question about hei ignition

-
P

purplescamper

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Messages
290
Reaction score
6
Location
scotrun pa.
im going to rewire my 73 scamp, and im looking at an autowire kit.
it states that the harness is setup for a hei distributor. how does this work will it work with the stock ignition system? i was looking at a proform distributor will the big cap clear my firewall ? thanks
 
Stock distributors only have about 6 volts going to them, hei requires elimination of the ballast resistor and full switched 12 volts to power the coil.
 
HEI distributors generally use one wire for ignition and that's it, because the HEI module is inside them so they don't need any more than that.
There's really no way it will work "with" your existing ignition, as it is designed to completely replace it and all associated wiring ballast and module no longer exist in the system.

A lot of people have had clearance issue's with the big cap distributor, so some bang the firewall back a little there.
Some have said it hits the wiper motor also.

If it were my car at this point in time I would get a decent (not high cost) distributor that I could put a Ignitor III with digital rev limiter in and run an HEI coil with that.

Of course there is also the Digital distributors that you can set your timing advance and curves electronically (E curve is the name of one)
 
The big issue with "most" universal wiring is that they don't allow for the IGN2 circuit from the ignition switch, which bypasses the ballast during start

The thing is your IGN "run" (IGN1) goes dead when the key is twisted to start, so even if you use a system with no ballast, you need to tie the IGN1 and IGN2 together.
 
67Dart273 said:
... you need to tie the IGN1 and IGN2 together.
Click to expand...
True. You can do this easily at the key switch, at least in my 64 & 65 where it is on the dash and uses a "56 terminal" connector. To not gomer your factory wiring, release the IGN1 & IGN2 spades. Make a jumper T that plugs into both housing positions, connecting IGN1 & IGN2 switch outputs to a single male spade that you connect to the original IGN1 terminal. Put the later pair in 1-position plastic housings to keep neat or just heat shrink. Also cover the bare IGN2 terminal (goes to an unused bulkhead position now, but just in case). Or you could do similar at the bulkhead connector.

If this 73 Scamp is a small block or big-block (why can't you guys tell us when asking?), a ready-to-run HEI distributor is $50 on ebay and will fit fine. If slant, you must roll-your-own w/ a factory e-distributor. Many posts, and see TrailBeast kit.
 
thanks for the replies. just so everyone knows this is a 360 engine
the reason why I'm posting is I'm looking to go with the american auto wire harness. this is set up for a H.E.I. distributor and requires a ballast resistor to step down the voltage.
i understand there might be a fitment issue with the distributor hitting the firewall or wiper motor.


ps has anybody have any info on BTP. Distributors ?
thanks
 
Most of us will be confused by an HEI ignition requiring a ballast resistor. All HEI I know of operates on full battery voltage, which helps make it "High Energy".

I hope you know there is a $45 HEI distributor for your 360. Search "ready-to-run" here and ebay.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top