Wiring confusion MSD 8388 Distributor to a new harness

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YoungDuster

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Hey guys so i got the 72 duster in the shop just bought a new harness with ECU capabilities to replace the older one as well as a new distributor

http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/msd-8388/overview/year/1972/make/plymouth/model/duster

to go with

http://www.herbsparts.com/cart.asp?rp=http://www.herbsparts.com/products.asp?cat=919&pg=2

just not sure what to do with ECU piece since the distributor does not need once, would i just by pass it all together?, if they sold me the wrong part even tho i asked them and explained to the company 3 times what i was doing and the parts i was using lol. Thanks guys!
 
Either return the ECU or the distributor, because you don't need both.

To use that distributor you will need to either cut or tuck away the ECU harness section and eliminate the ballast, but use the existing ballast supply side wires to power your new distributor.
The other direction would be to keep the OEM ECU and make everything stock.

Personally I would send the ECU back and use the HEI capable distributor you have, which also eliminates the ballast.
Then the money saved on the OEM ECU can go towards a nice HEI coil.
 
Your link to the harness did not work, but I assume it's a repop harness with the ECU wiring built in.

You won't need the ballast with that. I would be tempted to carefully unwrap / cut open the harness and remove the ECU wiring. You might even sell it here for a buck or two.

Hook all the wires going to the ballast together, except the ones leading to the ECU plug

Use the original harness coil + wire to feed to your coil +

If you are careful, use good crimp or solder connections and heat shrink, you should be able to "hide" all that in the harness when re-wrapped.
 
the car never had an ECU so ill keep the distributor thanks man i thought thats what needed to be done but i wanted to be sure!
 
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