I recently purchased a BPE crate 357 for my 74 auto with original tach. When I purchased the car, the tach was inop because PO installed an HEI without a tach drive. I’d rather keep the OE mech tach, but would not be totally opposed to switching to an electronic tach. What all would that entail?

Im looking for recommendations for a dizzy (since most mechanics nowadays cannot work on points type distributors) I’m leaning towards HEI, but could be convinced to go back to a points style distributor and keep extra points parts stored in a cubby compartment.

The engine I purchased is the BPE crate 355, .040 over, long block (BP3503CT1) thru Summit.
They require a melonized cam gear, which is proving difficult for me to find on an HEI dizzy, with a mechanical tach drive and mechanical advance. As of now, it looks like I’ll most likely have to purchase a melonized gear separately and swap it over. Or, can anybody recommend a unit that has all those features?

I have also read online about distributors that have been “recurved”. Don’t mean to sound like a dummy, but… Could someone shed some light on that for me as well??

Are there other considerations I may be overlooking?

BTW: this car will be a mild mannered street /weekend cruiser car. I may very likely take it to the dyno for curiosity’s sake, but have no intentions of racing it. I plan to run an RPM Air Gap intake, 2.5” rams horn ceramic coated exhaust manifolds, Holley 650 carb and currently has a TH400 auto trans and 3.08 gears.
IF I ever decide to swap the trans, I’ll most likely upgrade to a 5-speed manual trans. But that is not in my financial sights right now.

Thanks all!

 

MSD makes a small cap tach drive distributor with a magnetic pickup. IT requires a amplifier box and some wiring to make it work. It also comes with a pretty good instruction sheet on how to get the advance curve you desire. All of that is pretty spendy. But also, (and they won't tell you), the mag pickup will trigger just about any ignition box. I'm running mine with the original K66 GM TI amp and it works perfectly. There are a couple more I can think of- Davis Unified Ignition comes to mind too. I think they only have a large cap HEI with tach drive, but that really simplifies the wiring too.

 

KMJ Performance sells a tach drive HEI on Ebay for Under $60. I Know, I know, but I have over 1,000 miles on one this summer and its been flawless, so...

 

You are not going to find a distributor with a melonized gear already installed. You have to buy it and install yourself.
Curving the distributor deals with the mechanical advance. Ask Lars for his papers on distributors and timing....read them and follow suit.
If the points distributor is working well.....just refurbish it.
The MSD tach drive is an expensive proposition now......it is crazy that they do not make this unit in a Ready to Run style......they could more than double their sales.
Or you can do what I did on my 72' and convert to electric tach (I have the Zip kit)....and just use a Ready to Run MSD. The MSD is super easy to curve and setup. Comes with adjustable Vacuum Advance too.

Jebby

 

Davis Unified Ignition aka DUI manufactures a Very nice HEI dist with mech tach drive. Buy direct from DUI and they'll curve it to your spec and install their melonized gear. $$$$

OR-Buy any tach drive HEI + buy a melonized gear ACDelco pn 10456413 and install it on HEI shaft. $$-$$$$

OR-Buy a replacement electric tach for '75-'77 C3 and retrofit it where your mech tach is ... wire it to your existing HEI dist & delete existing mech tach cable along w/ existing mech tach. $$$

ALSO, several vette specialty and/or gauge resto shops offer a conversion service- convert mech tach to electric. $$


* you can buy the gear for under $50

** points ... there's Nothing wrong with a good points-condenser ignition.

 

I'm not saying this is the best distributor in the world, but the ACDelco 93440806 (which was stock on ZZ4 crate motors, and likely others), comes with a melonized gear installed. I have one on my 79.

I still had to take it off and add shims to reduce endplay.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ado-93440806

No tach drive, though, so you'd have to convert your tach to electric.

 

I've been running an MSD 8572 tach drive distributor with a 6AL box and blaster 2 coil.. It ran fine for almost 20 years now. If you do go this route make sure to use the adaptor that should come with the kit. It adapts the tach drive cable from square to round with a pin in the distributor cable drive mechanism.

 

Thanks Tim, I’ll definitely have to research that. 👍

 

Thank you AVfan, I’ve purchased things from KMJ recently. I’ll look into that option.

 

Thanks Jebby for the help.
I will check with Lars on his papers concerning distributors and timing and Gotta research MSD as well.

 

Thanks bikespace, I’ll look into the ACDelco distributor and converting to electric tach.

 

Thanks TheAndies for your input.
I am researching MSD distributors and will definitely look up the 8572.

 

Thank you everybody for your input thus far. It’s helping me find direction.
On a side note: will a large cap HEI distributor clear the RPM Air Gap intake ok? My old intake was a shorter Edelbrock Performer and it cleared fine. However, with the Air Gap, I’ll be using a drop base air cleaner to (hopefully) clear the hood without issue. Just want to make sure I’m not going to create clearance issues down the road when I button everything up.
Thanks!

 

I'd call Davis and at least check pricing.plug and play has its advantages

 

Thank you 79L82. I gonna do exactly that. 😎

 

I Think one should but your money where your mouth is. In total disclosure. After I sent that message i called them and ordered a. Set up base , no module no cap or coil.
I was impressed with what I heard from them.
I started setting up distributors at age 17 I'm now 64. My hands have a severe tremor otherwise I'd do this myself.these were very nice people and knowledgeable I feel confident they will deliver. Good 🤞

 

Uninformed question here. I'm in search of a spare '82 454 HEI (stock will be fine) distributor. Any tips on what to look for and where to find one? My goal is to keep a spare on board in case the pick-up coil fails. (I understand I can't replace the pick-up road-side because it entails removing and re-pressing on the distributor shaft gear) . In the event the ol 454 was dead on the side of the road with a open pick-up coil, I could pop the spare distributor in and be on my way.

Any inputs on what to look for and where for a spare disti would be welcome.. Thanks!

 

as above, that ACDelco 93440806 should be ideal and under $180; also, they do come with a pretty good performance curve, fyi, it's The very same dist GM ships with their performance & race crates. Virtual clone of the original OE GM 4-pin HEI ... but today it's from taiwan although still very good quality, Maybe install this and use your old HEI as the backup?
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ado-93440806

of course, ya could do a preemptive strike ... install top quality new pickup standard ignition LX302 ... amazon's got em for twenty bucks.

 

Many thanks for the response. In full disclosure, my 454 is on a Chevy truck chassis and powers a motorhome, I don't need the extra performance (or cost) , just a equivalent of a stock back-up for my potential 85 mile trip next weekend. (I'd prefer not to get caught with a bad pick up coil and have to call a hook) . I was hoping that someone here upgraded theirs and wanted to sell their stock HEI disti (or know where to look for one) . Thanks again

 

I'll be so bold as to answer my own question here. I just ordered a Cardone 30-1845 (presumed to be a re manufactured distributor ) that includes a module and pick-up, from Amazon shipped to the house for $23.00. If it keeps me from being stranded on the side of the interstate , it will be the best $23 I've spent this week........