fun we had with distributers and coils in school. we hooked up a electric chair and shocked multipul people including the instrutor. i also leard don't leave a coil saturated for to long it gets to like 100*

[Caveman]

i ran the relays and my own wires because everything wiring wise was removed from the engine ('74caddy 472 in a '90camaro...not a popular wiring harness lol, and on top of that 3 years of rats in a barn in n.dakota didnt help much) so i had no idea how what went to what because it was all the wiring was as bad as it was...so figured id just make my own harness and what not. lol alright im outta here...time to trouble shoot the fuel problem on this guy..thanks again for the help