Wiring with an idiot; Help needed with -63 ignition

I need to say this first: Of all the things I'm bad at in this hobby, electric & wiring things are the one I suck the most. So spare me the whipping, I've done that already.

Long story short: While replacing my heater core and heater control levers I took out some of the dash. I ended up removing an 1980-era car stereo and amplifier from the glovebox, with a lot of additional wiring for it.

Now when I tried to start up after putting her back together, I got no spark at all. The reason turned out to be a cut wire to the ignition coil. The previous owner has put in a Pertronix Ignitor 2 and a new coil. I have no idea at what point I have managed to cut the wire, nor where did the wire even come from. I can't find the other end (coming from the ignition switch) of the wire, and I'm totally baffled.

So now I need to find out a way to run a new wire to the coil. Suggestions how to go at it? As I can see, the fusebox and ignition switch are original, but a lot of the wiring are not.

I will be most gratefull for all assistance.

If I'm reading my wiring diagram correctly (one of the big laminated one from ClassicCarWiring.com) a black wire runs from the #2 post on the ign switch to the coil. An ignition resistor wire runs from the #1 post on the switch (same post as the ign light wire) and splices into the black wire before attaching to the + post on the coil. You need a full 12V to start the car, then the resistor lowers the voltage when the car is running. The - wire from the coil runs to the distributor.

Hope this helps. I didn't check to see if this agrees with the diagram in the chassis manual.

Ed

Thanks for the info Ed. So I need to build in a resistor wire too, that's new. Damn.

What's the most convenient way to get to the ignition switch wires? Do I need to tear down the whole drivers side dash?

There's an access panel right below the switch. If you need to pull the entire switch, you can put the key in the ign and turn it to ACC. Straighten out a paper clip and stick it in the hole next to the key slot; the key set will fall out and you can remove the bezel ring. That will let the wired part of the switch fall out from behind the dash into the access panel.

Hopefully there will still be some wires left there with which you can work. Good luck.

Ed

Thanks Ed, that's a good tip. I'll do some recon and see what I can do.

You have a main power feed going into the ignition switch that then feeds half of the fuse panel for things that go on and off with the key (wipers, radio, A/C or heater, etc.). So be sure to disconnect the battery ground cable before messing with that ignition switch. Otherwise, if something hot touches a ground, you will have a bigger electrical problem than you have now!

Something's not right. I have had dashes out of a lot of Riviera's and the ignition wire is no where near the radio. Can you post a picture of what you cut out? Did you verify no power at the coil?

Dave, as I said this is not an original setup. The power for the amp/stereo was taken straight from the battery with an extra fuse and a lot of wiring. My best guess right now is that the power for the coil was "robbed" from the startup current wire that went to the stereo. And when I took all that out, as a byproduct I lost ignition. Wonderful.

Ok, the good news is that the fix for this should be fairly simple from a wiring stand point. Here is where you start. You mentioned you had to cut wires to remove the old harness. Start by looking for a big red wire that will go down towards the firewall/drivers side of the car. In theory, you cut the single hot lead that went into the radio and then went back to the coil. If you pull the panel off the bottom right of your gauge cluster and look up towards the ignition switch(you may have to remove the switch, it drops down from behind), you will see the large red wire coming off it. That is the main power lead. Think of it like this, whoever cut into your harness cut the red wire and extended off of it for the radio power. All you are doing is reconnecting the red wire to itself, so you are only looking for the cut ends of one wire, same color red, and putting them back together. I am not there to look at it in person, but this is probably the scenario you are looking at. Again, pictures will help a lot. Don't worry, your problem is not huge, just going to be a pain in the ass because there is not a lot of access to the area without taking the gauge cluster out(not fun). We are here to help, let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck!

Thanks for the help so far! Another question, relating to Pertronix products: Do I or do I not need a ballast resistor between ignition and coil? As Ed stated, there is a resistor wire coming from post #1 in the ignition switch to lower the voltage during driving. But is it really necessary with these modern ditributors? In the Pertronix Ignitor 2 installation instructions it says on one hand that you should not use a resistor, on the other hand the picture clearly shows one.

Confused. Could I go with only one 12 v wire?

Lasse

Look at the Pertronix website for a definitive answer.

Ed

My wiring saga continues. A question for all you ignition wizards: What is this wire for? See picture. It´s in the distributor, beneath the rotor, attached to the base. It´s not an Ignitor 2 -part, it´s not mentioned in any of the instructions or pictures. And the mystery intensifies: There is another broken wire attached to the + post of the coil, exactly the same kind of wire and appropriate length for the possibility that these two were connected. Now why would there be such a wire?