I tried to change my ignition system over yesterday, only to fail and now have a car that doesnt run. It did fire once or twice but it appeared to be when the exhaust valves were open resulting in a bloody loud gunshot echoing up my street. pretty funny at first but not the result i was after. any advice? its an L18, with a series 2 bluey ignition going in, regraphed and with a boost retard canister on it. Also with the long round coil replacing the new style GT40 bosch type. In what order should i check things?

sounds like you may have got the spark leads in around the wrong way....

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1970 Datsun 1600 CA18DET - SOLD!
1970 KP510 SSS Bluebird coupe
http://www.nzdatsun.com/forums/

What sometimes happens is the new(other distributor you installed the rotor is pointing 180 deg off. Did you notice this? Put the old one back in and see where th rotor points to and then install the other.
If 180 off then you have to move the plug wires. Were #4 was will be your #1 now

If all else fail put motor on TDC comp stroke 0 deg on crank. So were the rotor point to will be your #1 thn go 1342 Counter clockwise on the spark plug wires

also when converting to a electronic ignition you should use a electrnic type coil and not use the point type coil esp if the ballast resistor is removedit will get hot)

my brother in law (mechanic) came round and swapped all the leads over. I had a misfire when the engine was cold with the previous ignition setup and i thought it might go with the new setup but it doesnt seem that way. I have to set the timing properly too as i didnt realise there was an adjustment dial on the timing light. Why will the coil get hot? what was the purpose of the ballast resistor? Also, what are the two wires running from the loom to the positive side of the coil? Finally, i am going to get new high tension leads to try and eliminate my 3 cyl. problem, any recommendations? or just get top gun replacements?

My experience has been that the leads are very rarely the source of ignition problems. Always check them for reistance. If within acceptable range, start looking elsewhere.

Datred,
Your ballast is made to cut the current/ voltage down across the points.
Your stock 510 coil opperates at like 6-9 volts.
oN START there is a blk/blu stripe wire. This comes from the ignition switch it will give straight 12volts during cranking(load of the starter) then when it switches back to ON position the 12 volts goes to(Blk/wht wire) to the ballast resistor,( blk/grn) wire out then a blk/blu wire to the +coil . The blk/grn,blk/blu are really shorted together so it doesnt not matter really if the go visa versa.

If you remove the ballast the coil that was made to run on 6-9 volts will get hot and the varnish on the wires will melt causing a proplem.

The EI ectrical is made to take a full 12volts but it has to be a coil that was designed for 12volts.

A point type coil will always need a ballast resistor(1.6 ohms)

If you have the EI dist but still have the stock 510 point type coil keep the ballast resistor on there untill you get like a MSD Blaster 2 coil.

Expalined above.
The 2 wires ? Is that the blk/blu strip and the blk/grn stripe. Thes 2 wires are shorted together. One will go to the + coil and the other side to the ballast resistor. Doesnt really matter what color since they are shorted. But if going to a eletric you wont really need these wires.

The main 12volt source is the Blk/wht wire that goes to the ballast(this is your 12 volt switchable source.

PS your brother in law is a mechanic so he should have figure this really fast. 1342 is the fire order CCW in the distributor.
Get a haynes manual.

Fire order is 1342 CCW rotation.
As for the timming light it should have started anyway(or move the dist by hand untill it starts. The dist doesnt move that much anyways.