The Roach

[Richard Cranium]

The factory did it at the ballast resistor. A wire from the starter relay goes over to the output side of the ballast resistor to give it 12V while cranking, then when crank is released, the 12V from the ignition switch goes through the ballast resistor. I could fix it for you, but you're a little far away. I absolutely hate pushbutton start on an old car. Just my ocd kicking in.

Keep in mind, that I have no ballast resistor or starter relay on the firewall & that wiring has been eliminated. To start the engine, I have to turn the ignition on and simply hit a push button that's mounted on the underside of the dash to engage the starter. You can look at the hidden starter button as a theft deterrent.

 

[themechanic]

How do you shut the engine off?

 

[Nxcoupe]

Keep in mind, that I have no ballast resistor or starter relay on the firewall & that wiring has been eliminated. To start the engine, I have to turn the ignition on and simply hit a push button that's mounted on the underside of the dash to engage the starter. You can look at the hidden starter button as a theft deterrent.

Yeah, I get it, but how I do it wouldn't utilize factory wiring set up. But it's not my car, so what matters is if you are happy with it, and my opinion is just that, mine.

 

[Richard Cranium]

How do you shut the engine off?

With the key. The push button is for start circuit only. I've talked with a couple other people & that's how they've done it with the MP package.

 

[Photon440]

I absolutely hate pushbutton start on an old car. Just my ocd kicking in.

My dad's old 1951 Pontiac had a pushbutton start on the dash, it wasn't until the more modern 1952 models that they had strictly key start.

 

[themechanic]

Old vehicles had a start button on the floor. My Dad had a 50s Chevy truck that had one.

 

[Don selleck]

The factory did it at the ballast resistor. A wire from the starter relay goes over to the output side of the ballast resistor to give it 12V while cranking, then when crank is released, the 12V from the ignition switch goes through the ballast resistor. I could fix it for you, but you're a little far away. I absolutely hate pushbutton start on an old car. Just my ocd kicking in.

yep had to connect the blue and brown wire together at ballast resistor and eliminated it for a stand alone msd so it had 12v when cranking.

 

[Budnicks]

congrats Mark/RC

 

[dadsbee]

RC is running a 2024 hemi and we're discussing Ballast resistors.. let Mark show us what he's doing please !

 

[dadsbee]

I've got to be honest guys. One thing that drives me nuts in a members restoration/ build thread is folks taking things sideways and throwing in stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with the build... I know it's Winter, but let the man show us what he's building !

 

[themechanic]

I've got to be honest guys. One thing that drives me nuts in a members restoration/ build thread is folks taking things sideways and throwing in stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with the build... I know it's Winter, but let the man show us what he's building !

It's Mark's fault for not posting something new daily. lol

 

[dadsbee]

It's Mark's fault for not posting something new daily. lol

An absolute nope. .....

 

[Richard Cranium]

It's Mark's fault for not posting something new daily. lol

Tomorrow, with the help of a friend, the steering column goes in & we are going to put our heads together and look at the Dakota dash wiring.

With the column in, I’ll then bolt in a seat and drive it outside soon where I can bring it up to temperature and get the coolant fully circulated.

Today, I was studying the a/c wiring and I think that I’ve got that figured out. Had to order another relay that will turn on the fans when the a/c is switched on.

 

[themechanic]

An absolute nope. .....

I was kidding

 

[themechanic]

I was kidding

You may recall me pleading for Mark to post an update when he had a lapse of progress just to save his build thread from the hijackers.

 

[Hey-O]

Tomorrow, with the help of a friend, the steering column goes in & we are going to put our heads together and look at the Dakota dash wiring.

With the column in, I’ll then bolt in a seat and drive it outside soon where I can bring it up to temperature and get the coolant fully circulated.

Today, I was studying the a/c wiring and I think that I’ve got that figured out. Had to order another relay that will turn on the fans when the a/c is switched on.

Does the stock harness run to a terminal block that comes with the gauge cluster, from there it goes to the gauges. Years ago, several of the cars I worked on that had Dakota gauges came with one. Just wondering how much things have changed.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I have two boxes. The smaller one has a cable that plugs into the OBDII port in the MP harness. Got to call Dakota today and ask them a couple questions.

 

[Hey-O]

I have two boxes. The smaller one has a cable that plugs into the OBDII port in the MP harness. Got to call Dakota today and ask them a couple questions.

View attachment 1812422

I remember cutting ends and reading wiring diagrams till I was blue in the face.
I spend my time on here listening and watching when it comes to building. I'm just old school and it's been awhile since I've had a dash out of a car and went from old to new. I remember them stating that the block needed to be away from the firewall due to interference with other electronics. Back then I mounted mine in the kick panel. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Got the steering column put back together with the new ignition switch & ready to put back in when my second set of hands comes over later this afternoon.

 

[themechanic]

Got the steering column put back together with the new ignition switch & ready to put back in when my second set of hands comes over later this afternoon.

View attachment 1812444

View attachment 1812445

Mark, that car is much too pretty to drive. But I hope you don't let that keep you from enjoying all your planning, attention to detail and hard work.