Thread: HEI Distributor

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I am picking up the 63 Nova Wagon on Friday and first things I plan to do to it is disk brake conversion, power booster, weatherstripping and felt and new plugs, wires and HEI distributor. In the car is a mild 327 with performer intake and currently a Edelbrock but switching to a Holley and behind it is a powerglide tranny soon to be switched out with a TH350.
The car now runs a plain dissy with some kind of plain coil mounted next to the carb. I need this car to be as reliable as possible so this is why I am changing some of the ignition system, wires and plugs. It is going to be my work vehicle and daily driver (somewhat). I guess what I will do is go with an HEI distributor to get rid of the external coil and make things more cleaner under the hood, etc.
Any idea which HEI will work the best? I have used and put on a few $100-$150 dollar HEI's from Summit and they seemed to work fine. Would this be all I need?
Thanks for any advice and information you guys may have!

IMO for just a driver they work fine.... Unless you're going to go drag racing or start playing on the dyno, the little bit of power gained with a $300 distributor probably isn't going to make a performance difference you would even notice in a daily driver... Save your $$$ for other parts. Heck, pick up a stock chebbie unit at the U-Pull-It for $30, it'll do fine with a new cap and rotor and a bit of scrubbing on the exterior of the distributor it'll look fine, too.

Thanks Dave. Yes this car is not a strip or drag car, it's a wagon I will use for street and am going to try to make it reliable enough to use for my mobile detailing business and trips to the beach while getting the best gas milage possible.
The gearing and TH350 tranny is not going to help much until I can afford a 700R4 overdrive but then again I will be taking the back roads as much as possible so will stick to 55 MPH tops, mostly 45. Any other ideas what to change or look into for better fuel milage and reliability? Other than fuel injection or EFI, that is something I cannot afford for another few years.

forget the U - pull. Odds are you'll tie into one which has so much crud built up on it that it won't pull out ( done that been there ) else the bushings are shot.

Smart money is on a Summit unit. Easy pays for itself.

Oh yes I should have added. In the crate engine section of Summit Racing cataloge they have a HEI dissy with plug wires for $100 bucks. Basic unit that I think will do fine and I will buy. To drive 45 minutes to an hour to the local pull a part and paying for the part will cost more in gas, time and their cost of the part. Can't beat that for $100 bucks. I have seen these $100 dollar units in use before and they seemed to work good, just not sure how long they will last or give problems?

You want reliable? Leave the points dizzy in it. Carry an extra set of points and a consenser in the glove box. Fix it on the road with a screwdriver. No need to fix it if it ain't broke. Waste of money.

I'll take that into consideration, thanks tech! I'll leave what is in it then. If it goes bad or needs replaced I will then get the HEI. I guess I can save $100 bucks for something else like new felt in the windows.

Originally Posted by FMXhellraiser

I'll take that into consideration, thanks tech! I'll leave what is in it then. If it goes bad or needs replaced I will then get the HEI. I guess I can save $100 bucks for something else like new felt in the windows.

EXACTLY.

im leaving mine points for the time being even though i am hunting for an hei for the 6 , you know i havent had to mess with points since iw as about 8 years old

hello
if you do end up putting in the HEI get one that hase a vac adance on it, they seem to work alittle better on the 327's good luck

Thanks for the tip, I'll take this into consideration!

Originally Posted by techinspector1

You want reliable? Leave the points dizzy in it. Carry an extra set of points and a consenser in the glove box. Fix it on the road with a screwdriver. No need to fix it if it ain't broke. Waste of money.

Sorry, but I run points now (few yrs now)since my HEI (aftermarket) went bad, points are not reliable, except to the fact that they are going to need fine tuning ever so often, and they'll fry for many reason's. (Why else would you carry spares?, I carry a spare dist.) Use a HEI and forget about it! Get a HEI from the parts yard! OEM's are better built and you can get parts anywhere. if it needs new bushings you can get them at Napa or almost anywhere cheap, and they are easy to install.

Pat

My first concern would be firewall clearance. I'm pretty old fashioned but points are not as good. First off they don't make them as good as they used to so the rubbing blocks wear out quickly thus the point gap closes up. And even at best a stock points distributor can't make half the voltage a stock HEI can.
I think HEI are kind of ugly though.

Well, here’s my 2 cents - I have a Mallory Unilite distributor in my 63 Nova. It is not an HEI, rather a photo-optic,LED trigger that allows the use of the stock (pre-HEI) size cap. There are no points and the timing stays rock solid. Mine has vacuum advance (however mechanical is an option) and it appears to be flawless in operation. They’re about $250 so I may be inclined to keep what you’ve got until there’s a problem and if clearance and ultimate reliability are a concern, the Unilite may be one to consider. You'll still need a coil (I used the Mallory Promaster) and a ballast resister - I was able to mount mine on the firewall. Snug, but accessible and it really shouldn't need a lot of attention.

Regards All,
Glenn

Thanks for the info guys! I have an OEM distributor that was in a 350 motor I pulled out of a S10 pickup I recently sold and junked. The distributor is very dirty and needs a new cap and coil, etc because the old one was thrown around by the PO of the S10 truck and also he didn't even have the dissy bolted down in the engine!!! It was sitting in there moving all over the place and I'm surprised the thing still ran!