changing to an electronic distributor.

[Flared69]

Hey ladies and gents. I was advised to change to an electronic ignition system as my current one is having a crap and is killing me inside

Now, I don't fear reconditioned stuff. Is it a good idea to get a reconditioned electronic ignition or better to get new for this kind of thing? And what should I aim to get? Price for this sort of thing is not the biggest worry, but saving would be nice, of course This was on recommendation of the goodwrench guys.

Car:
69 350 with potential for a bit more than 350 hp due to bolt ons. 12.5:1 compression ratio. Extractors, original sidepipes, edelbrock performer RPM manifold, soon to be a holley avenger 770 on recommendation and will get baffles in there eventually if possible. What do you guys think would be the best option (part number and store if possible please).

Cheers in advance and I'll be watching this thread closely.

Nik.

 

[Jack]

Hey ladies and gents. I was advised to change to an electronic ignition system as my current one is having a crap and is killing me inside

Now, I don't fear reconditioned stuff. Is it a good idea to get a reconditioned electronic ignition or better to get new for this kind of thing? And what should I aim to get? Price for this sort of thing is not the biggest worry, but saving would be nice, of course This was on recommendation of the goodwrench guys.

Car:
69 350 with potential for a bit more than 350 hp due to bolt ons. 12.5:1 compression ratio. Extractors, original sidepipes, edelbrock performer RPM manifold, soon to be a holley avenger 770 on recommendation and will get baffles in there eventually if possible. What do you guys think would be the best option (part number and store if possible please).

Cheers in advance and I'll be watching this thread closely.

Nik.

Nik:
Not too clear on what you mean by changing to electronic ignition? ... remove the points in your distributor and retrofit with electronics into your dist? ... change from points dist to electronic dist? ... add a hot box like a MSD?

Not clear on what is crapping out on your points system that leads you to want for electronics? Those systems are usually easy to repair/recondition and are plenty good enough for 400 HP 12.5:1 street car.

IMHO, a 400 HP 12.5:1 CR street car with properly tuned points ignition & properly jetted carb does not NEED a MSD box. And IMHO they're not so practical for a car that is depended upon for daily drive to work. Like any electronic component... you cannot confirm its operational status by simply looking at it. If you must get a box, the MSD 6 and Crane Hi6 are good ones ... recommend new ones as you cannot tell if a used box is any good without testing it. If you really trust your Goodwrench guys ... they sell the MSD 6 box too but it's sold with a GM P/N & the box is painted GM blue instead of MSD red ... they also sell the MSD distributors & coils in similar manner. Same exact stuff, just relabeled. The only distributors MSD makes with tach drive MUST be used in tandem with a MSD box ... you're looking to start at about $450 for just the dist & box combo.

Any distributor for your 69 MUST have an integral mechanical tach drive ... or you'll have to change out your tach to electronic too. The HEI dist as found in 75 up C3 does not have a tach drive ... if you use a GM HEI you'll have to swap the tach too. Davis Unified or similar markets a tach drive HEI but it goes for about $500-$600. Don't let nobody blow smoke up your azz... your points ignition can almost certainly be repaired & it'll be all you'll actually NEED. Last time I checked there were several good condition tach drive delco remy vette distributors going for $175 or less... outright.
JACK:gap

 

[Flared69]

interesting.

 

[vette-dude]

There are kits available to convert your point type dist to an electronic one. This will lett you keep the tach drive and the original look but give you the realiabilty of the electronic. Some of these kits are better than others so do some research before you buy. Easy to do also.


Randy

 

[vette-dude]

Look here

http://www.vintageperformance.com/retrorockets/ignitor.htm

Randy

 

[Copdogcorvettes]

Mallory has the Unilite system to change out those old points. same idea as the ones psted above. But they have been around for more years than you have. I and many of my friends used the unilite units in the 70s&80s and they work great. Check in just about any speed catalog. Also look at Jeg's.com I'm sure they are in there.

Then When you get the dist. out check for shaft play; grab the shaft at the bottom and move it side to side while looking at the top end where the points contact the shaft. If the shaft bushings get bad it can screw up the dwell and point gap big time. The shaft bushings are something people forget about when they start having tuning problems.

Gary

 

[72Mako]

I agree with the above posts. The further you stray from stock, the harder to repair when you break down in the boonies. That being said, I'm running the entire MSD ignition, 6AL box, billet/tach drive dist, coil and wires. No problems for about 4 years now. Probably overkill but didn't want ignition questions with my modified motor. I also wanted the rev limiter feature to save the engine if I missed a gear and I suspect that the factory isn't really all that accurate anyway. Another feature I like is that the MSD comes with a selection of rpm pills that allow you to set where the rev limiter kicks in, for instance 6,500 rpm etc. They also include a 3,000 rpm pill that allows you to test the rev limiter at 3,000 rpm. I install this pill when ever I have to drop the vette off at say the alignment shop all day. Keeps them honest, but they probably think my car runs like crap.:L Charles

 

[Flared69]

Look here

http://www.vintageperformance.com/retrorockets/ignitor.htm

Randy

Apparantly my distributor unit is pretty much screwed. Which would explain a fair bit. What I wouldn't mind doing (anyway) is replacing the whole thing. I am prepared to do this (I prefer new for old any day).

Is there a kit/system out there, which comes without the need for me having to convert the point type to electrical? ie. Electrical out of the box?

Cheers,
Nik

 

[Copdogcorvettes]

You can buy a complete dist. with the upgraded systems from the aftermarket. Again Mallory has them as well as others. You will need to get one with the proper tach drive.


Gary

 

[Flared69]

if anyone can help me find a HEI distributor with a mech tach drive, that would be real cool.

I have found one, for $525 >8S
bit expensive.

http://www.mrnitrous.com/gm.htm

 

[Copdogcorvettes]

Check Jegs.com or give them a call at 1-800-345-4545. I just took a quick look at their catalog. On pg. 98 is listed MSD Chevy billet tach drive dist. for Corvette. PN 121-8572 w/vac advance $286.99. They also list other makes of dist as well.


Hope this will be of some help.

Gary

 

[Jack]

Apparantly my distributor unit is pretty much screwed. Which would explain a fair bit. What I wouldn't mind doing (anyway) is replacing the whole thing. I am prepared to do this (I prefer new for old any day).

Is there a kit/system out there, which comes without the need for me having to convert the point type to electrical? ie. Electrical out of the box?

Cheers,
Nik

All the MSD distributors with tach drive MUST use a box too ... so, again ... about $450-up total. That pricey tach drive $525 HEI is a pretty good price ... they're very limited production so they're stupid expensive. A good used, tight OE points dist w/ tach drive with a good set of Echlin heavy duty points (not race, not standard) & Echlin HD condensor and you'll be fine for many years to come ... estimating $200 total. FYI ... Echlin ignition parts are available at all NAPA auto parts stores.

Our circle track car w/ 355 sbc has MSD 6TN box & Blaster coil. It's a race car not a street car ... it's carb tends to go rich (typical fuel pullover) at high rpm ... so it NEEDS the extra fire ... it's a race car. I keep a spare MSD box in the hauler.

My 71 388 sbc vette is a street car ... it has MSD HVC 6600 box (that's the badazz black one) and HVC coil ... BUT ... it's definately overkill and I DO NOT NEED it ... it helps a LITTLE bit and it simply looks cool ... it's a street car, not a race car ... and the MSD ain't needed. I also had to retrofit a later electronic tach. Mine hasn't let me down either ... yet. Because of potential reliability issues ... for backup, I have a spare plain jane HEI dist in a rag stuffed into one of the back compartments. I routinely work on race cars w/ MSD ... I'm called on to wire others' cars too (including a coupla Busch cars) ... but I keep a backup HEI in the street car because it's nearly impossible to troubleshoot a box on the road & I sure can't fix one. I know a bunch of racers & fabricators ... none of them know how to fix one either ... the closest guy I know that can is a hundred-plus miles away in Charlotte ... Nelson Crozier of Nelson Specialties. Trust me ... you really can't adequately check an MSD box with a VOM.

So your distributor base is worn out ... it can be reconditioned. But if you don't wanna do that & you'd like a cheap way out then ... tell you what ... I've got a deal for you Nik. I've got an Accel performance (POINTS) distributor that has both vacuum and mechanical advance ... and tach drive ... I think it's a 34000 series. If I recall, it's in very good condition & has no unnecessary play. Uses OE type parts for tuneup ... easy to get at NAPA & elsewhere. This'll drop right in your 69. No haggle, I'll take $150 plus shipping. Lemme know if you want it & I'll dig it out & confirm condition. But, my primary suggestion is to repair the distributor you have.
JACK:gap

 

[Bob Chadwick]

This is probably a pretty basic question but what is the procedure for swapping out a distributor for a new one. If you are going to remove and replace the existing one it seems you just mark the vacuum advance position in relationsip to the manifold and the rotor in relationship to the distributor. You pull it out, do what you need, line everything up and put it back in.

Since none of these marks are on a new distributor, what would you do?

Bob

 

[Jack]

This is probably a pretty basic question but what is the procedure for swapping out a distributor for a new one. If you are going to remove and replace the existing one it seems you just mark the vacuum advance position in relationsip to the manifold and the rotor in relationship to the distributor. You pull it out, do what you need, line everything up and put it back in. Since none of these marks are on a new distributor, what would you do? Bob

Bob:
It seems your intuition is right on the money.

The correct positioning of the plug wires on cap when viewed from directly above is a clockwise sequence of 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 ... same as firing order. Cylinders are numbered as follows: the DRIVER SIDE bank is numbered from front-to-back in sequence 1-3-5-7; PASSENGER BANK is front-to-back sequence 2-4-6-8. Wire #1 goes to cyl #1 ... wire #8 to cyl #8 etc.

Make sure you swap the plug wires onto the new cap in same order as before ... Note about where the vac can was & shoot for same ... Note where the old rotor was pointing in relation to a plug wire terminal (i.e. cylinder) ... after stabbing new one, position the the vac can where you want it ... but the rotor MUST point at same plug wire as it did with old dist ... you may have to pull out & turn the gear & stab again to achieve proper index ... after proper index the timing will be close but you'll need to check & reset timing w/ light.

For example, let's say the old rotor was pointing between plug wire terminals #5 & #7 ... all that really matters is that the new cap has plug wires on it in exact same order as old ... and that the new rotor ends up pointing at same position on cap as before ... in this example, pointing between #5 & #7. Then Check-Reset with timing light.

FYI ... there are 13 teeth (not eight) on distributor gear ... so there are 13 possible index positions for aligning rotor to the 8 spw terminals on cap ... and by turning distributor base that alignment is further indexed to meet timing light marks.
JACK:gap

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Thanks Jack. I thought I was going to have get TDC on the first piston and go from there. Looks pretty easy.

 

[Flared69]

bobchad, you may want to buy a haynes manual on the vette.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1850107238/qid=1079839602/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-6833421-9316713?v=glance&s=books

they aren't the most amazing, but they have useful information on certain things as this.

FYI: Im still trying to decide between the DUI or the http://www.vintageperformance.com/retrorockets/lobe.htm

 

[Bob Chadwick]

I've got one. It's just that the information here is so great I never think to look in it.

 

[Flared69]

ehhehe fair enough

OK Jack, ill pm you once I go and collect my original wheels for my vette regarding buying your distributor I have decided my route.

Cheers.

 

[Jack]

Nik:
You have email too.
JACK:gap