phobos0001

hi everyone,

my project padock torrie is going well, i got it started, managed to get it idleing and its all going fairly smoothly.

the problem im having is i believe i have wired the ignition system wrong. the coil is getting very hot, too hot to touch and i burned through one because the car wouldnt start till i replaced it with another unit.

i have a wire going from the positive terminal to a switch (my engine kill switch) and then going to the positive side of the the negative is wired up to the dizzy as is the high output one. i tried it with a ballast resistor but when i was trying to start it, the resistor smoked up a tad so i got rid of it. can anyone tell me what im doing wrong?

its a twin point dizzy if that makes a diffrance. the only other wires in the car are the big positive for the starter, my big earth cable and one for the starter button. its a very simple system but not without its problems unfortunately.

cheers in advance
-Daniel

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"He who ignores history is doomed to repeat it"

COOPHT

I would get the twin point dizzy and throw it against the wall, then smash it into dust.
Bastards of things.

You have probably fitted a coil to direct 12V bypassing the ballast wiring in the loom. This wiring reduces the Voltage from 12V.
The coil and resistor you have fitted probably are not designed for 12V.

I would get a blue motor elec coil run a relay from your ignition switch wire then 12V to the blue coil.

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PROBLEM ? Improvise, Adapt and Overcome

76lxhatch

If the coil requires a ballast resistor then you'll need to find one for it. The twin point dizzy could quite likely make the problem worse (bastards of things like COOPHT says), but I guess she's a budget build so work with what you've got. Spend some time getting the dwell set right (preferably using a dwell meter) or even disconnect one set of points to make life easier if possible.

phobos0001

ive got a dwell meter and a few of the other tuning bits and pieces so getting the dizzy setup is not a major issue, i was just wondering what needs to be done with the ballast resistor? i know it reduces the voltage to 7-9volts from memory but i dont understand why the ballast resistor was smoking when it was hooked up. i have a 12v coil from an electronic ignition system that i borrowed from my hilux and it works pretty well without the resistor but for some reason i think im still roasting the points running too much voltage through them. so what needs to be done? diffrent ballast resistor or wrong coil?

__________________
"He who ignores history is doomed to repeat it"

76lxhatch

That's one of the reasons that points went out of fashion, you can't avoid roasting them with a standard coil setup. Give them a file and make sure they are tidy or replace them. In 3 months time you will be filing and adjusting them again, that's the nature of the beast. You could perhaps find a weaker coil, an HEI one would destroy them too quickly. Any coil that requires a ballast resistor is normally designed for points though.

phobos0001

all understood however there was no resistor when i got the car.... but ther wasnt much of anything when i got it

im thinking i might have to bite the bullet and get a coil designed for points and wire in a ballast resistor. although i just thought of something quite obvious that i diddnt think of yesterday, the coil is mounted on the block using one of the dipstick bolts, the cooling system is stuffed and she boils water fairly quickly, beying that close to the block its not going to help matters in the least!

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"He who ignores history is doomed to repeat it"

COOPHT

What I ment to say is you may have run 12V directly to the coil and bypassed the fuseable link which is also in the stock loom.

To save on probs I would get the Elec dizzy and coil from a commy and be done with it. I realise it a budget build but they cant cost that much. Can they?.

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PROBLEM ? Improvise, Adapt and Overcome

phobos0001

i get what your saying, i went to a few wreckers and got prices, $45 for a single point dizzy and i get matching coil, ballast and the points+condenser or $160 for electronic system, $10 more then i paid for the car

i moved the coil and mounted it on the subframe under the brake booster, seemed just to be radiant heat from the motor rather then resisted current causing the heat, it starts fine on the old coil now, must have been too hot to hold charge mabey? i dont know too much about these mystery tubes but keeping them cool seemed to do the trick for me, cheers for the help everyone, ill look at upgrading the ignition system eventually but for the moment its just a matter of getting it all working so i can start having a bit of fun. not too much left now, just an oil change, wire up the thermo fan and throw in a diecent seat.....and find some wheel nuts then im done

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"He who ignores history is doomed to repeat it"

76lxhatch

Coils don't like excessive heat, they will break down in conditions like that so maybe you have fixed it simply by moving it. Fingers crossed