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all stock wiring. Any ideas where to look?
Is it possible to install the petronix kit into an ELECTRONIC distributor like you can a points unit so i can do away with all the factory crap?

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For a chemical to aid in cleaning reportedly "Deoxit" is VG for cleaning terminals (I'm gonna try it). Not sure who sells it but it'd be easy to find out

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[ BTW Deoxit is manufactured by Caig Laboratories:

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Bee thank you! Mopower, sorry to hear it's gotten worse. A vacation away from it may chill the nerves. Rest assured it is something simple (you'll see )

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Still, jumpering the coil from the battery should eliminate this like it usually does, correct?

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the large (7 or 8 mm) insulated wire from the coil to the dist cap center terminal. Twist/pull/remove the dist end of it & hold it 1/4" from the intake manifold metal surface

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what color was the spark? yellow or blue/yellow or blue

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check/clean the plugs/appropriate # of pumps/correct choke setting/fire that puppy up

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yes the HEI puts out one hell of a spark but the OE mopar setup will start/run OK & the voltage drop here from the poor electrical connections is making the spark somewhat weaker but blue/yellow should be enough to fire. I would correct the voltage drops so you dont have to use the jumper as the hard components are adequate enough as it does fire when you jump it

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according to what ive read, the ballast should bring the voltage do 5.5-6 volts in 'Run', mine is 5.6 in run, so thats fine. The problem is when cranking, it should be 12 volts and its only 7.7.

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If it will run with 5.6 then it should start with 7.7 even tho the speed is slower/less firing impulses (with 2.1 higher coil input pri voltage) and we will never get 12 (or batt voltage which will very likely be higher than 12 maybe 13+) cuz there is one heck of a voltage drop in the system cuz of the starter cranking draw. I'm still trying to think of something that will help you (& when I get to my racing partners truck I may need to fall back on this

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Have you separated the connector that ties steering column wiring(from ignition switch) to wiring harness that feeds starter/ignition circuit?

There are 6 main wires, blue, red, brown, yellow etc. One of these 6 is only energized when ignition switch is in 'start' position thereby bypassing ballast and going directly to coil positive. I forget which one,,,test light or schematic will tell you.

If connection for that wire at the connector is not solid, wiil cause exactly the problem you are experiencing. Same goes for bulkhead connection for this wire.

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Have you separated the connector that ties steering column wiring(from ignition switch) to wiring harness that feeds starter/ignition circuit?

There are 6 main wires, blue, red, brown, yellow etc. One of these 6 is only energized when ignition switch is in 'start' position thereby bypassing ballast and going directly to coil positive. I forget which one,,,test light or schematic will tell you.

If connection for that wire at the connector is not solid, wiil cause exactly the problem you are experiencing. Same goes for bulkhead connection for this wire.

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. Ok I will try to figure out what wire that is and see if there is 12 volts at the ign. Switch. Where will this wire be coming from, the starter relay possibly}?

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I agree

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You are wired correct (& it did start at one time) and the soldered in green wire w red tracer is required for an OE type 5 pin (5 pins are functioning) ECU and it just dead ends now in the pentastar connector & that ain't causing you any problems with your 4 pin ECU & you would need that (green/red tr wire) if you ever subbed back in an OE 5 pin ECU. we will get his solved! Grab that alligator clip jumper & work backward from the coil positive primary. There is poor continuity in some connection between batt/coil pos pri cuz jumping directly from batt to coil pos pri does let it fire up

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Robert, also, that green and red wire you see soldered is actually the light blue/yellow wire at the ECU, I had to extend the wire years ago to re-arrange things for the big block..

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keyed on 12 v source (switched 12V) would be the blue wire coming from the bulkhead. You would also tie the brown ign 2 "crank" wire to the blue wire so the HEI and the coil get fed full 12v in start and in run. In '83 I ran an OE electronic dist with an HEI module from a '75 chebby and an accell super coil the big yellow beast with no ballast. it started instantly & ran Ok afaik. Accell later told me to run a .8 or .7 (dont remember which) ballast with it but it did not burn out & you always have alot of leeway on how much ballast you can get by with. Dont forget the heat sink paste between module/alum block. Holler how it runs out. You know I'm wondering if one of your hard components is borderline & the slight voltage drop is just enough to make it non functioning (wont start). I would never suggest shotgunning parts at a problem but if you have parts (I have tons & tons) you might sub in another coil then another ECU then the pickup cuz it's the hardest to change & your gap is good correct? (.008")

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the blue wire does go dead when you turn the key to crank & juice flows back thru the ballast over to the blue wire side then out to the ECU as it too needs to be fed in "crank". If you go with an ECU (HEI) and an E coil & both are designed for full on 12V (no ballast) then yes you would T the blue and brown wires together then when it starts you also have current in the brown wire circuit from the blue wire cuz they are tied together but it (the brown wire) dead ends back at the ign sw "ign2" terminal & there's no problems with that. The Carbonaro effect is on so I will check back tomorrow

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separated, the blue side has full battery voltage in 'run' and the brown side has full voltage in 'start', but combine the 2 sides either by the ballast, OR, jumpering them together, and the voltage drops 2.5 volts from full battery voltage.
The Hei conversion says it HAS to have a full 12 volts at all times or it wont live..

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separated, the blue side has full battery voltage in 'run' and the brown side has full voltage in 'start', but combine the 2 sides either by the ballast, OR, jumpering them together, and the voltage drops 2.5 volts from full battery voltage.
The Hei conversion says it HAS to have a full 12 volts at all times or it wont live..

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The brown side will always drop several volts at least from the starter draw. The brown side cannot have 12+ volts during cranking cuz the starter draws alot & will drops to ~10 V or so whether it is tied to the blue wire circuit or not. If you tie the two together the 10+ during cranking will be enough to fire the HEI and when it starts it'll be fed 13+, the normal charging voltage

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The brown bypass wire puts out a full 13 volts when turning the key to start which is perfect. The blue 'run' wire also puts out 13 volts when the key is in run, also perfect. Now, this is with the wires not jumpered together or linked together through the ballast! Now, if i hook them to the ballast like its supposed to be, OR, just jumper them together, the voltage when in start drops to 10.5, a whole 2.5 volts less. So, if i jumper them together to run the HEI, it will still drop to 10.5. Everything im reading says its got to have at least 12 all the time..Like i said, separated, the blue 'run' wire and the brown bypass 'start' wire put out 13 volts, which indicates no voltage drop through the bulkhead, BUT, jumper them together, OR, hook them to the ballast as they are supposed to be and the 'start' voltage drops to 10.5. Makes no damn sense. Why linking the 2 sides together causes this is unexplainable. Thoughts?

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showing 13V on either of the female ballast connectors dangling in the air does not show voltage drop since there is no load. If there is at least 1 micro strand of wire from batt to dangling connector(s) you would still show 13 Volts (pressure). As soon as there's a load and current starts to flow then there is a voltage drop cuz one strand of wire cannot handle the amount of amperage that a given device will draw so checking the dangling ends in run and in start only shows basic continuity is in place (13V) but not if there is adequate continuity for alot of amperage which is why your original jumping did let it start. Connecting the (2) female connectors to the ballast ends will show a drop (10.5) in crank cuz the current to the brown wire end is being reduced as it moves across the ballast to the blue wire side (& current drawing devices are on/out from the blue wire side). Short version: Tie the blue/brown wires together & 10.5 will be enough to fire the HEI (trust me). Now if you are saying that the dangling blue and brown wires each have 13V respectively but you connect the female ends to each other with a jumper with alligator clips (no ballast/nothing else in the picture) & then it has 10.5 (now is that run or crank or both) then yes that does not make sense as I dont see any added load but there has to be for it to be dropping from 13 to 10.5 so I am missing something. What I would do is with them jumpered together with your meter probes on the batt neg/pos posts see (1) what you have in "run" and (2) in "crank" and keep the neg probe on batt neg post & (3) connect positive probe to your blue/brown jumper connection & see what you have in (4) "run" and (5) in "crank". Holler back when you can