What's The Point?

Usually there is a 12V source from the Starter Solenoid to the coil for starting, when the starter is deactivated the resister wire feed the 9.5V to the coil for running.
I have never seen a switch or relay to change over the Voltage. They usually just let the path of least resistance rule.

 

Don't worry about the electric pump; that's only for police use with the Interceptor engines.

 

I performed the bypass surgery. The 12V hot in run from ign sw goes through the resistor wire I attached underdash and directly to coil+. The 4-element connector engine side of firewall is what it used to go through. The rest through that connector is like AC compressor clutch,dashpot solenoid,choke heater and some vacuum environmental BS. That is all still in play. The new 4-terminal solenoid "I" terminal goes to coil+ for starting purposes.
Car runs great. Then I went on the highway. I noticed earlier on turning the key, that the "Alt" light was dimmer than previously. Then, now,both key lights,"Oil" & Alt" are somewhat dim. Anyway,on the highway, I mean the freeway,at 60 per,the "Alt" light flickered and then became steady,but ONLY at speeds greater than 60 per. As soon as I decelerated to < 60 per,the light went out. No starting issues yet. My first thought, of course,is,Related/Unrelated? to what I did. I am guessing "Unrelated" and that I need an alternator,like so many of my previous big Fords. (The battery has been through deep cycling and has always bounced back. The solid state voltage regulator is new). The '04 'Stang GT is yarded wanting an intake manifold,so this '73 has got to run!

 

Yeah, I think the alt may be heading out, but beware: when I changed my '74 Ranchero Squire to the solid-state regulator, it was bad out of the box. Chased my tail for 2 days, put the old mechanical regulator back in, voila! It began working again. So verify that the alternator is putting out 13.5-14.5V, and if it is, take it out and run it to O'Reilly's; they'll bench-test it, including a diode test.

 

Well,apparently the ignition switch to the alternator wire got interrupted when I rewired things,so I put it back to the stock arrangement,and the idiot lights look normal again. So much for my latest brilliant plan.

 

Sometimes you have to take two steps backward in order to get one step forward out of your efforts. Keep at it, though; it sounds like something was FUBAR that you couldn't see, so putting your hands on it cleared the problem.

 

The point is you are gaining on it and getting an electrical education.

 

Slidemanic , Sparkies is what we call them Downunder but good one are hard to find happy motoring

 

The ignition wiring is all stock now--maybe the resistor wire was never the problem! I got a new set of points from NAPA which are characterized as "High Performance",and I guess they were OK,but the slot by the spring didn't seem to allow enough room for the dwell I wanted. So I buzzed the "Blue Streak" set with a new emery board and put them back in and got,like,28. Happy,as Keith Richards says. Since the '04 "Stang GT is down for major work, the '73 Country Sedan has to work. It has been running like a dream,goose it and spin the wheel where you want it to go (4 turns lock-to-lock! A lot of spinning.) I think that most of my ignition problems stemmed from the floppy breaker plate and worn-out-ness of the old distributor.
I got the name of an ace axle man from my mechanic, and with both U-joints replaced,there is still a clunk sometimes. So that is my next big thing--mic the rear axle (2.75 Trac-Lok) and freshen up the 90-weight and friction modifier
This is the most popular car ever,even more than my Dresden Blue '57 Ford Sunliner convertible. Every day,I hear "What year is That?" and "We had one just like that and all us kids would cram into the back".
But it really is amazing,the way we all used to drive these things: all right hand/right foot and zoom! Unlike all the 5-speed double clutching...

 

Let's hope after all the problems you get many smiles of fun from your station wagon. That's really the point!

 

Hear hear!

 

Congrats on solving the issue.
I can appreciate it as I have been chasing down a stumble backfire and bog on my '96 Caprice. AND finally solved it this week!

 

Yippy!

 

So I got 645 miles out of the most recent tune-up;then the screws loosened and the points moved. (It ran poorly). Easy fix. (Earlier,two screws had to go from being worn out,so,didn't want to overtighten anything. Same points,same condenser,28ish dwell,gap at about .018 (nominal.017). Man,this car wants ATTENTION! I had put a new clip on the coil-to-dist. wire,but that failed and I got pushed (didn't know they were there) out of a 4-way traffic-lighted intersection by a couple happy to help (I thought I was the only one pushing this 5000 lb. car). All I had to do was strip the wire and reattach it to the points (I carry all tools with me now),button up,and proceed. This was the only on-the-job failure, and it only took a few minutes to get going again. Mainly,it has been smooth sailing...

 

Latest symptom: Starts OK,except have to crank hot engine awhile if it has been sitting for 15 minutes. Acceleration is as good as you could want (WOT!). But while at light throttle cruise,beginning at 40 and especially at 50 mph,engine misses,keeps going but goes buggity buggity. It's been awhile,so I put in points & condenser gapped at .17,timing at 12B,dwell at 29. After driving it like that,I checked it again,timing and dwell were off spec. And again,reset gap,timing was off & dwell went to 22. And when I checked the timing again,I noticed that the 12B mark wandered off the pointer erratically (vacuum advance tied off). And checking the vacuum advance,it went 'way round the dial,but with it disconnected,centrifugal advance barely moved while speeding up the engine. The warm idle is buggity buggity as well. 1973 Ford Galaxie 500 Country Sedan w/400 CID V-8,pro rebuilt carb,new coil,new reman distributor last year.