Trying to finish electrical conversion. When purchased wiring was in a big ball...so far I bought a new engine harness for a camaro cause the guy told me since I am using a 400 chevy sb the wires would be the right length.
My questions are: Are all newer alt. internally regulated and if so do I need the external alternator regulator orig. installed ? What do I do with the wires if eliminated? What other wiring would normally be changed when switching to an Accel dist. and coil? Thanks for the help! Bob
GM alternators switched to internal regulators during the 69 production year i believe. sometime in the mid eighties the design was changed again. to change to an internal regulator, first decide which alternator you want to use.
since you are using a camaro harness, the wire colors should be correct for you. the wire colors are slightly different on the pontiac.
on the accell, read the directions and see if it requires straight 12v, or a resistor to bring the voltage down during run. the original wiring has a resistor. i have not done this swap, so can only speculate that if need be, you can either eliminate the resistor, or run a new wire w/ no resistance in start or run. i am not familiar with the pontiac ignition resistor. maybe someone else will chime in.
The stock Pontiac ignition has a resistance wire that is a cloth covered stainless steel wire that goes to the coil. This drops the voltage down so the points don't get cooked. Points don't like 12V. There is also a wire that comes off the starter solonoid to the coil so while the engine is cranking and the electrical system voltage drops, the coil gets a boost of voltage. I've got an Accel super coil and points so there is a ballast resistor in addition to the resistance wire. If you are running pointless ignition, usually you run 12V straight to the coil. If you go to the Accel website, I seem to remember that they had info on setting up ignitions.
Thanks for the link Six, and Bob, thanks for the info. The most useful link was the one offered by Wade. I am not an electrical guru by any means but I can learn and this site is terrific for folks like me. I will not have to rely on the parts counter person to steer me in the right direction...I can decide what I want wit the benefit of knowing how the system works! Thank you much, Bob
Yeah, the one by six is the way I wired my 9. Ever since 1977, I had to replace either the alternator or the voltage regulator about every 18 months to 2 years. In 1987, I bought--I belive it was--a 60 amp internal voltage regulator and wired it as shown. In 1989, when I installed the "stealth," 300 watt boom box, a buddy bastard built the alternator to 15 amps. By the way, it's 150k later, and I still have the same alternator. I'm going to have to study the other link because, you know how cheezy the headlights are. I guess it's the it's the ol geezer syndrome. Then again, maybe the 01 STS's High Intensity headlights are spoiling me.
