Mach 1 Club

Can anyone help me with the installation of the Pertronix 1 on a 1971.
I have looked at everything I could find on the internet and they all seem to address the 65-70 only.
I can not seem to determine which wire coming from the plug at the bottom of the steering column is the correct one.There is NO pink wire visible.Some suggested that it is the red/green wire.I tried that one and only get 12 volts when the blinker is flashing.I have heard that there is different colors based on whether I have a tach or not.There is a factory tach.
I have a very nice original harness that I do not want to guess with.
I am not an electrician as you may have guessed,but someone has to be able to describe which wire I need to splice to.
Thanks

(03-25-2012, 09:06 PM)sjohnson2615 Wrote: [ -> ]Can anyone help me with the installation of the Pertronix 1 on a 1971.
I have looked at everything I could find on the internet and they all seem to address the 65-70 only.
I can not seem to determine which wire coming from the plug at the bottom of the steering column is the correct one.There is NO pink wire visible.Some suggested that it is the red/green wire.I tried that one and only get 12 volts when the blinker is flashing.I have heard that there is different colors based on whether I have a tach or not.There is a factory tach.
I have a very nice original harness that I do not want to guess with.
I am not an electrician as you may have guessed,but someone has to be able to describe which wire I need to splice to.
Thanks

The wire you are looking for comes from the ignition switch and goes directly to the block at the fire wall. I would suggest you do not cut it but by pass it all the way to the coil it's self. That way if for what ever reason you can always go back to it's original set up.
One other thing , It is suppossed to be pink , however mine was not , it was red with a green stripe ? So you definetly want to use a wiring diagram to make sure you have the correct wire to trace from coil to switch because they did some things at the factory that don't agree with the information you may have about the color . I actualy had to use a meter to make sure I had the right wire.

(03-25-2012, 11:15 PM)mymachone Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-25-2012, 09:06 PM)sjohnson2615 Wrote: [ -> ]Can anyone help me with the installation of the Pertronix 1 on a 1971.
I have looked at everything I could find on the internet and they all seem to address the 65-70 only.
I can not seem to determine which wire coming from the plug at the bottom of the steering column is the correct one.There is NO pink wire visible.Some suggested that it is the red/green wire.I tried that one and only get 12 volts when the blinker is flashing.I have heard that there is different colors based on whether I have a tach or not.There is a factory tach.
I have a very nice original harness that I do not want to guess with.
I am not an electrician as you may have guessed,but someone has to be able to describe which wire I need to splice to.
Thanks

The wire you are looking for comes from the ignition switch and goes directly to the block at the fire wall. I would suggest you do not cut it but by pass it all the way to the coil it's self. That way if for what ever reason you can always go back to it's original set up.
One other thing , It is suppossed to be pink , however mine was not , it was red with a green stripe ? So you definetly want to use a wiring diagram to make sure you have the correct wire to trace from coil to switch because they did some things at the factory that don't agree with the information you may have about the color . I actualy had to use a meter to make sure I had the right wire.

Does anyone have a pic of the "block at the fire wall"?
I would like to understand electronics better,but I was trying to find the wire at the bundle of wires that come down the column from the key and go to another plug that goes through the firewall.
Am I looking in the wrong spot?

(03-26-2012, 08:31 AM)sjohnson2615 Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-25-2012, 11:15 PM)mymachone Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-25-2012, 09:06 PM)sjohnson2615 Wrote: [ -> ]Can anyone help me with the installation of the Pertronix 1 on a 1971.
I have looked at everything I could find on the internet and they all seem to address the 65-70 only.
I can not seem to determine which wire coming from the plug at the bottom of the steering column is the correct one.There is NO pink wire visible.Some suggested that it is the red/green wire.I tried that one and only get 12 volts when the blinker is flashing.I have heard that there is different colors based on whether I have a tach or not.There is a factory tach.
I have a very nice original harness that I do not want to guess with.
I am not an electrician as you may have guessed,but someone has to be able to describe which wire I need to splice to.
Thanks

The wire you are looking for comes from the ignition switch and goes directly to the block at the fire wall. I would suggest you do not cut it but by pass it all the way to the coil it's self. That way if for what ever reason you can always go back to it's original set up.
One other thing , It is suppossed to be pink , however mine was not , it was red with a green stripe ? So you definetly want to use a wiring diagram to make sure you have the correct wire to trace from coil to switch because they did some things at the factory that don't agree with the information you may have about the color . I actualy had to use a meter to make sure I had the right wire.

Does anyone have a pic of the "block at the fire wall"?
I would like to understand electronics better,but I was trying to find the wire at the bundle of wires that come down the column from the key and go to another plug that goes through the firewall.
Am I looking in the wrong spot?

I only have diagrams for the 69 , you may be able to find on online some where . I think there is a mustang site that you can get some much needed help with this isuue. Try www.vintage-mustangs.com

Get your info and come back

I am pretty sure your in the right spot. I just did mine a couple weeks ago.
On the plug going to the firewall look for a red with green stripe. There should be 2 coming out of the same prong. Trace those out. About 2-3 inches there should be blue plastic thing(mine was) that goes around the wire. That is your resistor.

You can splice anyplace from that up to the switch and take it all the way to the pertronix. Leave the wire going to the positive(+) side of the coil alone and hook up the black wire from the pertronix to the negative(-) side of the coil.
Then should be good to go. Ah, one thing i did and researched was to make sure you have the right spark plug wires too. I believe it is recomended to have stranded wires, not solid.

Will run out to the garage and take some pics and check on the spark plug wires.

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I would highly recomend to get yourself a volt meter(multimeter) from the auto parts store before splicing into any wires. I also ran a whole new wire to the pertronix.
Also get yourself some of these

These let you slip over existing wire and slide in the new one and use a pair of pliers to push the metal prongs into the wires getting connection. If you ever want to go back to stock these are very easy to remove and can hardly tell the wire was cut. I would still wrap some electrical tape around the wire if you do this.
This is a pic of the igniton wire with the resistor. Note, i spliced before the resistor (towards the igniton switch). This lets me get full 12volts all the time to the pertronix.

Note on the coil (right side in my pic), the original igniton wire(the one i spliced into) still goes to the +. On the left (-) is the black wire from the pertronix.

It is a fairly simple process. I still need to go back and do some touch ups to the wires but it made a big improvemant in idle and responsiveness.

Thanks a lot Matt,
That is what I was looking for.I have that same kind of splice connector and that is what I was going to use.Now I know to look for the wire that has the blue resistor.
The one I did try was green and red like the one you show,but it did not have the blue resistor.I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out why I was not getting 12 volts on my meter when I turned on the ignition.I accidentally hit the blinker switch and got 12 volts every time it flashed,so I realized I was on the wrong wire.
Matt,does your car have a factory tach?
Somewhere I read the factory tach cars use a blue/red wire and the non tach cars use the red/green.
I will just look for the one with the resistor.

Sorry, forgot to add i don't have a tach. The only lt blue/ red stripe wire i can find is going the headlight switch in the wiring drawings i have. The red/lt green is still part of the coil circuit.

Can you tell what color wire is going to the + side of your coil?
I also took the covers off the steering column and traced that bundle of wires out all the way to the 2 plugs just to be sure.

Steve, it is going great. It is nice to be able to hop in, turn the key and hit the road. I am just torn on what to do with my 71 now. Not sure if i should sell off the parts or sell as is or keep it tucked away and hope someday i will have some time to get it all back together.

The coil has a red to pos and a black to neg the best I can see using a flashlight this morning.I will get a better look on my days off work this Thurs and Friday.