78 Nova HEI into 66C10 250.

[vince1]

Should have maybe pulled the motor and TH350 from the yard on their half price weekend but instead scored the HEI for my 230/250/194? It has a 12 or 14 gauge feed wire on it. My question is, can I extend that to the IGN terminal on the ignition switch as I am hoping the switch is able to handle the extra load?

Thanks

PS: 78 Nova was a nice looking car.

[jchav62]

Any 12 volt power supply powered with the key will work. Make sure the feed is not going through a resistor or resistor wire. Use a voltmeter.

[TJ's Chevy]

I hooked the power wire on my HEI to the ignition side of the starter solenoid. Worked fine.

[jtrichard]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

I hooked the power wire on my HEI to the ignition side of the starter solenoid. Worked fine.

IF you hooked to the "R" terminal (on the start solenoid) and your truck has OEM wiring then you are running LOW voltage to your HEI ..... THE OEM wire to the "R" terminal is a resistor wire (from the bulkhead plug to the solenoid) to get a lower voltage to the coil (when running) and FULL voltage to the coil when cranking "HOT START"
I would run a relay off of the ignition wire at the bulkhead plug (the one near the heater) and 12 ga. from the BATT terminal on the solenoid to the relay then 12 ga. to the HEI .....FULL voltage all the time and NO line loss to the HEI... OEM ignition wire from switch to bulkhead plug is only 18 ga. and as said above GM uses 12 ga. to an HEI (there is a reason for that big of wire)

[Rust-O-Matic]

I put an HEI unit from an 80's pickup into a '65 230. For ignition power I just pulled the hot wire off the original coil and attached it to the appropriate terminal on the HEI. That may not be the proper, preferred method, but it has worked fine that way for several years.

[vince1]

Thanks for the replies. I will check and see what is feeding the switch. Hopefully it is 14 ga or larger and then I'll run a 12 ga from the switch to the HEI. I'll tape up the unused OEM wires in case needed at a later date. A relay could be in the cards but not until summer weather comes along, to make the outside job a little more pleasant.

[jtrichard]

HERE is a pretty good post from another site that goes deep into this question http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/sh...hp?tid/188589/

[franken]

As a test, you can connect the hei direct to the battery. No need for a dozen people to vote. If it smokes, unhook it.

We worked on cars before the internet. We didn't stop for a vote. We figured it out and got the car running. All without advice. It seems... I'll stop.

[Tazimafied]

If you have an extra $90 laying around then this would be your best bet.

If you want to go on the cheap unravel your ignition harness and find the wire that is covered with what looks like cloth. It should be very long and make a loop inside the bundle. You can get the original style blade terminal from your local parts store that will plug directly in to the factory bulkhead plug. Run a new 12ga wire to the distributor and everything will work just fine. I did this to my '64 back in 2007 and according to the new owner it is still going strong.