This is for my 1968 Mercury 500. I began by attempting to ohm out the original harness to determine if my CDI replacement harness had all of the wires in the correct position. As far as I can tell it does, but my original is missing most of the insulation. Looking at the attached diagram, since it is the most accurate appearing one for my motor, it appears the red wire to the rectifier and the red wire to the switch box are hot all of the time. It also seems the red jumper attached to the switch box shares a lug on the box. Is this correct. My CDI harness and my original harness differ in this area. On the original there were three red wires that I believe all originate from the main battery wire. One goes to the solenoid, one to the rectifier, and the other to the switch box. On the diagram it shows two, one to the solenoid and one to the switch box. Then there is a jumper from the switch box to the rectifier to pick up 12 volt power. The diagram and the CDI instructions suggest I have it correct if I am to use the battery type ignition. What is the difference between the battery type ignition and the alternator driven ignition?
