[Nitrouz boy]

I am in the middle of doing a turbo swap in a 240Z and I was wondering if I need the ballast resistor or not? What does it do? I have an aftermarket tach, I dont know if that matters any. And the 280turbo motor didnt have a ballast resistor on it. ANd if I can bypass it how do I do so? do I just splice the wires that go tho the posts on the ballast together? Thanks, NB

 

[luggnut73]

Laffing gas guy, Only kidding, The ballast resister is there on the early Zs to drop the voltage from 12v to 8v so that the engine starts on 12 & runs 8 . It is done so that you dont fry the points in the ignition, that is the origional early dist. that had points . If you are going to run an electronic ign. you dont need it and just connect the wires togither. and remove it. I pulled mine when I installed a '79 ignition. works vary well. Good luck, Gary Portland Or

 

[Zuber]

Ballast resistors were there on all first gen Zs. It is used so that during starting, the coil can have a stronger spark using 12 volts. Once running, the coil switches to 6 volts.

It is for protection of the COIL not the points (Ok, it may protect the points also, but EI Zs don't have points, and still need the ballast res). First gen Zs use 6 volt coils. Running them with 12 volts for extended periods will cause damage and failure.

If switching to the ZXT ignition, make sure to get all the ignition stuff. Then you don't have to worry about it. Also, if you opt to get an aftermarket high power coil, it should say if it needs a ballast resistor or not. Most don't.