distributor questions?????????

My 73 mav is getting on track again after my long long long search for a solution to my header/exhaust manifold problem. Crites restoration rocks by the way.

New question is, the 351w needs a distributor and was told to get a one wire HEI set up does anyone have any ideas?

Looking into one with no ignition box required, the part that really gets me is what style of advance i need or do i need an advance at all?

What is a slip collar and do i need one?

And do i need a mechanical tach drive, what is it?

 

the slip collar is the little block that holds the distributor down without it the distributor can move back and fourth or jump up out of the whole causing all sorts of problems

I think thats what the slip collar is anyway. other than that I cant help

 

I would stay away from any HEI style. Not a very smart in the way they're design. Mallory Unilite or MSD ready-to-run is your best bet

 

I had an HEI dist on a 5.0 in the Maverick. Worked fine but due to the comments here I carried a spare HEI that I picked up on ebay for $40. Liked the idea that, if something failed on the road, I could replace the whole ignition system with that backup distributor with one blade connector. But, it never failed.

The 14" air cleaner did require an offset base and different heater hose nipple on the intake.

Besides the poor reliability reputation, the other complaints you'll hear are its a Chevy part, its "big and ugly" and the integrated coil is subject to overheating.

 

You don't need a mechanical tach drive.

 

all of the cars we do in the shop get a pertronix flamethrower if we keep the ford dizzy, otherwise we run the msd pro billets. the pertonix unit is seriously one of the best things you can do for your car... its reasonably priced, reliable as heck, and the only ones who know about it are you and your car since it all goes under the cap. no big goofy hei cap getting in the way of everything.

 

A Pertronix want fix a sloppy bushing or other worn parts inside a distributor. Some times part wear out and need replaced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rPw9ejfj-EM

 

I've heard a lot of bad talk about the GM HEI, but I've had a few and never had any problems with them. Of course they were on GM products, too. I don't care for the looks of them on a front distributor engine like a Ford, just too bulky. They're fine in the back, hidden by the air cleaner!

 

no, it won't, but the old ford dizzys are pretty easy to blow apart and rebuild. its way cheaper to throw a pertonix in and rebuild than to buy a new one usually. also iirc, the windsor dizzy is the same as the one for the 460.

 

i had a gm hei on my 302 for better part of 14 years, with no issues. i have gm hei's on my impala, if you a want a nice distributer talk to DUI. expensive but they work
i have a couple ford hei's laying around. sense i went to fuel injection i needed to go with an electronic pickup, and a MSD 6al

a slip collar lets you set the depth of the distributer. it makes it more adjustable height wise into the block for cam gear mesh, lets you set that gear in the middle of the cam gear. this is good if you have shaved heads, or weird deck height.
a bigger cap gives you a little better timing accuracy. ultimate is a crank trigger, distributerless like the edis systems. or msd dis.

i was planing on going edis. but im with a regular distributer now. i might go dis later, sence i have most of the stuff laying around. (balancer with reluctor wheel, edis packs, cam sensor, spark wires) just would need a megajolt control module.

 

Nothing wrong with HEI at all, however they are bulky. I'd go Pertronix.

 

The bad thing about the HEI is the coil in the cap, and the module in the cap design. With the coil in the cap all of the Radio Frequency Interference and Electro-Magnetic Interference that the coil produces are directed at the module and the pickup trigger coil. The high voltage from the secondary side of the ignition passes within 1 1/2 inch of the module. With the short rotor barely covering the internal centrifugal advance mechanism, you are guaranteed to get lots of firings to ground, both around, and through the rotor. Look for 'Red Dust' inside your cap and rotor. That is the residue of extreme heat 'welding' the advance weights to the pivot pins from ground firing. The advance weights/springs being out on the end of the shaft, instead of be close to the shaft's bushing, adds more wear on the shaft bushing inside the housing. Also the advance weights/springs are in plan site begging for someone to monkey around with them. The HEI clones have way to much advance right out of the box guaranteed to do engine damage. The main reason people say their engine runs better since they changed over to a HEI is because they just installed a new distributor to replace the 40-50 year old worn out ignition. If the HEI is so great…why don’t we see them on NASCAR or Pro Stock race cars?

 

Jeff, you know way too much about a GM style distributor...

 

simply because the architecture is not large enough to house all of the necessary components for an optimized system.. not because the disty itself is so inferior in design. Standalone coils are only better because they have been made large enough to be more effective(winding flexibility/potting/oil cooling capacity) and allow improved performance over one that has to be compromised for the sake of being stuffed inside the top of a disty.

Sadly.. coil on cap HEI is pretty ugly on the front of a nice looking Ford motor though.

 

Won't ever hear me saying squat about the factory stuff in terms of overall reliability. Aside from a few random issues.. I've had FAR more problems from aftermarket parts than factory ones. Not even in the same ballpark and I won't even touch those damned hall effect Mallory units any more.

Also imagine how many millions have been produced compared to the aftermarket stuff. You could probably combine ALL aftermarket EVER produced and it wouldn't even be close to the number of factory systems made.

Road tested durability trumps adjustability and marketing for most all but the hardcore user.