welcome another stang in Europe
what's actually the story with those HEI distries ? if I get Pertronix Ignitor II HEI then this will set me down 250 quid easily. this thing costs measily 50.
what's the catch ? for that money you're lucky to get a vacuum advance ..?!

kalli

 

hi kalli,
I think like you. Nobody tried this distributor?

 

There are folks who use the HEI in Ford Products on this forum, I have seen their posts. I don't know anything about the particular brand that is being sold on ebay, but for the price I might buy one for my son's Mustang.

The HEI setup was introduced to America in 1974 or 1975 by GM. The HEI remained in service withnearly all GM vehicles through about 1985, when computer controled vehicles became the standard.

It was a very reliable ignition system, it is an intergrated system (coil is in the cap) and it is very inexpensive to maintain. It is a good setup for mild performance, and some say high performance as well. This distributor has an oversized cap and is larger in diameter that most (or all) stock Ford applications. I believe that one reason the price for this unit is so good, is that all of the components to this distributor are readily available and cheap in the US.

I am a big fan of HEI, but this is a Mustang forum, you will see some resistance to HEI on this forum because as I said HEI was a GM product.

Recently, the aftermarket automotive industry hasaddaptedthe HEI to other brands including Ford.A plus for the HEI over some of the "specialy manufactured" units is that if I have an electronic failure of the components in the distributor, I can get replacements at any parts store in America. If I were in Europe, I would consider getting an HEI just because it would be very inexpensive to stock your own parts at home in the event of a failure.

 

The HEI setup has been used in millions, and millions of GM products over the years, I have owned many, many vehicles, and still own 4 vehicles with these ignition systems in them. It is not unusual for the HEI run for many years without a single issue. I have a 1979, and a 1986truck that I don't rememberever having issue with the ignition. (I mean nothing with well over 400,000 miles combined) I have anothe 86 truck that I had to replace a $20.00 "module" and a $25.00 coil on. I put a MSD HEI Styledistributor on my son's 1990 truck last year as a replacement for the stock computer controled distributor. I did this because it was realtivly cheap, (I think under $100.00) and if it breaks, I wont have to wait for parts to get it running.

The addaptation to Ford products is rather recent, (I think), but the difference will only be in the body of the distributor, with the works being the same as the stock HEI unit.

 

http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...EI_distributor

 

my vac advance is shot (the plate the points sit on fell of, so I screwed it down). The humps for the points are nearly gone. There's a little play in the distributor shaft. So all in all .. I might just go for one of these and see what it does ;-)

kalli

 

Yea, I want one! but,, it does not fit the 351W, I found the same brand and dist. for the 351 at Summit but it is $200.00. I think that the ebay listing taken at face value is a real good deal. Considering the condition of your stock dist. I think that this change would make a huge difference in the performance of your car.

The e-bay seller must have gotten a special buy on those or somthing, most of the rest of the items on this e-bay store are for Toyota.

 

Today I have been lookingfor one of these distributorsfor my sons 351W, in doing so I have noticed that on the SBF (289, 302, & 351W) the distributor rotates counter clockwise, on GM the dist. rotates clockwise, this being the case, I am not sure if the "stock GM module" will work in this dist. The coil, and other goodies should still be interchangable. (the module may interchange as well, but I don't know this for sure)

So, I am saying that the economic benifits (maintanance)of this distributor may not be as much as I first believed and stated on this thread.

but still,,,,, $60.00 + shipping is still pretty cheap!

Upon further review,any replacementmodule should work regardless of direction of rotation. The Oldsmobile 403 usesa HEIdistributor as well, and it's rotation is counterclockwise. It uses the same module as the more common clockwise rotating Chevrolet.

 

Hi JMD,

thanks for your advise. If I put that in I can still swap with my old one in case something goes wrong. And for that price i can nearly buy 2 of those. That's the price I pay for a set of points with condenser and rotor anyway ... ;-) Only downside is that I'll need to swap all cables then as well

kalli