I have a 1974 Coupe with the L48 and manual trans. We are going to upgrade to HEI ignition. What is a good economical brand for a stock engine.

Also, the steering in this car scares the hell out of me. This is Vette # 7 and the steering is too sensitive or worn out. It reacts too quickly and not smooth at all.

Some play in the wheel but not excessive. Ball joints and tie rod ends are OK. Thoughts?

 

I have had good results and longevity with the MSD Street-Fire #8362.
Likes:
Heavy, thick cap. Better contact terminals than cheap units. Parts easily available.
Price. Budget unit with good quality.

Dislikes:
The black coil cover. Looks hideous with a red cap.
(Fortunately, I had a red cover from another)
No adjustable Vac Adv canister. But easily swapped out.

No expert on steering bad habits, but usually "darty" is a result from not enough Toe-In.

 

Exactly how much play in the steering with the wheels straight?

 

A good HEI is a DUI unit. Made in Tennessee.
it is not a cheap unit.
Make up your mind. Do you want good? Or cheap?

 

Installing an HEI is not necessarily an "upgrade." Why do you think it's an upgrade? Your stock points-type ignition system, with a good set of points in it, will blow the doors off of a cheap aftermarket HEI. Bad trade. If you want to step up to something as good as your points distributor, you need to pony up the money for a DUI and have it custom set up to the proper specs. Buying and installing one of the cheap, POS Chinese HEIs is just a bad idea.

 

There is a Lot of "junk" out there for sale today in the Corvette Parts Industries as well as the Performance Parts Industry as a whole.

Back in the early 1990's I bought a MSD GM Pro-Billet Distributor with a mechanical tach drive on it. I don't drive it that much but I have over 7k miles (25 years+) on the MSD Distributor and it is still nice and clean inside. It was a very good choice and has been a very high quality part like those we have come to "Expect" from the folks at MSD! I am using many MSD components and my ignition system like the famous 6AL Ignition Controller and the system has been very reliable and simple to work on.

It is sad when I see a fellow MSD Distributor owner with pictures of a much newer distributor full of rust, I am surprised that MSD would allow that as it is not good for the long term reputation. When you dish out the extra money to buy one of their parts it should last, without rusting for at least some years, I would hope.

It is possible to rebuild a good used distributor if you have access to a good core. A basic points ignition system is easy and inexpensive to build and set up. My MSD Distributor uses a "Hall effect" sensor just like my older factory T.I. did which helped me getting it set up.

With the newer EFI systems that can control the timing I need to remove the Vacuum Advance and "Lock Out" the Centrifugal Advance mechanism. This will then let the distributor simply send the power to the plugs and the "timing controls" will all be managed by the EFI System Controller. This allows it to "pull timing" and "reduce fuel" to simultaneously idle the engine down. The MSD distributor I bought so many decades ago is able to handle the tasks with great ease and speed. I can undo these changes in an hour or less as I save everything from the swap allowing me to use the old Vacuum Advance and Centrifugal Advance working together.

That is one of the reasons I have been impressed with MSD over the years. They used to make a great product! I haven't give up hope yet....

 

The TI distributor, and HEI/EST distributors use Variable Reluctance magnetic sensors, not Hall Effect. Two very different sensors and waveforms.

 

don't forget that hei runs at 12vdc not 9 or less vdc.

 

The O.P. said economical HEI unit for a stock engine.
Well, there is some questionable units on EBay for around $50.
Then there are better units from $400 on up and over $700.
I doubt he wants any of those.

As an older grease monkey, I had my fair share of changing out points & condensers. Mostly Fords. I got quicker with age but seldom set the dwell perfect the first attempt. When GM came out with the adjustment window in the dist cap, that was genius.

The average life of the old points & condensers was 15,000 miles. HEI life expectancy is 60,000 miles. I would call that an upgrade.
I also recall condensers failing before the points failed. Sometimes leaving you on the side of the road.
I also recall the constant cleaning of the points tips. And every time you changed the gap after filing, the dwell changed the IGN timing also.
Customers got tired of paying for tune-ups all the time. And what a PITA with the distributor way in the back. (Easier on Fords up front).
When GM came out with HEI, I thought that was the best invention since sliced bread.
So in conclusion, HEI is an upgrade.
No more fiddlin' with point gaps. Win-win!

 

Can't speak to any HEI clones out there, but the GM/Delco HEI is designed to operate between 6-16 volts so that it will still start an engine at low battery conditions on a winter day, and also continue operating with a moderately defective alternator.

 

what are you getting at.
when hei in chevy showed up, in chevy, what was the volts?

 

What do you mean, what am I getting at? I'm explaining the operational window that an HEI is designed to work at. All ignition systems are designed to function/operate over a range of system voltages (some wide, some narrow). When it's a twenty below zero morning in the midwest, and the engine is cranking over, trying to pump syrupy conventional oil, do you think the system voltage at that moment is a fine and dandy twelve volts? No, it's going to easily drop way below that.

Look at some history. Why do you think the starter solenoid shunt line to the coil +terminal was added to GM and other vehicles? It's because of the same issue above. Some times the battery voltage is low, and won't allow enough current through the coil to charge it up sufficiently to make a good spark for ignition and starting. The shunt wire bypasses the ballast resistor and therefore compensates for the lower battery voltages in cranking conditions. An HEI is more sophisticated than a points system, and automatically compensates for varying system voltages.

An OEM HEI is not going to suddenly stop working if you have an alternator failure and the battery voltage drops to eleven.

 

Wow! “Best HEI” talk sounds like “Best Oil” talk! 🤣

To Soshuni, I cannot add any value to the HEI discussion, but your steering sounds like my 75 was doing before I did a very simple driveway toe-in adjustment. I found I was toe-out.

It was a quick process and did not cost a dime. My car drives much better now.

My thread is at this link:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...t-matters.html

 

spec is 12vdc

 

Since you have looked at the ball joint and tie rod ends, have you checked the condition of the rag joint?

 

Post your engineering/electrical spec you're using.

 

Hei designed to operate efficiently down to 8.5-9 volts. Below that, will still work but as efficient, but any battery with only 9 volts available at cranking is not starting any vehicle in January in northern Indiana (my area) anyway. Be that as it may I’ve not noticed any real improvement of an OEM hei, pertronix, crane, msd, etc(and yes, I’ve tried them all in different make engines too)over points in mine, hence I still have the OEM set up. It’s never left me stranded unlike the hei module that dies instantly when it want to. Just my experience and opinion.

 

I spent the biggest portion of my life living in northern Indiana. I'm very familiar with Indiana winters. Not as cold as Anchorage, Alaska winters (where I bought my '69), but certainly chilly at times.

 

Sorry for not replying sooner but I had a short hospital stay.

I didn't see any distributors with mechanical tach drives.

I'll check the alignment.

 

Should I check while the engine is running and the PSP operational? It does make a difference.