jacob Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 Has any one switched to a hei distributer what did you have to do andwhat differance did it make? jacob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72 LS5 Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 Switching to HEI was the first thing I did to Big Blue when I got her in the late 80's. HEIs were plentiful in junkyards back then. Man, I'm getting old...... Nowadays you may be better off getting a brand new distributor or changing over the guts to electronic ignition with a kit similar to the Pertronics Kit (http://www.vintageperformance.com/retrorockets/PerTronixConversions.htm). The installation is straight forward either way and will give you more reliable performance, especially over time as there are no points to wear out or bounce at higher rpms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob Posted December 23, 2011 Author Share Posted December 23, 2011 Yeah I hate points my grand dad has told me about them things not the best choice for a classic. I will be putting a Hei system on my car with an external coil By the way dose yours over heat ?I talked to this guy he had a giant hei but he had a external coil because of heat problems. old's when your dead (age is just a number) jacob helms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72 LS5 Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 No overheating issues - haven't heard of that.... I'm running a newer GM ZZ4 distributor with the built in coil. Fairly easy to install but you must not use the original hot resistor wire. Others can chime in on the Kits to convert what you already have. I suspect this would be easier as you won't have to pull the distributor and you can use many of your existing parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 I still have points. I have a Dave's small body HEI in the basement but my car runs good. You need to run 12 volts to the HEI do not use the resistor wire. If originality isn't important, I like the Chevy OEM type big cap HEI from back in the day. I would take a used one over a "rebuilt" one, just because I have seen what re-builders do to things. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Auto Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 If you dig the stock look, go with a Pertronix Ignitor. I fried my points in my 70 C10 for the last time on Monday. If your are feeling HEI, all you need to do is swap out the dizzy, grab a set of wires as the cap ends differ, grab another set of plugs and open the gap to .050 or so, depending on what the setup likes. There are tons of HEIs on eBay for way less than $100 shipped. And I am sad to say the Chinese have it figured out as I have had zero failures with the twenty or so I have installed over the last two years. The advantages? Zero maintenence Quicker starts cleaner plugs extra voltage to light this cow piss we call fuel The downers? On a stock first gen an HEI was never put there. Optional on a 73, standard on 74s. If you can get past the look, there really is no downside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 I changed mine over years ago. I found a nice unit at the u-pull-it wrecking yard and took the cap, wires, everything. The nice thing about chevy V-8 is they all use the same distributor...small block, big block, truck or car, so they are easy to find. When you switch you need to use different spark plug wires; the HEI uses wires that are female on both ends. Another consideration is that HEI was used with very conservative advance rates and aren't set up well for performance. The main goal at the time was emissions reduction. I took mine straight to my local performance ignition guy and had him go through it and set up the advance curve, and replace any worn parts. I then took it home and installed it. With the cost of the unit and rebuilding, I can say this was one of the biggest "bang for the buck" projects I have done. The new advance curve made the engine feel so much more powerful, and just ran better than the old point unit I replaced. It really was a mod you could feel in the seat of your pants. As a footnote; I tried to install one of the adjustable vacuum advance cans and new performance spring kit in the unit before I took it to my guy... he smiled at the new parts and threw them away. He has no faith in the aftermarket "performance" kits, said they are never right for anybody, and used GM parts he could work his magic on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 Has any one bought a brand new one from summit racing and why go to a junk yard for used one you have to take some where and get it rebuilt? wouldn't it cost about the same after finding one and rebuilding it and burning the gas to get there as buying a brand new one. And what if you bought a used one and spent alot witch is very possible and find out theres A issue with it that cant be fixed then you have to spend even more money. so why go to a junk yard and take a risk? I dont mean to question any thing but where iam at I cant go in junk yards witch makes me mad my grand dad grew up near junk yards and now theres only a few junk yards way out in the country. I wish I could live in the country I would do some major fishing and kick my dads butt so bad he'd have nightmares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 I'm still running points in my 70 Monte (I've owned it for 15 years). The car has run well all the years I've owned it so I'm afraid to modify anything. Until I run into any issues, I'll leave the points in my 70. Pulling the dwell meter out once in a while is not so bad. One issue with HEI is that it can quit without warning which I don't find comforting since I take mine on road trips to the meets once or twice a year. Matt actually had this happen to him at the meet we had in September. The car worked fine driving to the show but would not restart. The module inside the distributor just quit. Luckily there were other members at the meet with knowledge of HEI to determined the problem and get it fixed in the parking lot. Now clearly the module lasts a long time and it's not like the car will quit all the time but it does happen. This issue could be avoided I guess by replacing the module periodically as preventative maintenance rather than waiting for it to quit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaughn Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I installed the Pertronix in my stock 454 setup with stock coil etc and have no issues. This was 5 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 Has any one run with a new Hei distributer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Has any one run with a new Hei distributer? Perhaps you should clarify, new aftermarket, new as in new to your car. I don't believe you can purchase a new HEI from G.M. perhaps rebuilt but I'm not a fan of anything rebuilt that I didn't rebuild. IMO many aftermarket parts are of a poorer quality than an OEM product. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
502ci Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Has any one run with a new Hei distributer? I see you are looking for info from someone who made the switch to a "new" HEI from the "store" from a stock points set-up. I can't say I did exactly that but my 502 motor came with a new HEI as part of the complete motor package. It was nice to not have the points anymore. Without a doubt your car will start and idle better...but I always found the cap sooooo big and tight to the firewall. I eventually upgraded my HEI ignition system several times starting with a higher output coil (external) and ignition box (car ran even better). Eventually I completely removed the HEI and went with a new distributer with a smaller cap and a digital ignition box...that is how my car is now and it runs even better than before (if that's possible ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim's 70 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I have 2 coil in cap hei set ups...as I am sure many others do.... cover shipping and i'll send you one to try out... I upgraded to an MSD setup and not looking back lol (pm if interested, I don't check here as often as I would like) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58impala Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I installed Pertronix conversion #PNX-1181LS in 71 Monte Carlo and 72 GMC. Don't need to change anything else, like Vaughn said. Works perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
420ponies Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Jim, Are you interested in selling 1? I have one from eons ago I set up for mine.Fixed advance,this motor loves 40 degrees at 3000rpm. Just wanting to upgrade now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 Well I get this book from summit racing and they have these big HEI distributers for diffrent cars and racing and I just wanted to know would that work on a 1972 monte carlo. and if it did would that be any better than going to a junk yard and finig one and rebuild it. Because I dont want to have to rebuild some thing that has wires and parts that I have never seen before or pay some one to do some thing wrong and lose gas money. And that may be diffrent some where else but I dont have the time or the money to take a chance with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leghome Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 MSD 8365 works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 Has any one tryed those E3 spark plugs I heard that they add horse power and torque while burning the fuel better. They have a big spark wich equals better fuel use and horse power. It realy surprised me when they did a dyno test on this 383 and it had a big change in torque. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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