383 in a 340 car wiring issue

[82ABNVET]

So I bought a '73 cuda and it came with a '66 383. It runs but only if I run a jumper from the +coil to the +battery. I've looked at some wiring schematics online but I'm not very savy when it comes to wiring. The wiring in the engine bay is a mess. Connectors are unplugged and nothing is plugged into the electronic control unit, regulator, and ballast. All the diagrams I've looked at have two wires coming out of the distributor but mine only has one? Any help with this would be appreciated.

[dodj]

Kinda hard to know where to start. What kind of dist is in the car, points? Electronic ign left over from the 340?

[82ABNVET]

The electronic ignition is still on the car, and the 383 Dist is a points Dist. The connectors aren't hooked to the ECU, the voltage regulator, or the ballast.

[Chryco Psycho]

Power to the coil should run through a single ballast with 2 connections to drop power to the coil or it will burn up the coil .
 if you want to use the electronic ign which I would recommend you will need a new dist & all of the system needs to be connected

[82ABNVET]

Can I install a pertronix kit into the existing Dist and do away with the points system, or do I need to buy a whole new Dist? There's a red wire under the dash that goes into the steering column, it looks to be about 10ga wire. It got hot at some point and partially melted both connectors where it plugs in under the dash. Could not using the ballast be the culprit for this wire getting hot? I wish people would just leave things alone, especially when they don't know what their doing.

[dodj]

Not the ballast's fault there. The red wire melting the connector at the column is a relatively common issue. The connector gets a little loose and then heats up.

[82ABNVET]

Okay thanks for the info, that's good to know. 

[82ABNVET]

So could I just buy the pertronix kit and convert my existing Dist or do I need to buy a whole new Dist?

[Chryco Psycho]

I am not a fan of Pertronics , I have seen too many failures most are from incorrect wiring though , you have to feed the unit 12v  ,not coil voltage
you can bolt the Pertronics into a points dist

[82ABNVET]

Would that be 12v from the ignition switch?

[Chryco Psycho]

yES , blue wire at the ballast is 12v switched

[82ABNVET]

Outstanding thanks for the help.

[82ABNVET]

I got my pertronix 1381A a couple days ago and I'm still having some issues. I got it all installed in the Dist but with the previous owner disconnecting and splicing wires I'm not sure what's what. I plugged the plugs back into the ECU and voltage regulator but there are some other wires that are just hanging loose not plugged in to anything. Not sure what gets plugged in to the ballast either. I thought this would be simple but I'm not real savy when it comes to automotive wiring. HELP PLEASE!

[73restomod]

Need some photos and would be glad to help:)

[82ABNVET]

I appreciate it! Been trying to upload photos but haven't had any luck, I've even tried photo bucket. I'll keep trying. Thanks!