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Mini HEI or go back to points?

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Old December 22nd, 2021, 04:18 PM
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Stock cars are too boring
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Mini HEI or go back to points?

While trying to figure out height clearance with my Offy turbo thrust 360 tunnel ram for my boat 455, I realized that it's not meant to run with an HEI distributor, so that comes to a bit of a problem for me. I can either go back to points, or hope a mini HEI will give me enough clearance to fit behind it all (4" vs 5.5"). Any other suggestions on how to make this mess work? I'm not opposed to going back to points, but I don't know what that will consist of doing.
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Old December 22nd, 2021, 04:32 PM
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Quality parts and maintenance for points plus a resistor wire. There are multiple small cap options, the MSD being about the only name brand option. The MSD is just as compact as a points distributor.
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Old December 22nd, 2021, 04:44 PM
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Stock cars are too boring
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Originally Posted by olds 307 and 403
Quality parts and maintenance for points plus a resistor wire. There are multiple small cap options, the MSD being about the only name brand option. The MSD is just as compact as a points distributor.
unfortunately I'm on a budget and a $400+ distributor isn't an option right now. What do you think of this?
https://swapmeetparts.com/product/sm...tributor-coil/
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Old December 22nd, 2021, 06:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Coastie
unfortunately I'm on a budget and a $400+ distributor isn't an option right now. What do you think of this?
https://swapmeetparts.com/product/sm...tributor-coil/
For the same money you can put a Hall Effect breakerless module in a regular distributor. They work flawlessly and put em in and forget them. There are several vendors for them,American Auto Wire, M&H Electric/wiringharness.com. They are a one wire unit and works just like a points hookup. You will have to run a OEM coil for the correct ohms.
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Old December 22nd, 2021, 07:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Coastie
unfortunately I'm on a budget and a $400+ distributor isn't an option right now. What do you think of this?
https://swapmeetparts.com/product/sm...tributor-coil/
That looks pretty good for the price. Curious what module it uses. Nearly everything electronic is hit or miss, even some of the more expensive stuff.
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Old December 23rd, 2021, 06:56 AM
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Originally Posted by 66-3X2 442
For the same money you can put a Hall Effect breakerless module in a regular distributor. They work flawlessly and put em in and forget them. There are several vendors for them,American Auto Wire, M&H Electric/wiringharness.com. They are a one wire unit and works just like a points hookup. You will have to run a OEM coil for the correct ohms.
^^^^ this

Originally Posted by olds 307 and 403
That looks pretty good for the price. Curious what module it uses. Nearly everything electronic is hit or miss, even some of the more expensive stuff.
^^^^and this.

Pertronix is cheap and easy…unfortunetly they pretty much own the hit or miss market

that distributer you linked to is interesting, assuming the pic is accurate the shaft is not a points lobe shaft but has vanes like an HEI. It also lists. 10* adjustable vac advance and bushing adjustable mech advance all desirable features.

my guess is its a chinese knockoff (ish) of something like the MSD RTR.



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Old December 23rd, 2021, 07:29 AM
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That looks like a Ford DuraSpark EEC (IV(?)) style pickup with a “vane” style wheel. Reliability? Roll the dice, like most electronics used in the aftermarket.

​​​​​​….

Last edited by bccan; December 23rd, 2021 at 02:47 PM. Reason: As gs72 mentions later, I left out part of the name.
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Old December 23rd, 2021, 07:45 AM
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If price did not matter this would be a fitting choice.


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Old December 23rd, 2021, 09:20 AM
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Actually it looks like a Ford dura spark pickup. The pickups were pretty reliable. The modules were the problem back then.
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Old December 23rd, 2021, 10:14 AM
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To be honest, going back to points would be the simplest and least expensive route for you. You can always change later when funds are available.
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Old December 23rd, 2021, 01:35 PM
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Stock cars are too boring
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Well I ordered what I linked earlier. Hopefully I won't need it at all, but I'd rather be prepared.
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