The original HEI distributors had one green and yellow wire going to the center pickup coil. As the vacuum advanced worked back and forth, the two wires were always moving and over time could break. This would shut down the engine pretty fast, but most of the time-out restart.
What brand of ignition module do you have?
Example of how to wire HEI,
12 gauge wire off battery terminal to connector #30 on a 40/50 amp Bosch style relay, 12 gauge wire from connector #87 to HEI.
Key switch ( + ) wire to relay connector 85, relay connector 86 to a solid chassis ground connection.
You can use the power feed off the amp gauge if it's easier to get to get to for the 12 gauge feed wire, but the Amp gauge wires must be 12 gauge or bigger.
The location of the ignition module does not make them hot, it's the amp draw. The Aluminum housings were heat-sinks used to pull heat away from the modules along with special thermally-conductive-grease.
