This has probably been asked about already. My 72 Cutlass w/350 has the original points distributor. i would like to upgrade that to an HEI distributor. Will a distributor from a Chev engine work or does it have to be from an Oldsmobile? If so which years of distributor are the same?

 

I'm pretty sure it wont work! I had to buy an MSD one specially for Oldsmobile

 

It will not work, you need an Olds distributor. HEI started in 74 so any of them with a 4 pin ignition module will work.

 

Olds distributors rotate counter clockwise

Chevrolet rotates clockwise.

You ABSOLUTELY need an olds distributor. And besides, who wants a chevy distributor in their olds anyway!

It'd be like putting a mopar air cleaner on a Toronado....

 

So a distributor out of a 78 Toronado should work? I have a line on a parts car.

 

chevy and olds dizzy's are physically quite different, the olds being shorter and fatter on the part that goes into the block, chevy being thinner and longer. olds uses a hex shaft to drive the oil pump off the dizzy, chevy uses a flat blade that is tapered thicker the further you go up the shaft.

yes, the '78 dizzy will at least fit your motor, the timing curve will need to be re-curved for your specific application. the vacuum advance will probably be too early and too steep for your motor, you'll want a different one, maybe an adjustable. unfortunately, all of the adjustable vacuum cans i've seen allow only for adjustment of total vacuum advance-not the point at which advance starts or the rate vs. vacuum. then, you need to make sure you have a 4-pin module inside, as stated above. make sure there are only 3 wires going from the cap to the body of the dizzy, and no other wires coming out of the base.


bill

 

My old '78 Toronado XS had an HEI distributor, but it was controlled by an early version of an ECM called MISAR if I remember right. I think the advance curve was set by this rudimentary computer, but I'm not sure if anything else other than the module made the distributor different.

I'm sure any other '78 Olds HEI would work--perhaps even non-XS '78 Toronados...

Rockettruck...

 

i was reading about the misar system a couple months back. it has additional wires coming from the dizzy body. if the original poster follows what has already been stated with regard to choosing the correct type HEI dizzy, he'll be on the road to a superior ignition system.


bill