Posted on 04/24/2014 3:02:38 AM PDT by Reaganite Republican
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| 1970 Plymouth GTX |
***ping***
Okay, but PURPLE?
I can say two words and make any 1960’s to late 1970’s mopar product stop dead in its tracks:
Ballast resistor.
CC
True fact lol
Oh...I couldn’t agree with you more.
I have a survivor 71 cutlass supreme with less than 6000 I would gladly trade for a 67 Plymouth 2 door hardtop Satellite, GTX or Belvedere 2 in similar shape.
They’re right there on the upper fire wall. Never had one go on me. If it bothers you throw one in the glove box. I have owned 20 or so cars with this device and I heard of the problem but never experienced it.
For 1970? It has to be ESPECIALLY Hot Wheels purple.
LOL!
The ballast resistor was like a $ 4 part, located on the fender under the hood, and you are right, the MOPAR vehicle was dead if it went bad.
Once you knew about it, you could make a dead vehicle start like magic by replacing it.
Had a ceramic one on a ‘78 Dodge pickup that gave us fits when the vehicle was only one year old.
A lot of mechanics did not even know about it.
Your post brought back a flood of frustrating memories.
Why not purple?
I don’t understand why so many Americans have an aversion to cars that are painted anything other than black, white, gray, silver, or any number of dull, drab variations on black, white, gray, or silver.
Those four non-colors represent close to three quarters of all car purchases in the US.
How boring can you get?
I remember those. If it went bad the engine would start, but die as soon as you disengaged the starter. The ignition coil was actually for a 6V system, and the ballast resistor dropped the voltage to the coil so you didn’t burn it up. There was a second wire off the starter circuit that bypassed the resistor and gave it the full 12V to insure you got a good spark while it was starting.
And then there’s that unique starter sound that Mopar’s had in that era.
They’re right there on the upper fire wall. Never had one go on me. If it bothers you throw one in the glove box. I have owned 20 or so cars with this device and I heard of the problem but never experienced it.
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Maybe you live in New Mexico or Nevada ... They were notorious for shorting out immediately after a rainstorm ,, they were right on the firewall and rain would run down and into them... What’s really funny is that the good replacement part is made in China , looks identical to that beast but simply has a tiny modern resistor inside the (well sealed unlike the original) can.
My Old Pig Ain’t Runnin’.
Mostly Orange Paint And Rust.
I converted a ‘51 Chevy pickup to 12V, and kept the 6V coil and used the same setup on it. Went down to Radio Shack and got a power resistor in an aluminum heat-sink package.
You mean
Wrrr CHING CHING CHING CHING
Va-ROOOOOM!
It ain't just purple. It's PLUM CRAZY purple!
“There was a second wire off the starter circuit that bypassed the resistor and gave it the full 12V to insure you got a good spark while it was starting.”
Actually the reason the ballast was bypassed during starting was to apply full battery voltage - but since this was during starting, that voltage was much less than 12 Volts...so the voltage to the points was about the same whether starting or running (i.e., with the ballast in line).
Now that I'm past giving a rat's buttocks about what I drive as long as it gets me there (currently Subaru, TBP), I can now appreciate and enjoy the GM and FoMoCo survivors of those days. But back then? If it wasn't Mopar, it wasn't "one of ours." Mom and dad would have blanched at a purple one, but they'd have enthusiastically put a black/black GTX in the garage as the family car… if there hadn't already been a '70 Charger sitting there.
Mr. niteowl77
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