I am looking to convert my 68 Vette ignition from points to electronic.I want good performance,reliability with low maintinence.what should I buy? Any advice will be greatly appreciated! Thanks everyone!!
Duane1

 

i think those mallory hei units are nice. if you get the one with the brass terminals and coil, it's only 159 from summit. it also comes with different springs too. just hook a 12 volt source to it and get an electric tach and you are in business.

chris

 

Putting a GM HEI on a 1968, in some ways, is easy. However, you do have to provide the GM HEI with 12 volts. The 1968 distributor ..actually the ignition coil.... was provided with much less that 12 volts due to a resistor in the coil positive terminal circuit. You can't use this the ignition coil positive wire to power your HEI. You need a +12 volt wire. (Pardon me if I'm telling you something that you already know..I added these words mainly for people who might not be aware of the difference.)

The big problem is the ...tach. If you want to keep your 1968 mechanical tach you have to buy a GM HEI distributor that has been modified to provide a mechanical tach drive. The last time I looked, these things were about $550. That's really significant bucks.

The 1968 tach can be converted to an electrical drive. It's relatively easy (i.e. not that expensive). There's someone who participates in the forum that will convert your tach. I think that if you install an HEI, you can then alter your tach for an electrical signal from the HEI. However, I'm not sure how you connect an electrical tach to the HEI. Maybe someone else can provide this info???

I'm putting a GM HEI in my 1968 and it has been modified for the mechanical output. I bought this distributor about 12 years ago.

 

I have a 74 that I am converting to hei also. I want to share a few websites that have helped me. First is http://www.madelectrical.com/catalog/hei-1.shtml , I’m not sure how hard it is to find the original connectors but this kit has them. The best part is that Mark, the owner, is very nice and knowledgeable. In 74 they used a resistor wire to lower the voltage. This kit includes a wire to use either way.
The second site is http://corvetteclocks.com/page17.html clocks by roger. Basically you remove your tach and send it to him and he converts it to an electrical tach.

I will probably buy an Hei from an ebay vendor. I dont mind if it is a generic brand. I want to spend less than $100.

 

I put a pertronix setup in my 383. I kept the stock distributor and cable drive tach, but got a pretty hot ignition (40K volts) in the deal. You can add a CD to the system to get multiple sparks. Mine starts great even in the winter up here in WA.

 

I have got a HEI distributor with mech tach drive in my 72 - works great! Lucky me, my pre-owner paid for this expensive piece.

However be aware, that you cannot retain your original (if exist) ignitions shielding over the distributor (as the diameter is much larger than the original one). You will need spark plugs with larger gap - 0,045 to 0,060 inches - to obtain the big benefit of a larger spark from it.

Furthermore, the routing of the wires is of more importance with the higher voltage that the HEI puts out: Wires shoud NOT touch ground (=engine) anywhere and also should not touch each other. Recommend wire separator kits and good wires (e.g. MSD helicore).

Regards,
Thomas

 

I have the MSD 6Al with the Petronix II in my original dist. I have ben running this setup for 3 years now and am very pleased with it. The new MSD e-curve is new and might be worth looking into as well. http://www.msdignition.com/2005/2005_4.htm I don't know anyone running this yet but it sure looks good on paper.

 

Thanks for the info. I installed an HEI and used the same wiring and have had problems with a real gassy odor. I have checked the plugs and they show a rich condition. I was just about ready to change carburetors and intake to see if that helped. I think now I have found the problem. Thanks again.

 

I found a GM HEI with Mechanical Tach on-line at http://www.hotrodsusa.com/store/product2158.html. Its $289 which is a lot less than I've seen elsewhere. Has anyone tried this product?

 

We took my stock single pt. dist. and built a small cap HEI . Looks stock , everything stock works. I had to run full 12v. wire from fuse block. I run .045 gap. I think it idles and runs better .