Points to Electronic Ignition 1973 Galant GTO 2.0L

mike107, May 4, 5:19am
I have a kit to change it over. The kit has 2 wires that go to -ve and +ve on coil. Question 1. Do I need to upgrade the Coil as it is a coil with ballast resistor? 2. Can it use the old coil with resistor attached? Thanks.
monaro17, May 4, 5:32am
If you have a condenser and points then yes a ballast is needed. If you have electronic then no ballast is needed.

So yes, upgrading to electronic ignition will require a coil employing the full 12V, you may be able to disconnect the resistor from your current coil

Edit: as far as I’m aware, hopefully others will confirm this to be sure
m16d, May 4, 5:59am
But isn't a ballast coil only 6 volt. the ballast is bypassed on startup to provide 12v to the 6v coil.
franc123, May 4, 6:03am
You don't NEED to but clearly the system is going to be enhanced by the addition of a more modern higher output coil. The resister is now redundant, yes for the above reasons
alowishes, May 4, 6:38am
My understanding is that the ballast resister knocks back the voltage while the car is running but is bypassed when the starter is spinning - ie full 12V on start up but then the 12V goes through the resistor and down to 6 or 9 volts when engine is running.
franc123, May 4, 7:13am
Its generally about 8 when the engine is running, in reality even when its cranking its still only getting 9-11 for obvious reasons. The full available voltage is a better term than the full 12v.
sr2, May 4, 10:21am
Be a little wary, in the world of ignition points what we called a "ballast coil" is one that is run with an external ballast whereas a "non ballast coil" is one that has an internal ballast, i.e. it starts on 6v.

If you let us know the make of the kit you're using we can give you more accurate advice.
martin11, May 5, 2:46am
The kit I bought recently from Power Spark had all the instuctions to fit it to both ballast and non ballist systems .
martin11, May 5, 4:14am
Ballast coils and normal ones have a different ohm's ratings for each application .
saki, May 6, 10:58am
Some of the kits have recomendations in ther instructions, I would go with a 12v non ballast sport coil.
fast4motion, May 6, 12:56pm
The new electronic ignition needs 12V, so if the instructions actually state that it gets connected to the coil, it's clearly implying that you should have a 12V non-ballast coil (because a ballast resistor coil will only have 6-9V on the +ve terminal when running).

You can use the old coil and resistor, but they're a compromise designed to make starting easier and prolong points on old ignitions, so with your electronic ignition you're better off with a new 12V coil which doesn't need a resistor. If you do keep the old coil and resistor, make sure you connect your new electronic ignition +ve wire to the resistor input or other ignition source, NOT the coil +ve.

Alternatively you can use the old coil without the resistor, but it'll shorten the life of the coil because it's not designed to continuously run on 12V. So again, best option is to fit a new 12V non-ballast coil.
sr2, Aug 11, 11:12am
You're making sense but using the wrong terminology. See #8