HEI Distributor

[Toshi38]

So I've been reading in the tech links or at least I was before the HEI one disappeared and poking around the tech forum. Most people seem to say that this will make a big difference in my cruiser in terms of day to day drivablity(better acceleration, starting, smoother idle).

I was wondering if anyone had actually done this on their 2F and could comment on this.

Also how hard is it to install basically from what I understand the gear needs to be swapped from my dizzy to the new HUI one and then it should go right in. Sounds like the one from a 78 Camaro straight 6 is what I want.

One other question. According to the info i found in the forumn my dizzy (1975) should be vacuum retard where the new one should be vacuum advance. How do I set this up? There is some mention of drilling into the carb?

 

[seapotato]

So I've been reading in the tech links or at least I was before the HEI one disappeared and poking around the tech forum. Most people seem to say that this will make a big difference in my cruiser in terms of day to day drivablity(better acceleration, starting, smoother idle).

I was wondering if anyone had actually done this on their 2F and could comment on this.

Also how hard is it to install basically from what I understand the gear needs to be swapped from my dizzy to the new HUI one and then it should go right in. Sounds like the one from a 78 Camaro straight 6 is what I want.

One other question. According to the info i found in the forumn my dizzy (1975) should be vacuum retard where the new one should be vacuum advance. How do I set this up? There is some mention of drilling into the carb?

Talk to Abel ( TooTall) I think he has the scoop on this... something about a buick as I recall???

 

[FLYINGLOW]

Abel and I have both done it. He just pulled his out though as he was having issues for quite a while. He put a bastardized unit in that I had kicking around for TBI. Anyway, mine has worked great. The shaft on his was getting pulled down into the mag pickup thingy.

I went to Lordco and bought a new distributer for a chevy straight 6. Don't know what car or year. I recal it being about $80 or so. Theres a core so a friend gave me a v8 one that i put in the box and took back. I took the vacume advance and all the junk out of it and put all the stuff to run it with the TBI but you don't have to. I had a machinist take the flange off and put a groove in for an o-ring and replaced the gear with a toyota one. I think the gear went right on. You will have to come up with some sort of clamp to hold it in place.

It would be very easy with a carb setup. 2 wires to hook up. The one thing i have to suggest is something I learned after I did the TBI swap and wish I had discovered it before. The plate in the distriuter was all gummed and seized so it was not advancing (or retarding, whatever...). Take the stock one apart and clean it up before spending any money. Some cruiser distributers are vacume advance and some are retard. I think you can just hook the HEI up to a differnt port on the manifold or carb if you need the other one. Anyway, hope this helps. Let me know if you need anyhting else.

 

[BC40]

I did this on my 40. Had it on my F engine for over 25k then swapped it to a 2F and put another 20k on it since.

If you compare the distance from the bearing surface below the drive gear (bottom surface of the gear that rests against the block) the stock gear is lower than the HEI. That's why if you just swap the gears over it can cause problems to either the magnetic pickups or the oil pump. The drive gear and distributor shaft get pulled down by axial force. Some guys turn the flange off the distributor to seat it deeper to account for the difference but then sealing and clamping becomes an issue.

When I did mine I kept the flange but redrilled the drive gear higher up. Problem is the hole works out to partly overlapping with the gear teeth.

As for gains I don't really think there were any performance gains, but I have not had to touch the distributor in 6 years except when I swapped engines. They are very low maintenance and either work, or they don't (like any electronic distrib). And when they don't work the control module is cheap. My entire conversion only cost me a cap and rotor, and some time. I found the unit bolted to a chev engine someone dumped in the woods when I lived in Port McNeil.

Not saying it's a better choice then the later factory setup, but done right it is a good alternative.