Electronic Ignition *DELETED*

[66_98_CONV]

Post deleted by 66_98_CONV

[rocketraider]

You've got a couple of options. Either A GM HEI or an aftermarket conversion like Pertronix, Jacobs or Mallory Unilite will work well in this car. You might get into some air cleaner clearance issues with HEI.

If you decide to use a factory HEI, one for a 75-76 455 or a 77-79 403 will be good as its advance curve will be enough to give decent power and gas mileage, but not so aggressive that you'll have detonation problems. You'll need to bypass the original coil resistance wire and wire the HEI to a switched 12v power source. There should be one in the 66 fuse block somewhere; the "power antenna" or "power window" plug-in is a good choice if it's not already used, and you can piggyback into these plugs if needed. If NO other source can be found, splice the HEI power wire into the YELLOW wire on the windshield wiper motor underhood. That is always a last resort as I think it looks amateurish and tacky.

The aftermarkets I mentioned are all good units and will mount underneath the existing distributor cap in place of the points. You might want to get the matched coil for each to get the best performance out of them. The Jacobs and Pertronix are designed to run off 12v and would need to be wired same as HEI. Unilites should be wired to the existing coil resistance wire.

Set base timing for all these at 8-10 degrees and open the spark plug gaps up to about .045".

[66_98_CONV]

Do you know where the resister is?

[rocketraider]

It's a calibrated resistance wire in the wiring harness. There's two wires to the coil + terminal. The PINK one is the resistor wire, the yellow/black stripe is the cranking voltage wire. It's only hot when the ignition switch is in START so you can't use it to power the HEI.