HEI Distributor Power Wire

[eoseitz]

The previous owner of my 74 corvette hooked up an HEI distributor. He did a hillbilly job of wiring it. He ran a toggle switch and a direct wire to the battery in order to bypass the resistor wire. Does anyone know of a good ACC hook up in the fuse box that is powered on when the key is turned on? I have a new engine wiring harness, but I know it's got the resistor wire for the distributor too. Also, the previous owner moved the alternator to the passenger side of the engine so he could access the power steering resovoire eaiser. Is there an extension cable I can get for this so I don't have to splice into my harness like he did? Underneith my hood is a mess. A nightmare of cut wires and electrical tape. I have the color wiring scematics so that should help.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Does anyone know of a good ACC hook up in the fuse box that is powered on when the key is turned on? .

I think the terminal marked ACC on the fuse box would be a good place to start.

 

[eoseitz]

There are no labels on my fuse box. lol. Which one would that be?

 

[bill81vette]

do you have an service manual or instruction manual????
It should tell you in there..

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

There are no labels on my fuse box. lol. Which one would that be?

That would be the one that has no power when the key is turned off.

 

[TimAT]

12v testlight. Probe the open terminals in the fuse block- probe it, turn the key on, if it lights, that's the one. (provided it goes out when you turn off the key)

 

[lars]

You don't want to use an "ACC" terminal. You want to use an "IGN" terminal on the fusebox.

Lars

 

[LLC5]

The previous owner of my 74 corvette hooked up an HEI distributor. He did a hillbilly job of wiring it. He ran a toggle switch and a direct wire to the battery in order to bypass the resistor wire. Does anyone know of a good ACC hook up in the fuse box that is powered on when the key is turned on? I have a new engine wiring harness, but I know it's got the resistor wire for the distributor too. Also, the previous owner moved the alternator to the passenger side of the engine so he could access the power steering resovoire eaiser. Is there an extension cable I can get for this so I don't have to splice into my harness like he did? Underneith my hood is a mess. A nightmare of cut wires and electrical tape. I have the color wiring scematics so that should help.

Lars was correct, you want an ignition source and not an accessory feed source for the distributer power wire.

I would not use a connector at the fuse panel as you do not want a fused source to power the distributer. GM used an ignition source that runs directly off the ignition switch and is protected by a fusible link, not a fuse. There is a big difference between the two, and a fusible link is the proper way to protect the ignition feed to the distributer. Good luck with it.

 

[eoseitz]

Would the yellow circle be where I connect the wire? It has a male plug on it and is labeled IGN. What gauge wire will I need? Looks like the previous owner used 10 gauge.

 

[lars]

That's the one. 12-gauge will work fine.

Lars