OE Distributor Or?
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 872
Likes: 114
From: Round Hill Virginia
OE Distributor Or?
What distributor do I have? I'm trying to determine what distributor I have so that I have an idea of whether or not to change the carb (Holly) etc. back to OE or if I should keep what's there...and if I keep what's there, than how do I get rid of the CEL that is currently lit up! I've also heard that if I have the OE distributor that the car will not run properly with the Holly carb that's currently installed. It seems to run fine now, so I'm not sure I know if it's running poorly or not... it idles fine etc.
There are several hoses that go nowhere (most related to the smog wart) and some electrical outputs that I'm guessing go to the OE carb which the Holly carb does not have...in turn lights up the CEL....how do people solve this???
I've attached some pics so that you know what I have...any suggestions on the most cost effective route would be helpful. This is a project car and is not going to be a show car but I do want some reliability out of it.
Also, any suggestion on part numbers etc would be helpful! Thanks!!!
There are several hoses that go nowhere (most related to the smog wart) and some electrical outputs that I'm guessing go to the OE carb which the Holly carb does not have...in turn lights up the CEL....how do people solve this???
I've attached some pics so that you know what I have...any suggestions on the most cost effective route would be helpful. This is a project car and is not going to be a show car but I do want some reliability out of it.
Also, any suggestion on part numbers etc would be helpful! Thanks!!!
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,908
Likes: 129
From: Fredericksburg Virginia
I'm assuming this is a 1981 car by your screen name?
I don't know 1981's, but it sure looks factory to me. If not original wires.
To take a quick sidebar: PLEASE remove that air filter. They are NOTORIOUS for becoming a gas-vapor-collector then igniting when (not if...when) you have a backfire. The only way you'll know anything is wrong is when the paint starts bubbling off your hood. And because the hood is fiberglass and, therefore, combustible...well...lets just say that there have been many of these cars burned to the ground.
Any normal Chinese stamped drop-base air cleaner with a typical/normal pleated paper air filter is a VAST improvement over that fire-causing device.
Others will, I'm sure, confirm/deny my suspicion on the distributor.
As to what direction to go, that's up to you. If the rest of the car is VERY original, perhaps an original carb would be cool. If the rest of the car is not VERY original, then you may want to keep the Holley and do something different with the ignition.
Can others chime in here? This doesn't run points, right? So if he went with an MSD, it would be just for the adjustability aspect and there would be very little functional difference from the stock unit with respect to maintenance? Also...does the 1981 use a Q-Jet still? This was the last year before CFI, right?
I don't know 1981's, but it sure looks factory to me. If not original wires.
To take a quick sidebar: PLEASE remove that air filter. They are NOTORIOUS for becoming a gas-vapor-collector then igniting when (not if...when) you have a backfire. The only way you'll know anything is wrong is when the paint starts bubbling off your hood. And because the hood is fiberglass and, therefore, combustible...well...lets just say that there have been many of these cars burned to the ground.
Any normal Chinese stamped drop-base air cleaner with a typical/normal pleated paper air filter is a VAST improvement over that fire-causing device.
Others will, I'm sure, confirm/deny my suspicion on the distributor.
As to what direction to go, that's up to you. If the rest of the car is VERY original, perhaps an original carb would be cool. If the rest of the car is not VERY original, then you may want to keep the Holley and do something different with the ignition.
Can others chime in here? This doesn't run points, right? So if he went with an MSD, it would be just for the adjustability aspect and there would be very little functional difference from the stock unit with respect to maintenance? Also...does the 1981 use a Q-Jet still? This was the last year before CFI, right?
Last edited by keithinspace; Mar 2, 2016 at 02:50 PM.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 872
Likes: 114
From: Round Hill Virginia
HEI? Recommend air cleaner? A OE carb should run fine with this distributer then, correct? How do people get around the CEL with type of carb setup?
Last edited by nix1981; Mar 2, 2016 at 04:57 PM.
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,263
Likes: 188
From: Wabasha Mn
I do not see a vac advance can on your hei so is probably the oem computer controlled distributor. You should change to a non computer pre 81 distributor that has the vac advance for optimal performance. Any 75 -80 chevy small block or big block hei unit will work and you can even use you existing cap rotor and coil. Have the distributor recurved by someone with a sun machine. Lars has a lot of distributor tuning info for the hei on posts on this forum.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 872
Likes: 114
From: Round Hill Virginia
Originally Posted by wilcar
I do not see a vac advance can on your hei so is probably the oem computer controlled distributor. You should change to a non computer pre 81 distributor that has the vac advance for optimal performance. Any 75 -80 chevy small block or big block hei unit will work and you can even use you existing cap rotor and coil. Have the distributor recurved by someone with a sun machine. Lars has a lot of distributor tuning info for the hei on posts on this forum.
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,908
Likes: 129
From: Fredericksburg Virginia
There are those that are VERY successful at the Dark Arts of stock components. Lars is the resident Jedi Master of the QuadraJet and stock ignition systems.
Personally, I went the route of a nice QuickFuel carb and a MSD 6AL setup. That way you don't need a Sun Machine to recurve and tune the car. I'm $1,600 into my setup and love it, but my engine is pretty extreme. You could produce very similar results with much less money if you choose a little different product.
To be clear: You won't pick up performance through changing the parts, per se. Well tuned stock system vs. well tuned aftermarket system will perform very similarly in an even remotely stock engine.
The primary difference is the ability for 'the common man' to tune the car. I couldn't do crap to curve the old TI system that was on my car. SOMEONE could, but I couldn't. But I can shim, limit, curve, and fiddle with my MSD system to my heart's content.
Personally, I went the route of a nice QuickFuel carb and a MSD 6AL setup. That way you don't need a Sun Machine to recurve and tune the car. I'm $1,600 into my setup and love it, but my engine is pretty extreme. You could produce very similar results with much less money if you choose a little different product.
To be clear: You won't pick up performance through changing the parts, per se. Well tuned stock system vs. well tuned aftermarket system will perform very similarly in an even remotely stock engine.
The primary difference is the ability for 'the common man' to tune the car. I couldn't do crap to curve the old TI system that was on my car. SOMEONE could, but I couldn't. But I can shim, limit, curve, and fiddle with my MSD system to my heart's content.
Last edited by keithinspace; Mar 2, 2016 at 09:30 PM.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo