1965 New Ballast Resistor

[George C.]

I have been reading the archives looking for information about ballast resistors. One of the threads I just read talked about errors rates in meters and variations in manufacture giving readings anywhere from .8 to 2.4. Other threads discussed low resistance readings and over heated coils. And also higher resistor ratings through the C2 model years.

My car currently has an aftermarket resistor, that is performing just fine as far as I can tell. This one reads .8 with my meter.

I purchased a repo Blue Stripe resistor many years ago, and never installed it because it measures 2 OHMS.

My question is what would be the downside of installing this 2 OHM resistor?

[Duke W.]

Re: 1965 New Ballast Resistor

OE ballasts were 0.3 and 1.8 ohms nominal at room temperature. Use of the 0.3 ohm ballast ended after 1964. The low ohm ballast offered higher primary current for more per spark energy, but could be tough on points. Given the low resistance it's best to use a high end meter to get the most accurate resistance measurement.

I doubt if installing the repro that you measured at 2.0 ohms will have any noticeable effect on engine performance one way of the other.

Duke

[George C.]

Re: 1965 New Ballast Resistor

Duke,
Thank you for the confirmation.
I am sure you know that many of the previous threads on Ballast Resistors, that I quoted above included answers from you.
Thanks for all your support and education here on the discussion boards.
George

[Michael M.]

Re: 1965 New Ballast Resistor

As an FYI, I bought a Shafer's Classic Reproductions ballast resistor (D1110-A) from Summit last August, actually got two, and they both measured 1.8 ohms with a very accurate multi-meter.

https://www.summitracing.com/nv/parts/ssh-d1110-a

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