Ballast Resister Needed?
In that post a member suggested to tie both the hot wires from the ignition switch to the resistor together but not to run directly to the new ignition box but to use a relay so that the new ignition box would not have power when the switch is turned off. Seems to make sense.
When I look at my factory schematic I see that on one side of the resistor it has power from the run ignition and that also went to the + coil side. The opposite side of the resistor had power from the crank ignition and went on from resistor terminal to the body of the alt. I just went out to the shed and verified this Drk blue wire from resistor to Alt. This leads me to ask 2 questions. First if I eliminate the resistor do I still need the wire to the alt. body that came from the resistor? 2nd question is if this wire is hot during crank how does it become a ground when I let off crank of switch. The place this wire goes on alt says GRD.
Im confused!
The coil looks like the coil for this system that shows up on the internet, so try it.
As for the pickup polarity, I can only suggest to try it one way and see if the idle and performance are smooth and consistent, and then try it the other way to see if it is better or worse. You may have to reset ignition timing (maybe a LOT) when you flip it so be prepared for that. But the the idea is to find the polarity that triggers the ignition off of the sharper edge of the reluctor pulse; that will result in more stable timing. Keep it in the better orientation. Sorry I can't say better... as said, the documentation on this system really sucks.
The reason for using a relay may be a good one. This type of ignition can draw a fair amount of current at higher RPM's so that would keep some of the current load off of the ignition switch and the wiring, and insure a higher working voltage to the unit. If the wiring is in KNOWN good shape, then you can try otherwise. But if a lot of the wiring is original, the relay idea is sound.
BTW, in your description above of the wires to the ballast, you seem to have have RUN and START positions reversed... but that is minor.
The brown wire for CRANK should go to the side of the resistor that connects to the original coil +. The dark blue for RUN should go to the other side of the resistor and to either of the small terminals on the back of the alternator
IF you have the later so-called 2 field connection alternator and regulator. Your '66 normally would not have this but yours may have been upgraded. In that case, the dark blue will go to 1 of the small alternator terminals, and the other should be a green wire going to the newer sytle flat pack regulator. The other wire to the regulator should go to the blue wire from RUN.
So one thing you need to do is to see if there are 1 or 2 small terminals on the back of your alternator. In fact, a pix of the back of the alternator would be very helpful.
If you do indeed have 2 small terminals on the back of the alternator, then both should be insulated from the alternator case. The reason that one of them may be labeled GRD is that when this same alternator is sold for use in the older style regulation system then that terminal is indeed grounded.