heI distributor

how good is the hei dist. set up compare to the stock electronic ign. i'm planning on going with hei set up. it will be on 440 mild built, street use. have electronic on it now ,but its old. if i get rid of it. i can lose the ecu, ballast res. whats everybodys take on this. thanks

Best upgrade you can make as far as I'm concerned. Purists and loyalists don't like it, but your car will.
Mopar's electronic ignition is a good setup, but brand loyalty aside, HEI is better.
Ballast resistor, ECU, and the coil all go away, single wire hookup, and you can open up your plug gaps to. 045. Maybe more, but that's as far as I've gone.
The only real downside I know of is it's glaringly NOT original. If that's not a problem for you, then go for it.

I wouldn't use the hei myself mainly because of the looks but all the hei needs is a 12v switched power source and your done. I personally haven't had any problems with the mopar setup.

The Chrysler set up doesn't burn holes thru the cap - seen it many times with HEI and it's ugly. Use your Chrysler distributor w/ a good cap and a MSD box. You won't have any issues. My opinion is that HEI is not better - easier yes, don't take the easy way out. The Chevrolet crowd is good at taking the easy way... don't be one of them.

I've heard many like the Pertronix stuff basic wiring with Chrysler appearance. I use mopar electronic now and have loved it, next one will be different for simplicity. I like the HEI idea but if I put one on one of my vehicles, my Chev pal would hound me to my death.

If you change your dist. why not go with a MSD and a 6al box??More juice better performance..I did then I drive my car alot and take it to the strip a few times a year..
Petty Blue 67 gTx

I'd have to agree with jonnyyuma on this. The HEI ignition system is far superior to the Chrysler stuff, plus you can run a very low resistance coil in conjunction with it. It puts out great spark for a mere fraction of the cost of the MSD stuff - and it's durable.

Yeah, it may not look original, but dumping the ballast, the high resistance coil, and trouble prone ecu make it well worth the swap. In fact, it's so popular nowadays that Davis Unified Ignition is selling their products based on such a niche, however, IMHO it's easier to just cut the distributor wires and mount your own module.

The reliability of HEI is well known and perhaps one component of shivvy hardware that can take a beating.

Southernman

Thanks, Southernman. It's not very often that someone agrees with me....I'm married.

Swapping to HEI is not difficult, but I would'nt say it's the easy route. Not easier than switching out one part for another part thats just like it. Then doing it again... and...again, til everything is replaced.

I've never seen an HEI burn holes through the cap. I'm sure it can, if it's a crap-can imported cap with aluminum terminals. We're talkin' 50,000 volts here, that would make short work of anything thats not up to the task. I've also not seen a Mopar distributor burn through a cap, but that's mostly because it can't.

Dismissing something only because Chrysler didn't invent it just seems short-sided. Sticking to that rigid philosophy, I guess nobody would have aftermarket heads. Or cams. Or intakes, carbs, wheels or radios. Stroker cranks? Nope. Even the beloved MSD 6AL box or Pertronix electronic-from-points setup would have to be ignored.

I said Mopar's setup is good, I've been using them for years, sometimes stock OEM stuff, sometimes aftermarket replacements. But I'm not seeing Ford and Chevy guys clamoring for aftermarket ignition parts manufacturers to tool-up and start offering Mopar-type distributors to use in their vehicles. No "we want more convoluted wiring and boxes and **** bolted to the firewall!". Nope, don't see or hear that at all. I DO see several of them offering up HEI distributors to retrofit just about any vehicle, though.

A huge conspiracy and Ive been duped? Could be, but I don't think so.

Mine is on a 360 so it's not nearly as noticeable as it would be on a big block. It may not be very attractive poking up out front. That's an opinion for the car owner to decide.

Chrysler has had it's engineering victories, the Hemi jumps out. Shaft mounted rockers, the first onboard computer (okay, that one sucked), even the way the distributor drive is set up (none of that "one tooth off" ****), but they got left behind on this deal. If your Chevy buddy gives you crap about running HEI you can always point to his Air-Gap manifold and tell him he's using a Mopar intake!

Hi,
I am running the HEI module with the addapter from designed 2 drive and have been very happy with it. It has a very little footprint and the distributor looks stock. http://www.designed2drive.com/
Regards,

That's another good alternative. I didn't even know that was an option til I was researching for HEI info and wiring instructions for using the module with a stock dizzy kept coming up.

c.moo said:

how good is the hei dist. set up compare to the stock electronic ign. i'm planning on going with hei set up. it will be on 440 mild built, street use. have electronic on it now ,but its old. if i get rid of it. i can lose the ecu, ballast res. whats everybodys take on this. thanks

Click to expand...

HEI is good, little doubt. If your a purist though, then you wouldn't consider it.

A friend put one on his 600HP 440 stroker as it was the easy option, and I can't help but think of him a little differently now...