Hello To All---Hope you are well. I finally got the engine back in my Silver Hawk. I'm told by Pertronix that I need to not use the resistor in the coil circuit ( the one that is just to the left of the windshield wiper motor I assume ). See the pictures below. I'm kinda brain dead on wiring. Could you just hook the two wires together and leave the white resistor empty ?? I have read by some on this forum that this is not necessary. Opinions are welcome. If I understand this correctly, the resistor lowers the voltage to keep from burning up the points?? I no longer have points with the pertronix distributor. Thanks to all. ---BassMan 
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I run a 14 gauge wire from the ignition switch to the coil Positive post) and bypass the stock Studebaker stuff. -
I don't know about the resistor, but I notice that your battery is installed backwards. The terminals go inboard (toward the engine), not outboard. Your car takes a type 24 battery, not a 24F. There may not be a problem with a terminal potentially touching the hood, but I wouldn't take a chance.
Nice looking engine compartment otherwise.
--DwightComment
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That looks very nice! Resistors don't really lower voltage; they reduce current, and as a result, a lower voltage appears across the item being "protected" by the resistor. And it is current through the points that burns them, not the voltage applied. A quibble? Maybe. But if you meter the voltage across a set of open points, it will be 12.6 volts (assuming a fully-charged battery), whether there is a resistor there or not.
You could just throw away the white porcelain resistor block, and splice the wires together, but that is relying upon the kind-of-skinny, and OLD Studebaker wire to pass enough juice to feed the Pertronix. Yeroldad has the right idea. Run a fresh, dedicated ignition wore from the "IGN"post of the ignition switch to the coil, to ensure the Pertronix gets all the juice it needs.Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta BadlandsComment
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It's been my experience with the Pertronix coils is that they can fail due to overheating without the ballast resistor in the circuit. I have had to replace at least 6 of the Pertronix coils over the years because they got hot and started leaking transformer oil out of the coil tower. The ballast resistor is in the circuit to reduce the voltage from around 14 volts to the primary of the coil to around 10 with the engine running. As far as I'm concerned and coil that has around 1.5 ohms primary winding resistance needs a resistor. There are 12 volt coils that have a primary resistance of around 3 ohms, those don't need a resistor to operate properly. Pertronix produces both the 1.5 ohm and 3 ohm primary resistance coils. The Pertronix module does need full battery voltage to work properly, so do not run them through the resistor. BudComment
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Resistor usage depends on PERTRONIX part number being used. My '56 P-H has PERTRONIX part number 1183 installed. The installation instructions state that :
CAUTION!!! Before installing, please read the following important information....
Page 1 of 5
CAUTION!!! Before installing, please read the following important information....
909-599-5955 www.pertronix.com
1. The Ignitor is designed for 12-Volt negative ground systems.
2. Leaving the ignition “ON” with the engine “OFF” for an extended period could result in permanent damage to
the Ignitor.
3. See Chart on back page for coil recommendations.
4. Eight cylinder engines require a minimum of 1.5 ohms of primary resistance. Do not remove resistors if the
coil primary resistance is less than 1.5 ohms.
5. If your Ignition coil has the recommended primary resistance, remove or bypass all external resistors.
6. The Ignitor is compatible as a trigger for most electronic boxes
I have 1.5 ohm ign.coil and ballast resistor. It had been installed 14 years ago by P-O. I have had no issues.
I guess it depends upon the PERTRONIX part number being used and the resistance of the ign. coil being used.
Bill G.
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Thank you all for the good information. I need a couple days to digest all this, and I will get back with everyone. Thanks again----BassMan-----PS I can answer one thing however. I took pictures of everything before I took it apart. I installed the battery the way it came out. So....I guess it was backwards when I bought the car. I thought to myself that it looked awful close to hitting the hood.
Thanks again for letting me know ! I will turn it around the correct way, and look into getting the correct size battery.Comment
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You likely have a type 24F battery with the PO having installed it backwards in order to make the battery cables fit. The 24F (F for Ford) battery is the same as a type 24 battery except its terminals are reversed relative to a type 24. The 24F battery will work, but should be mounted with the terminals toward the engine. Then, sort out the cables. OR, put in a type 24 battery and get new battery cables made with 2-gauge copper cable (or heavier).
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I have an engine analyzer and have tested the 1.5 ohm Pertronix coils both with and without a ballast resistor. The beer can style coils can produce maybe 35 KV on a good day and I don't care who's coil it is. The Pertronix coil used without a resistor will produce around 5 KV more voltage than when it is run through a resistor, but the coil also runs a bunch hotter than when it is used with a resistor. In most Studebaker engines the missing 5 KV will not change how the engine performs. The only time it may be an issue is in a racing application. As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing wrong with using a good original equipment coil as the output voltage is almost the same as the Pertronix coil. Years ago we built a 1970 Barracuda with a 440 engine running 13 to 1 compression, two 625 AFB carburetors on a tunnel ram manifold with a very large Isky roller cam. We used the stock Prestolite dual point distributor with a modified advance curve, an old Ford yellow top coil that I had on the shelf with an MSD 6A box. The engine would spin to 7200 RPM at both El Mirage and Bonneville and that old Ford coil never gave us any ignition problems. In fact with that ignition setup, the car would run 10 mph faster through the lights than it did with aftermarket ignition systems. The big block Chrysler Prestolite distributor uses the same parts as the Studebaker R engines. The difference is the distributor base. BudComment
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The breaker plate in the MoPar has ball bearings, the Studebaker units do not.Originally posted by Bud View PostComment
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Mike, if you're considering getting a new battery you might want to look at a group 34 size battery. It's the same size with the same terminal locations as the group 24, but, it's about an inch shorter giving even more hood clearance, and it's 800 CCA compared to the group 24 at 550 CCA. I got my Interstate brand group 34 battery at Costco, item number 1624581, and it was even less expensive than the group 24.Originally posted by BassMan View Post
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Now this is news to me, when I had Thibeault restore my R-1 Prestolite he informed me that in the restoration he put in a ball bearing breaker plate as the one in my car did not have one. I am the second owner of the Avanti purchased in 1966.Originally posted by Hawklover View PostComment
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I don't know what breaker plate was in your distributor when you sent it to Dave T, but every R series distributor that I've seen has a dual point ball bearing breaker plate in it. I have at least 4 dual point ball bearing breaker plates on the shelf that I have removed from R series distributors that were not rebuildable.
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Interesting as I have a brand new Interstate group 24 battery and it is claimed to be 600CCA?Originally posted by bensherb View PostComment
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