I'm seriously thinking of upgrading my 364 with either an MSD or HEI distributor. I have seen both for sale on ebay, the HEI ones seem to be a lot cheaper than the MSD, plus they come as a kit with a coil and spark leads etc. Can anyone tell me if there is a significant quality difference between the two? I have also seen the pertronix distributors too, that seem to be priced somewhere between the Hei and MSD units. Are they easy to install?
Many years ago I would have recommended the MSD, but I keep reading they have some issues with quality. I’d seriously consider converting your original points distributor to electronic. Guys on here can recommend a reliable conversion better than me.
I think I would have to agree with Mark . If I was going to do it I would get a GM HEI distributor . If your worried about Reliability you can always carry a Complete cap with the coil in it , a Rotor and a Module . That only leaves the Pick up Coil to leave you stranded . . I did this with my Riv for 10 years and never needed the spare parts .
I think Tommy Telesco (Telriv) would recommend this, https://www.lectriclimited.com/breakerless-se-electronic-ignition-conversion
I did the hei conversion on my 455. Have one at home for the nailhead as well. Was def worth it and easy swap. The 455 starts so much easier with it and has more get up. I took the resistance wire out and just ran a copper wire from the pin to the dist. Was a simple swap.
My 425 has an MSD distributor and coil. It's been on the engine for 15 years and I have had no issues at all. I have however, been told that in recent years MSD's quality has slipped a bit. I have no personal experience as to whether that's true or not.
If someone wants mine, they can buy it for half price!! It was such a disappointment, nothing but trouble with coils causing stalling. I finally gave up and installed the dreaded Pertronix Ignitor 3 and a Pertronix coil. I installed a dedicated 12v lead for it. So far…much better. I’m not the only one with this issue, I followed all the steps from the breakerless tech support team’s recommendations….
I am using Accel point conversion with accel coil from 13 years and about 20 000 miles, so far it's been flawless. Atm I have customers Riv with 430 and we are exchanging Msd billet dizzy for a 3th time, first two didn't even start the engine, this one runs but looks like it's on 4 maybe 5 cylinders. In my opinion Msd isn't worth the money however I am using their cap and rotor and they are working good so far but it was no more than 1 hour of idling and some revs, no serious driving yet. Peace, Kacper.
You can always trigger a hidden MSD box with your points distributor. Add a timing controller to the mix and you can dial up or down your ignition advance from the driver's seat. Points don't burn in this application as they are nothing more than a switch. I adjust the rubbing block gap with a feeler gauge once a decade.
I'm running the Lectric Limited system in my '69. Happy with it so far, I did end up changing the coil. Good tech support via online chat too. I ended up pulling the dizzy to fit it, and just as well, as the driven gear roll pin was ready to shear.
Have Pertronix III conversion and Ignitor 3 coil on my nailhead for almost 10 years, lots of daily/town and highway miles (8-9 hours at a time) no problems ever. Very happy with it.
My supercharged motor has a MSD distributor and Digital 7 box but my 455 I had in my car has a Mallory distributor and an MSD 6AL box. The only issue I have had with the MSD stuff is the red coils made in Mexico. For some reason they are defective. If you get one without the little Made in Mexico sticker on it,they seem to hold up better. Had a Pertronix years ago but they were a piece of trash. It seems that replacing the fuse box wire with the resistor wire and using a factory HEI works equally well too. I helped do the factory HEI swap on a couple cars and they are still operating well today. I have heard good and bad things about the Lectric LTD but I have no personal experience with them.
"Best" is really subjective, but I use the Pertronix III with the FAST PS-50 coil in all 3 of my cars, and the combo has held up to my expectations with many hundreds of 1/4 mile passes to their credit
I had a night and day difference putting the msd ready to run distributor in my 425. Matt Martin has a post on how to tune it. Super easy.
Te problem is that (at least in my experience) it's the pickup coil that s--ts the bed first. If I was going to install an HEI, I would replace the pickup coil if the unit was not new.
X2, the pick up coil leads flex with the vacuum advance, and fatique. That can cause an intermittent no start/no spark condition. I had an HEI that drove me nuts that way. Every so often, the engine would not start. At first I thought it was the module. I changed it and the engine started. A week later, no start. This time, I took the cap off and moved the wiring around, and wouldn't you know it, the engine started. Must a done that a half dozen times until the only thing I hadn't replaced was the pick up coil. Didn't want to because the distributor has to come out and the gear has to come off. Replaced it and never had another problem.
Daves Hei. He converted both my 65 rivi gs and my chevy C30. Kept the original look and both have been working flawlessly for years. Second choice would be DUI . Got one in my chevy C20 . Fired up within half a revolution after installation.Both Chevys have factory 350’s . Full 12v to the coil makes for easier starting and better idle on all 3 of my vehicles. The only reason I went with the DUI on my C20 is because Dave was out of commission for a while due to health reasons. Dave does beautiful work and stands behind it . He is back to work in his shop now.
