Triumph Repair: spitfire ignition, ballast resistor, phase of the moon

Question
I'm installing a petronex ignition on a 1977 spitfire. The kit mentions a possible ballast that would have to be dealt with. Does the 1977 have this ballast and if so where is it and what does it look like?

Answer
Claude,

Yes, the '77 should have a ballast resistor.  Now for the fun part.   Depending upon when exactly your car was built, the different parts on hand at the factory and the phase of the moon you will either have a separate resistor (usually mounted up near the alternator) or a resistive wire in the wiring harness.

The ballast wire should be pink with white striping.  

Never having installed a Pertronix myself (I stick with either points or a full on MSD setup) I can't offer much in the way of troubleshooting if the the install goes odd.


Cheers,

Jim