[Roadsters] Coil/Ballist resistor

[Keith0alan at aol.com]

The resistor should not glow while you are starting the car. The way it's  
wired the resistor should be bypassed while the car is being cranked. The  
resistor is between the battery and coil while the engine is running to lower  the 
primary current. When you are starting the battery voltage drops so they  
bypass the resister to get the proper voltage to the coil for a good hot spark.  
My 66 does not have this bypass function. When the battery got weak  it would 
get hard to start. Sometimes it would turn over but not fire.  As you released 
the key it will light off. What is happening is the voltage is  too low to 
make good sparks while the starter is running. As soon as the starter  turns off 
the engine is still turning over and the battery voltage jumps back up  
creating a good spark. What I did was add a relay to bypass the resistor when  
starting. It helped a lot. 
 
If your resistor is ever glowing there is a wiring problem.
 
keith 
 
 
In a message dated 3/4/2009 6:58:31 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
pscowboy9 at yahoo.com writes:

I posted  about a week ago regarding my 66 1600 not getting a spark.  I think 
 I
traced that to the wire that goes from the coil to the side of  the
distributor.  I still can't get my car to stay running, but  noticed something
when it started getting dark tonight that concerned  me.  I had recently
replaced the coil/ballist resistor trying to fix  the no spark problem.  is 
the
resistor suppose to glow orange while  trying to start the car?  the original
one was completely sealed so I  have no idea if its working right or if its
putting my car at risk of a  electrical fire.

thanks for your help

Steve
66 -  1600
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