Big As I stated, some will agree with me, others won't but I still see no advantage to the kits over a correctly set-up points system.

if the distributor is set,adjusted, and shimmed for correct tolerances the dwell is accurate. The dwell on my '65 points distributor is rock steady and accurate.
with hi-tention points I've had my 327/365hp to 7500rpm with NO breakup or points float.
Typically the only adjustments I make are once a year in the spring as I'm getting ready to bring the car out of winter storage. I change oil, filter, points, and condenser. With the new points I set them, adjust dwell, set my timing and I'm good for a year. Takes me all of 10 minutes now to swap the points, set them, adjust dwell and reset timing. I figure once a year and approx $12 for the hi-tension points is better than $159 for a conversion kit. for the same money as the kit i can have new points every year for 13 years!

If I spent $159 I want to see a performance increase so instead of a conversion kit i'd go to an HEI unit.

 

Either a later electric tach, or he can get one of those cool HEI distributors with tach drive that a lot of guys here use.

 

wait, wait, wait
now you are saying something different.
An HEI unit is not a conversion kit. A conversion kit is simply something like the Pertronix or Breakerless SE kits that just replace your points.
As I said there is no real advantage to it and no perforamnce gain.
If you are planning on actually pulling out the points distributor and replacing it with an HEI distributor that is a completely diffeent story. The HEI COULD make a slight difference as you have a much hotter spark from an HEI unit.

Honest, it's still not needed for the simple reason that if your motor is stock and came with a points system that's all it really needs to run as well as it can although you MAY or may not, get a slightly faster starting from the hotter spark.

Keep in mind the REASON why GM came up with the HEI system in the first place. With all the emission requirements they had to retard the timing back, especially at idle to keep the HC emissions down. The retarded timing required a hotter spark to burn the mixture completely and hence the reason for the HEI system.
If you don't have your timing overly retarded you really aren't going to see much of a difference between the systems at all.

hey, it's you money and your car, but you should understand the differences between the systems, between points, conversion kits and HEI, and the reason why they came up with the HEI to begin with before deciding to spend the money and than maybe be disappointed.

If you are doing it simply for the rev limiter feature, most basic tach drive HEI units aren't going to have that. As for points float at high rpm's - get a set of 28-32oz hi-tension points and you will not have points float. My '65 327 has hi-tension points and even though redline is 6500, I've had it to 7500rpm and NO points float and she was still pulling very strong. Also has plenty of spark with the stock coil to start up INSTANTLY even if the car has sat for weeks on end.

 

Either way you look at it ... new electronic tach (wont be stock any longer) or one "of those cool HEI distributors" will cost big dollars....
But as always.... to each his own

 

I've seen links here to tach drive HEIs for under $200. That's not a lot more than those electronic conversion kits. Besides, the act of converting to an electronic ignition or HEI is going to make the car not stock, anyway.

 

A legitimate question regarding some of the conversion kits. My system uses the original distributor and tach. I get full HEI performance (variable dwell angle, primary current limiting, fast switching, hybrid technology reliability, etc), but in the small distributor package.

 

Ok... the kit I am using was priced at $60 (Im going by the part # as I traded it for something...damn If I can remember

I picked up a fresh rebuilt 1973 GM tach Drive for $50
So I do have a stock replacement
Anyway...... I have had good luck with both the points and the electronic modules
Oh... by the way, I could take about a half hour and put my original distributor back to stock....

 

I'm glad you're having good luck with the electronic conversion kit. I've never used one, but I've talked to a lot of people who have had them fail - that's why I like the GM HEIs - the parts are reliable, cheap, and available everwhere if something fails.

 

ok, so i got a HEI dist in my '68 that has a '69 - 350sb. the '68 has a mech tach, but my HEI dist is elec. you state to get a later elec tach...where/what would i get for this?

thanks!

 

We did 2 of these last week. Plug and play, nothing external. Keep your mechanicl tach. drive. You will need to order the points style cap, though, or change to HEI wires.
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

 

One from a 1975 corvette is electric and fits right in. You can find them on ebay every now and then.

 

Or you can get an HEI modified for the cable drive. They show up on eBay from time to time, and there are several companies that sell them.

 

http://www.davessmallbodyheis.com/
Less than 200 bucks looks like the original points distributor when done.The big cost of points distributors is the tach drive with gear failure. You can spend 200 in parts easily rebuilding that crappy gear driven tach system. I now have a later model HEI and could not be happier. I use an Autometer electric tach in the dash.

 

Thanks Big_G, but i already bought a new HEI dist and plug wires...a bit of a goof as i just discovered my problem yesterday!

 

is the face and all the same in the 75 as the 68? that's kinda what i was lookin for...as long as it appears to be original is good enough for me. thanks

 

How many times have I posted this!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.starperf.com/tabloid/page_50.htm

middle column ... near bottom ... Star P/N 9200TDR ... about $163.

Brand dang new GM HEI clone ... BUT it has a mechanical tach drive for the 74 on back C3 ... whole new dist complete from coil to gear & runs a mech tach!

 

I just want to point (no pun intended) out that you can still keep a set of points in your car to use as a backup in case you are worried that your module will fail. Most of the conversions do not require any modification of the distributor. Just pop out the points, pop in the module.

 

With all due respect, I always ran points and then I decided to switch to a Petronix unit. Upon firing it up for the 1st time, I had to back off the idle screw because the idle was 1300 rpm at the same throttle setting with the points...that tells me the car is running more efficient with the electronic... And the car idled smoother and seemed to have more power, ie revving seemed more effortless.

 

THANKS, JACKSON!

I called them up and they are shipping one out today. Price went up a bit close to $190 including shipping, but it's what I need. Hope to be running again soon!

I love starting it up and pissin off the white trash neighbor renting next to me! Hopefully we can close on the new house next week!

 

not a surprise, now tell me the last time the distributor while it had been running points had been rebuilt and that you KNOW it was all within correct tolerances. A lot of distributors out there are 25, 30, 35, year old or older and except for maybe a points swap every now and than (if that!!) without ever having been touched for maintance or service. GM never even specified a service schedule for distributors but parts do wear out. With points as the tolerances on the distributors increase from parts wear the dwell begins to fluctuate and that will affect performance. The conversion kits don't have dwell to worry about so they are more forgiving to a worn out distributor with loose tolerances.
I would put money down that if the distributor had been rebuilt correctly and properly you would have seen the exact same improvement with points as you did by installing the conversion kit.

regardless, as long as you are happy and the car runs well than that's all that matters