FBO Ballast Resistor +PIC

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dust

dust

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I have the FBO ignition system in my running Duster. There are two extra-unconnected wires going to ballast resister, what are these for and should I modify them?

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Leave it just like that. Thats what I did as per instruction (MoPar) on my '73 Cuda. Itr's been like that for damn near a decade, no problems.
 
Your harness has provisions for the original dual element ballast and 5-pin connector. This is an obsolete setup, MOPAR and FBO like many others chose not to go that way. Any change you might make would be strictly cosmetic, so if the unused terminals really bug you...
 
I would space that resistor out from the firewall a good inch.Air circulation helps them live a while longer.
 
Thanks, I'm going to leave it as is.

A full inch needsaresto? It really gets that hot huh?
 
dust said:
Thanks, I'm going to leave it as is.

A full inch needsaresto? It really gets that hot huh?
Click to expand...

Yup.

I popped several fbo resistors within 2 months.Dunno why but they were smokin hot.Switched to an msd resistor and put a nut + washers behind it to get it off the firewall.They last at least a year now...

That dang fbo ign puts out a LOT of spark!
 
Thrashard340 said:
I just bought an FBO ignition. It came with the MSD resistor.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I noticed that too in the new kits at the car shows. All the more reason to follow abodyjoe's advice, huh?
 
dust said:
Yeah, I noticed that too in the new kits at the car shows. All the more reason to follow abodyjoe's advice, huh?
Click to expand...

Yea,I ALWAAAAYS carry an extra one.

When I bought my kit it didnt come with the msd resistor.Had to learn that one myself...
 
dust said:
Yeah, I noticed that too in the new kits at the car shows. All the more reason to follow abodyjoe's advice, huh?
Click to expand...



i don't know if they changed the supplier or what but there have been allot of guys that the ecu is just dying latley... yes they are getting replaced for frre wich is cool but that doesn't help when stranded on the side of the road... spending that kinda coin.. i'll stick with MSD.. just my opinion though
 
The FBO kit does come with MSD resisters. It meets the Ohms requirment. The resister does get real hot. You could probably light a cig. off of it.
 
rumblefish360 said:
The FBO kit does come with MSD resisters. It meets the Ohms requirment. The resister does get real hot. You could probably light a cig. off of it.
Click to expand...


All I know is it melted some adjacent wires on me!I ended up rerouting stuff...
 
I personally like the HEI modification to get rid of the ballast and the old out dated ECU. You get much better spark, more power, better fuel econ. you get to gap your plugs around .60 and the GM module is only like $30 at any parts store.
 
1. We haven't used the SMP RU-11 Resistor for nearly 4 years?

2. Alot of failures??? Where are you getting your information?
FACT: We've had 18 component failures in 6 years and over 5,000 units in service world wide, that's a .0036% failure rate and we've warranteed every one of them INCLUDING paying the frieght back to the customer.

3. HEI Modules? Bring it on! I'll show you on our test bench how the FBO Systems "Outdated ECU" will run circles around your "Partstore" $30.00 HEI module in RPM and Output....it's not even a contest.

4. Stranded on the side of the road?
Any parts store ECU will get you home, won't run real good but it'll always get you home, so When, not If, so When your MSD fails keep your AAA card handy. Any stock type replacement part will work on the FBO Ignition System it won't perform to perfection but it'll keep you off the back of Bubba's hauler.

You guy's find me any ignition system that will run to 8000 RPM, maintain out put levels in the 34-38KV range, install in 20 minutes, not retard the timing to 8000 RPM, failure rate of less than .004% and cost less than $130.00 including the Cap and Rotor.....I'll Buy It and install it on my car!

FYI....At the Division 6 Finals last month the Final Round pair of Pro Bracket Cars in the Big Money Cash Bash were both running FBO Ignition and FBO/ETS Carburetors and the loser wasn't a Mopar, so we know who took home all the money :))

http://www.4secondsflat.com/fbo__et_slayer_carburetors.htm
See the big winner and read his story at the bottom of the page.

A 10 flat Race Car running a $129.00 ignition system and winning continuously!
 
Hey Don. Gotta vouce for your system again. Still keeps on kicking the beast over. The everyday driver loves it. The hot rod pured. No complaints.

(Hell, if your nervous, but a second resister in the glove.)
 
I gotta vouch for the fbo system too!

It totally kicks *** on the Mallory unit it replaced.I noticed more power down low and up hi in the rpm range.Plus it helped idle characteristics!

My kit has been in use on the street for over 3 years now,and no issues.Other than the ballast resistor(MSD product not fbo..).But I spaced mine out from the firewall,havent replaced it in quite a while now.
 
If we had a truck load of money I'd design an Electronic ballast resistor and be done with MSD, sometimes we need to work with what we can get and afford.

BTW....MSD is forcing me to discontinue selling their wires as part of my "Whole Shabang" kit, they say it looks like we're discounting the wires.
I get regular hate mail from their Marketing Department threatning me.
They are at the very top of my A** H**es of the corporate world list.

Soon a web page will appear that will disclose all the errors of their ways, where they have their stuff made and what a MSD Distributor really is...stay tuned, I'm on a mission to set it all straight.

We're also busy packing up all the wire sets we have on the shelf and returning thm to our warehouse (That'll make them happy LOL)

We're going with the Fyrewire50's from Custom Wire and Rick Gorski, absolutly the best wire set in the industry! ..Period.
 
Sometimes it is just a shame how things get done.

Writ'em up Don.
 
cuda66273 said:
If we had a truck load of money I'd design an Electronic ballast resistor and be done with MSD, sometimes we need to work with what we can get and afford.
Click to expand...

Isn't the ballast resistor there to provide 12v to the coil at start up, then 8v at running?
Couldn't you just swap to a coil that won't burn up at 12-14v ?

I personally don't run one.
 
There are internal resistor coils available but they are for stock replacement only. There is no performance internal resistor coils produced that I know of. Plus whether the resistor is external or internal there still is a resistor in the system.


Chuck
 
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