In march 04 I converted my 65 signet to electronic ignition. I used the mp wiring kit and all new parts store parts. About a month ago the entire system suffered a meltdown. I haven't had any time to really fix it and don't have a proper troubleshooting guide. I have tried replacing parts one at a time, but the only way it will run is if everything is changed. I changed the ballast resistor no joy. Ecu and coil same story. When I changed the distrubutor it ran but only with the other swapped parts. The original Ecu, coil, and distrubutor all picked the exact same moment to die. What are the odds of this. When it originally happened I was warming it up for the trip to work and click it is no longer running. It wouldn't restart, later the same day it started and ran fine. I drove my daytona for the rest of the week and on that weekend I started the plymouth and after about two minutes it turned itself off again and refused to restart until I changed the aforementioned parts. Does anyone have any suggestion why the entire system would go all at once. The wiring for dist is crispy like it has gotten real hot but what would cause it. Thank in advance.

This happens when there is a short in the system, causing excess current to go through the wire, heat it up, and burn the insulation away.

I'm guessing the components are fine but there is a wiring issue.. something loose or a dirty contact that gets tweaked and re-mates when you change components. Check the firewall connector, pull the wires out individually and clean out the terminals. Other then that, try looking at the engine block ground and the body ground, as well as making sure the EI module has a solid ground (scratch the paint off from under it and on the case) as well.

It sounds like a failed ECU started the problem, that may have overloaded some of the other parts in the system.
I would use all the new components and rewire the system from scratch, using the wiring diagram on this site. ( and published in many other places)

Do check all your grounds and connections to make sure nothing is corroded or "crossed".
DD