How to wire a distributor and coil?

Question

I have a 1964 427 fe and i need to wire up the distributor and coil. Right now I have the coil wired up to the Battery ( positive going to positive terminal and negitave to the negative terminal with the ignition as the interupter) and I dont have anything conected to the post on the distributor. Thanks for your help

Answer 1

The coil positive should have a resistance wire in series with the 12 Volt supply from the ignition switch. That way it gets 6 Volts from the ignition switch when the engine is running. That is to increase the life of the coil. A 12 Volt wire intersects to the coil side of the resistance wire. This 12 Volt wire comes from the rear small terminal on the starter solenoid. It only provides 12 Volts for an added boost while starting. The negative side of the coil is connected to the wire from the points in the distributor NOT to the battery negative. This provides the switching the coil needs to produce firing pulses as the points provide a ground every time they close and break the connection, allowing the coil's field to collapse and produce a firing pulse, every time the points open. If you don't have an original wiring harness, with the resistance wire, you can purchase an ignition resistor, many GM and Chrysler products used them, from a parts store, and mount it on the firewall. The engine will run without it but coil life will be reduced.