Fire in the Hole

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Frank Mopar

Frank Mopar

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I purchased on of www.classichei.com ignition set ups for my 360 sb. Just had to get rid of that fussy ballast resistor. For $100 this thing is awesome. I ordered it on a fri and it was at my house on mon. A tech question was answered the same day so kudos to classic hei for the prompt service.
Easy to hook up. Two wires hook to the dizzy and the old coil + wire goes to the new coil. You bypass the ballast and fire it up. I had a ballast that I was able to take apart and replaced the resistor with a 14 wire so it looks like it is still hooked up. Open up the plugs to .045, check the timing and your off and running.
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fklskv said:
I purchased on of www.classichei.com ignition set ups for my 360 sb. Just had to get rid of that fussy ballast resistor. For $100 this thing is awesome. I ordered it on a fri and it was at my house on mon.
Click to expand...

same here, been running mine for weeks now, and i love it. Greg is great people :cheers:

i mounted my coil next to my wiper motor on one of the existing studs....
 

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Same here, but got the parts real cheap at the junkyard last Spring (GM truck 85-95 or 93-car). GM has a factory cable that runs from module to coil, so why not use that?

Why is your module on angle aluminum? Don't they give you the finned heat sink shown on their site (I used an old CPU heat sink). Not that a flat alum plate wouldn't work since GM just bolts it in their distributor.

Good that the wires from your distributor pickup to the module are twisted. That is important to avoid feed-back pickup. When testing mine by spinning the distributor I sometimes got "free-running" because I was using loosely strung alligator clips. The pickup was sensing the coil firing and self-exciting from "positive feedback".

The ClassicHEI works, but not much value-added and you can procure real cheap at any junkyard. If you do, leave some wires on the 5-pin connector for the future and grab the GM knock sensor & module while you are in there, since many after-market engine controllers know how to use that.
 
Hey Bill, Greg here.
I started using the angle because it gives the module a flat surface for the heatsink compound to contact the two surfaces well, and that coming up with a bunch of heatsinks isn't very easy to do. (inexpensively anyway) not to mention that they are usually major overkill.
Temp doesn't really matter that much because these units are normally inside a 200 degree distributor, but a flat surface to carry off the heat that they produce internally does matter.

To answer one of the other concerns you had, some people just aren't comfortable doing wiring and soldering.

Lastly, the unused connector on these still have the pins in them and just the wire has been removed.
It makes for a cleaner hookup for the future, instead of splicing wires.
I did it that way intentionally to make people use new wire instead of splicing.

High value at a low cost for people that can't, or don't want to do it themselves was the goal with these
I think I hit that mark very well, and everyone who installed one seem to agree.:D

Of course a lot of us can do it ourselves, some can't or don't want to.







BillGrissom said:
Same here, but got the parts real cheap at the junkyard last Spring (GM truck 85-95 or 93-car). GM has a factory cable that runs from module to coil, so why not use that?

Why is your module on angle aluminum? Don't they give you the finned heat sink shown on their site (I used an old CPU heat sink). Not that a flat alum plate wouldn't work since GM just bolts it in their distributor.

Good that the wires from your distributor pickup to the module are twisted. That is important to avoid feed-back pickup. When testing mine by spinning the distributor I sometimes got "free-running" because I was using loosely strung alligator clips. The pickup was sensing the coil firing and self-exciting from "positive feedback".

The ClassicHEI works, but not much value-added and you can procure real cheap at any junkyard. If you do, leave some wires on the 5-pin connector for the future and grab the GM knock sensor & module while you are in there, since many after-market engine controllers know how to use that.
Click to expand...
 
Trailbeast,

You are providing a good service and your prices aren't out of line for new parts. It is especially helpful for slant and BB owners who don't have the $45 "ready-to-run" HEI distributor option. For those who regularly visit a junkyard, it is cheap and easy to grab parts off a GM and the only cable they need make is from the GM pickup connector (white) to a Mopar double-bullet distributor connector. Be careful of dlb bullet "appliance" connectors since many are shorter and don't connect tight. Also, you need the proper polarity (only one way gives steady timing).

I isn't obvious if your kit has pre-wired cables or just the connectors. If the later, then wiring the connectors is more work that just grabbing the GM factory cables at the junkyard. If you fabricate the cables, I suggest running the wires (red & blk in photo) thru smooth PVC sheath like from SPC Technology. You can buy on ebay, Newark, or Digi-key. I use that in all my custom wiring since it looks nice and is easy to keep clean. It is factory in my Mercedes. You could also use split loom is bulkier and collects gunk.

One comment on fklskv's installation is that I would run a dedicated ground wire to the mounting screw of the HEI module. There is a blk wire in the photo that might be that. Don't rely on the sheet-metal screw to the body for a ground. Just like with the Mopar module, no ground means no spark. Isn't that a problem that comes up every week?
 
this is what is included. the only thing i had to do was wire up my distributor plug and 12v power to my coil. there is already a dedicated module ground wire included
 

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I could not see what you used for a dist. connector. If you don't want to tear up your oiginal harness, you can buy the rubber 2 terminal plugs from any parts store as a "trailer connector"

Any parts store should have 'em

11172.jpg
 
67Dart273,
That trailer connector is the hardware store connector I was referring to (found on appliances too). If you look close, you'll see that the male pin is shorter than in the Mopar distributor connector and thus won't make a solid connection. I suspect that is a problem for many owners since I found a similar short connector on a Mopar pickup I bought from rockauto. I bought 2 from rock at the same time (was cheap) and found one was correct and the other short. Of course I only figured this out after realizing an erratic connection while testing my HEI setup by spinning the distributor.

73ABodEE,
With the junkyard grab I suggested, all you must custom wire is the distributor plug also. The cable from module to coil is factory GM and not inside another harness.

The ClassicHEI kit does not show the distributor connector on the car side. I am guessing you cut the one off your harness, but pre-73 owners would not have that, and points people would be a big market for the kit. I had a 74 slant harness to rob.
 
I'm gonna have to check that because I THOUGHT that is what I used.
 
I gotta make this short (Long day)
The section from the ECU to the coil I make looks better than the factory one. :)
And I don't trust those factory distributor plugin connectors (I've had more than one cause a random disconnect) but I did mention somewhere that they could be used if wanted.
The installation instructions provided instruct about the polartity of the distrib wires, and then those wires are unplugged at the ECU for distributor removal.

Yes, the little black wire is a ground included so far only in lance's kit because he didn't want to mount things permanantly for awhile.

I make custom adjustments for certain installation issues like that if wanted.

Have a good one all, I have to go.
 
Haven't had a much of a chance to drive this setup as the weather has been crappy here in western NY but the verdict is in. Its awesome. It feels like a totally different engine. I would rate this as one of the best upgrades you can do to a Mopar.

Either way you do it, spend $100 and get the setup from Classic HEI... or...waste a day, burn some gas, head to the jyard, walk through the mud, catcha couple of bee stings and pick up some worn out gm parts for $25. It will be money well spent.

One other thing is to double check the feed voltage to the coil. Make sure that wire is doing its thing. I have my supplied through a relay now.

Have a great day
 
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