I have an 81 that is modified and am wondering what would be the best distributor to go with. I am currently running and old hei that came off a used motor my father had laying around. It is worn out and time for a new one. The motor is bored .30 over with a loppy cam and a Holley street avenger carburetor. The heads have been reworked with roll or rocker. My engine builder said I should be between 300-350 HP.

My question is should I stay with an HEI or go to something with an external coil or msd box?
I was looking at msd and they have a couple different hei distributors for chevys. Which one do I need?
Oh and the computer is still in the car however it isn't running the Carb since I have an aftermarket one.
Thanks for any input and help

 

A GM hei is as good as it gets as long as it is in good shape and working properly.
The bling boxes are seldom advantageous.

 

I use this one.

http://www.msdperformance.com/Produc...stributor.aspx

 

*****WE SHOULD ALL BUY AMERICAN*****

That said, I was in your situation and bought this cheap import off of ebay. I bought it from Skip White Performance because they offered a lifetime warranty with it.

It fixed my jumpy timing mark and seems to work well.

http://www.skipwhiteperformance.com/...?Item=PE-322-B

Just giving my experience with a budget option.

 

I have to say that I have nothing but things things to say about running a HEI dizzy with a Supercoil on top of it.

 

HEI's are garbage compared to what you can purchase today.

MSD's pro billet dist, 6AL box and HVC coil would work awesome on your car and you would be very happy.

You can't have enough ignition or fuel system when it comes to performance.

 

Are you going to be taking this car to a drag strip or just driving quickly to the local Sonic drive in on weekends?

If you answer Sonic, get the HEI and apply the $500 savings to tater tots.

 

MSD would be a HUGE waste of money with your car it will not make any more power. People say theirs "dont foul plugs anymore" with them-in reality its because their tune was crap to begin with. These are not the good ol usa made systems anymore mine wouldnt time worth a damn til I had someone put it on a Sun machine and tweak it appropriately. Assembled dry etc.

An HEI more than does the job all you need is a spark to light it off thats it.

Blower super high compression etc...maybe an MSD. Buy a AAA card or make a bypass harness in case (msd ownere here).

 

Just a warning on some of the offshore "non name brand" distributors. Depending on your camshaft, some have been found to have a bottom gear that will eat the cam gear. That said, I have used them, replacing the bottom gear with the original, or a stock replacement.

 

Do the guys that believe in super bling ignition systems think that if I wire up an MSD box to my propane grill it will cook my steaks faster?

 

A few years ago, I did a bit of dyno testing at Westech Performance with Matt King, former Editor of Hot Rod Magazine. We tested several of the aftermarket capacitive discharge systems and top-end distributors against a plain ol' points-type distributor. The engine was a nice street-type 302 Ford putting out 370 horsepower. We tested ignition systems and distributors from Crane, MSD, and Mallory, making sure that each distributor had exactly the same centrifugal advance curve in it with the same total timing. Once these nice aftermarket systems were tested, we went out in the parking lot and pulled the stock points distributor out of Matt Kings crap Falcon: We set it up with the same advance curve on Westech's distributor machine and dropped it in the 302 test engine. Results: There was no change in the engine's performance whatsoever at any point on the rpm curve. Absolutely none.

So here's the recommendation: Run whatever distributor you're comfortable with tuning and curving, and set it up with a good performance curve to match the needs of your engine. Whether this is a tach-drive points-type distributor, an HEI, or an MSD ProBillet is completely irrelevant as long as you can get it set up right. Buy something of good quality that is easily tunable, and make sure you run vacuum advance on any street-driven engine. Trigger boxes, amplifiers, huge coils, and fancy systems will not gain you anything on a moderate performance street engine - spend your time getting the curve and total timing set up right on whatever system you use - that's where the power is.

Here's Matt King (black shirt) and me setting up the points distributor from his Falcon in the 302 test engine to run head-to-head against the top-end capacitive discharge systems:



Notice that we even used the old crap wires out of Matt's Falcon for the testing:


Here's the same engine with one of the fancy aftermarket systems in it and some really nice red plug wires:


Famed Westech Dyno Operator Steve Brule (left) overseeing the testing:


Results: Absolutely no change in power whatsoever from one system to another, as long as the advance curve remained the same:

 

Thanks Lars
Nothing like a no BS report to clear the air.

With that said Accel makes a nice complete HEI distributor for $125.00.
Simply add your old coil and go.

Ralph

 

Excellent tech and info Lars. Awesome!

 

 

Name dropper!!!

Anyway, BadBaran, could you tell us a little about why you think the HEI on the engine now is worn out?


Keep the shiny side up!
Scott

 

Thanks everyone for their input. Thanks Lars for that awesome write up. Based on that I am thinking I should just go to the local auto parts store and pick up an HEI and make it a simple swap.

Scott I believe its worn out because my timing is all over the place. I can't get an accurate timing reading because it won't stay steady. It came off a used motor my father bought and has been sitting around quite a few years. I know I could rebuild it but it looks pretty rough too and I would like one that looks a little better along with the rest of the motor

 

Check out the Accel, it was one of the cheaper distributor that I was looking at.

By all over the place do you mean never in the same place?
I've watched timing marks walk all the way around and come up the other side.
But that is something different all together.

Ralph

 

Did anyone else notice what was missing from these photos?????

No AMBER fluid in any of them.

Is this the real Lars or an imposter???



Seriously,

Thanks for the Info.



Andrew

 

I'm running the GM Performance Parts HEI with a vac can, no complaints.

 

Here's my post without the names and background info:

"So, dudes, I once tested some distributors, and they, like, all ran about the same. So, like, whatever, man."

Lars