INSTALLED NEW POINTS,CONDENSER,PLUGS,WIRES,COIL,AND BATTERY. BOUGHT A BALLAST RESISTOR AND AM WONDERING WHERE IT IS INSTALLED. I KNOW IT IS BAD BECAUSE CAR WILL ONLY RUN IF I RUN WIRE FROM HOT SIDE OF COIL TO HOT SIDE OF BATTERY. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHERE TO INSTALL THIS BECAUSE I COULDN'T FIND A REPAIR GUIDE AT LOCAL PARTS STORES TODAY.
running the coil straight from the battery for very long will smoke your coil :af: from the excessive voltage. i dont have a 73 manual, but i do have a 74 manual. 74 was the changeover year from points. some had them and some had HEI. on a 74, if it had points, it had a white wire with an orange and purple stripe running from the firewall to the distributor. a yellow wire (that comes from the starter seloniod)will tie into it right before it gets to the distributor. the yellow wire gives the coil a full 12 volts straight from the battery cable while the motor is being started because when the starter is engaged, the voltage through the ballast(which is normally only about 6-8 volts while the car is running) is reduced to a couple of useless volts while cranking. there may not be a "visible" ballast on your car. that white wire with the orange and purple stripe might instead be a resister wire. if it is, it may be toasted inside. if so, you will need to replace it between the firewall and the "tie in" point at the yellow wire and add the new ballast in line. if you are not familiar with testing/replacing suspect wires, i recommend you find someone who is. maybe someone with a 73 manual will post and confirm mine or correct any differences that might exsist.
