I am making a 1968 350 to W-31 specs. It is going into a 1980 El Camino instead of a Buick 3.8 with HEI. Because the wires are already there, what is the recommendation of distributor choice. I have the stock points distributor, but to have it reworked, buy a coil, resistor ballasts, a different starter and run new wire would be a lot more money and harder than getting a GM HEI. To my way of thinking it simply should bolt in, plug up and be ready to go, or is it? I would want to blueprint it as I know Olds are advance happy. It will have a W-31 spec carb too and all the goodies and a nice cam are already chosen.. PLUG IN THE HEI AND GO or REWORK THE POINTS DISTRIBUTOR, INSTALL NEW PARTS, etc?

 

@ 2 of my cars have GM HEI distributors
"blue print" ??

I have NOS shaft and body in the box

there are replacement high energy ignition distributors available after market

 

I'd choose the HEI. Easy install - Easy Tuning - Reliable. The build is far from stock so take advantage of the HEI.

 

 

It is an old Olds term for optimizing it, the correct advance curve, springs and weights and balanced is what I mean by blue printed. I will check out what is out there. Looks like the GM one is pretty high priced for the 100 point car. I just need function and I am on a tight budget, no room for extravagant. I have a MSD CDI for it

 

I think it makes better sense since Olds did the engineering and put them on their later cars for more efficiency. Thanks for the vote I have heard about recurving, and I've seen the kits, but how is it done, by guess and by golly or is there an equation...

 

Its your choice, there is no performance difference between points and an HEI, you just don't have to mess with points every year or so. In all actuality the points system is probably less expensive to install. In my opinion you don't need an MSD box for the street, it just adds something else to go wrong at worst possible moment, usually a cold night in the rain.

 

Yes far from Stock will be the understatement when its done. The leap from rebuilding the breathless V6, to swapping to SBC, to get my Olds back in another form was easy. No one told me that it would double and double the price again just on machining. I'll stop grumbling when I can drive it, but for now, my savings account is drained There is a guy down the road with an Omega under a tree. Maybe I should have pursued it instead

 

We have lots of them here...and you are right, at the worst possible time it will choose to break. Murphy and I are good buddies when it comes to vintage cars. I was leaning toward HEI for the lower maintenance overall. It would be nice not to have to set gaps and dust off my dwell meter, drop the little screw that holds on the condenser bracket, have the coil wobble loose etc. I once had a Cutlass that was almost impossible to start below 40 degrees. Many mechanics scratched their heads and didn't solve it until my dad said it's probably the coil, Replaced the coil and it was it. His theory was there was a gap that opened as it got colder and was fine once the engine started and was warm. A coil is the last thing anyone would suspect. That being said, I had the HEI one just stop one day too...replaced the module and never had a problem again.

 

I agree with this and have posted many times about my experience with both.

 

The cheap Chinese HEI distributor's are actually well put together. I upgraded the coil and module but the stock stuff might be fine, only $40.

 

Last spring when it was time to change my points I was considering aftermarket HEI, I settled for a new set of points. I set timing and dwell and did my final adjustments at a nice office park straightaway nearby. I relocated my condenser to the coil bracket where it is very easy to replace. There is a hole on the bracket that will take the screw. The condensers for me have been the weak link. I had two die on me. I keep a spare in the glove compartment along with a few tools. My engine is mostly stock.

 

I replaced the Summit HEI in my 71 98 recently. The pickup coil died after 8+ years. I bought a lifetime warranty HEI from the parts store but it was over $100. During the time I've run HEI on my Olds I've had 2 HEI modules burn out on me. It's a good idea to keep a spare in your glove box. I also think that the HEIs available from Summit and the parts store don't have an appropriate curve for an Oldsmobile. I bought the re curve kit from Summit and installed it in my old distributor, I have yet to transfer the weights and springs to my new distributor. Unless you have a specialty machine made for curving a distributor (I haven't seen one in 15+years since I was in college) installing a re curve kits is a simple as swapping out springs and weights methodically and checking the timing with your timing light until you get the best result on your butt dyno.