Schaggy

Hello Everyone,

It's about time I get rid of my points setup. The car is a summertime driver ('72 350 car) and my budget says I'm going HEI, so I'm looking for feedback on the different options out there. Does anyone have any experience with the CRT gear-drive distributors?

http://www.crtperformance.com/html/gm_chevy_hei.html

How about the unbranded solution from Ecklers?

http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?p...5&dept_id=1285

Anybody had good luck with anything else in the sub-$300 price range?

Thanks!

LB66383

The problem with going with a different distributor is that you're going to have to set up the vacuum and mechanical advance curves for your engine. If you're not skilled at that, you'll have to pay someone to do it. It's not just a drop it in and go situation. Why not just replace the points in your existing distributor with a Pertronix or similar unit?

temvette72

I bought the hei unit on Ebay with the orange cap. It bolted right in and after setting the initial timing (my eyeball installation was just about dead nuts on), the mechanical and vacuum advance curves were just about perfect (according to the sticky in this forum). I am very happy with how the car runs. My seat-of-the-pants dyno says it is a big improvement from my tired points set up.

Temvette72

DC3

The previous owner of my '73 installed a junk yard HEI while at the same time replacing the tach with a later model electronic tach. Works fine (now). He should have disassembled the HEI distributor and thoroughly cleaned it up. I was having problems getting full mechanical advance and when I disassembled the HEI unit, I found it was in good shape but all gunked up. I completely disassembled it and cleaned it up and that restored the mechanical advance to what it should have been. Also, the vacuum advance unit was bad on the distributor he picked up and he never replaced it, just ran without vacuum advance. I installed an adjustable vacuum advance but couldn't get it set right. When I had the engine dyno tuned, the shop owner found the new adjustable advance I had purchased was bad. He installed a new one and it now works great. Overall, I suspect the total cost of the junk yard HEI, my repairs and the electronic tach upgrade was quite a bit less than the $300 you mentioned but I don't know that for sure.

I can't find the link right now but I did find an article on the web about how to disassemble and repair HEI distributors. It's not that hard and the parts are available. Even if you have to buy a new coil, module, cap etc. it could still be very cost effective to find a used one.

Also, search the site for a link to distributor papers by Lars. Good info in his writings. Allowed me to choose a set of springs for proper mechanical advance that the mechanic did not have to change when I had it dyno tuned.

Good luck.

DC

G dad

I did this for a friend of mine with a 70 Rag I think it was a Crane unit! works fine

69Vett

I also bought a new E-bay HEI with tach drive, Dragonfire - about $100
I decided to inspect it first, and glad I did found some pickup wires stuck,
under the Heat sink module, fixed that, and it runs like a top after install,
and it uses standard GM parts incase I need them, later down the road.
here is a link to a similar Dist:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973-...Q5fAccessories

crazywelder

I've installed 5 tach drive HEI's since they came out and also some Pro-Form HEI's on later model cars. They work well but the quality is not as good as an OEM distributor. My opinion is go for the MSD tach drive if it's in the budget.

A Delco cap does not always fit the import distributor housing either because of a different size grommet for the wire harness, or the housing diameter itself is slightly smaller. The latter eliminates use of a Delco cap.
The threads on the tach drive adapter were slighly different on 3 of the units. Not a problem for a cable nut, but the angle adapters would not work without chasing the threads on the distributor adapter.
The coil connectors and grounds are flimsy.
The pick-up coil feels cheap. Had one short out internally.
The mechanical advance mechanism might be assembled slightly bent and will stick in a partially advanced position. Quality and movement is not like OEM. Check for easy movement before you install it and annually afterwards checking for corrosion.

Paul L

Just a reminder that you can't use the top ignition shield with HEI and the spark plug wires will have to be changed.

noonie

The metal shielding from a 75 is made for the hei.

Later years use a plastic shielding.

Hei is a great option, you can always relace internals in future with Delco.

crazywelder

The '75 top shield won't fit on '72 and earlier C3's due to wiper motor clearance. '73 and later wiper motors are different.

A '70-'74 top shield will fit just right over the HEI, but it's snug around the cap and will mount to the brackets. Since you'll need new wires, buy cut-to-length wires such as MSD and route them to save space around the outside of the cap, except #2 & #3 need to go over the top instead of around the outside. You'll also need to cut a slot for the power harness on the back side of the shield.

HEI wires are larger diameter and won't fit through the side shield grommets, but those grommets can be eliminated.

On '73 and '74 cars, you can use the '75 top shield because of the new wiper motor style.

RMS73

I just install a Mallory Unilite conversion kit on my 73 L-82. So far so good.

Roger

Donald #31176

Why not blueprint the present distributor optimizing the ignition curve and using HD points, rotor and cap. Shouldnt cost more than $100 including parts and the performance should be equal or better than most generic ignition systems.

Paul L

Thanks. That's interesting to know for my 1974!

Shu68

I am looking at dropping in the Eckler's unit and would be real intrested if anyone has used this specific unit.

Thanks,
Shu

SmokinBBC

I don't need no stinkin shield

Paul L

Others do....

SmokinBBC

Yea....I kind of get that from the previous responses. But thanks for ponting that out for me

noonie

Good to know, put in lots of Hei's but never the bling over them. Didn't even put mine on the 75 back on.

I guess for the correct crowd, the small cap hei would be best on the older cars for appearance.

JimT

I'm also looking for a new HEI distributor. Be careful when you purchase a "less expensive" Dist. I purchased one in a group buy here on the forum (Speed City I think) and it lasted less than 2 years. I do not race, and, the engine rarely exceeds 3500 RPMs. One of the pins that secures the advance weights/springs came loose and threw parts everywhere. Thus causing major damage to the rotor and a module plug. Upon close inspection I found that the two pins were "pushed in to place" in the rotor bar and not welded. Apparently constant use caused one of the pins to work loose then fail.
Think twice!

Paul L

Sometimes new school China is not as good as old school USA. I just rebuild the old.