Texas442

Car is 72 Cutass with ACCEL HEI distributer Installed by the prior owner. I noticed that one of the tabs on the 3-wire connector that connects the wires from the bottom of the distributer to the cap is broken. So the connector is not staying in place. Does anyone know of a good source to order a new 3-wire pigtail with the connector?

joe_padavano

Pretty much anywhere. Here's one from Summit, but NAPA and others should also have them.




Frankly, any HEI distributor is a donor. I would also NOT splice in a pigtail. If the original wires are good, I would remove the terminals from the broken connector and insert them into the new connector body. The terminals can be removed with a straightened paper clip to depress the lock tab.

Texas442

*** UPDATE ***
Thank you very much. I ordered the exact HEI power pigtails recommended above. Had free time this evening and did the install. I followed Joe's suggestion and removed the terminals from the broken connector (and the new pigtail) and swapped connectors only keeping the existing wiring. In the process, I noticed that 2 of the lugs did not fit snug and were loose. So I pulled all 3 lugs back out from the plastic connector and found that the tabs labeled "A" in the illustration below were flat and did not apply any spring action. So I bent the tabs out a bit, then re-inserted all 3 wires back into the plastic connector and the car fired up right away.

One minor note regarding the new plastic connector. After I connected it to the HEI cap, I still noticed a lot of vertical slop up and down (about 1/4"). I don't know if this is normal or if it is because it is an aftermarket connector. I figured as long as the lugs are making contact then this is probably OK. If I get stranded again, then I will look at this connector and push it up again.

joe_padavano

Yeah, I should have mentioned that it's usually necessary to bend the tab back up after removing the terminal. Glad this worked out for you.