Intragration

If you wanted to go HEI, you could get a used distributor for $50 or less. If you're sticking with points, you're going to need a dwell meter in order to tune it, as well as a resistor or resistor wire in order to limit voltage to the points while the car is running. This is very important. I think the resistor is a better option, I'm not sure how long the resistor wires were originally, but the longer they are the more resistance they would provide (thus "calibrated" resistor wire). A resistor would provide the full resistance necessary. Here's a thread that talks about this: https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ance-wire.html The resistor they show there is a pre-electronic ignition Mopar resistor, if you wanted to pick one up by application, you could ask for a ballast resistor for a 1970 Dodge Dart 318 and you'd get this part. And here's a wiring diagram that shows two possible wiring scenarios. I'm not an expert on this particular subject, but my understanding is that you would run the resistor in series to the run wire from the ignition to the coil (the former HEI power wire) and you'd also run a regular wire from the S terminal on the starter to the same spot on the coil as shown on the left diagram, so it gets full voltage while cranking, and then limited voltage once it's running. Hopefully someone else who knows for sure can confirm this.

copper128

I have a pair of new frame pads. Let me get them out tomorrow & I'll post pics.

coppercutlass

the hei units you find on ebay for likr 45 to 50 bucks work i put one in my dad's car 2 years ago and it has worked flawlessly just make sure it's a pro comp unit thats what i had. you can also find em through fastengineparts.com they have an ebay store.

Olds1971

Where did you get new frame pads? like jegs? and I def have points by how the picture looks. Which way is cheeper and more efficent? HEI or points.

Intragration

I was suggesting getting a used factory HEI. As long as it's in good condition and the bushings aren't shot, I'd personally have more confidence in one of these than in a new $50 unit. The choice is yours, like I said, now that you've opened up the HEI/points can of worms, you're going to get a lot of opinions. The fact is, points work just fine, and there's nothing wrong with them. They've racked up and continue to rack up trillions of miles, and rarely if ever leave someone stranded. But they need to be tuned correctly and periodically, and replaced once in a while. HEI is reliable and rarely needs any service. At lower RPMs, the difference in performance and economy between them is essentially non-existent. If you had an older already-running car with points, I wouldn't be suggesting that you go with HEI, but since it's not, and since it's a car that is already wired up for HEI, it might be easier and more convenient in the future if you went this way. It was for this reason and because the points distributor that was in my motor had been molested that I went with HEI.

Olds1971

Well I will prolly return my coil,dis cap and router and go find HEI. Sounds about the best way to go for what im wanting to do.

coppercutlass

The 50 dollar unit's aint bad at all. For 50 bucks you dont have to source one and then repair it, replace cap and rotor and module plus the cost of the dist maybe an advance kit . I was really happy for 50 bucks i wired it up put it in timed it . and i never looked back.

Olds1971

My worry is getting the old distributor out and putting a other in and getting off a tooth or something really stupid and screwing it up

coppercutlass

it's really easy. #1 piston on tdc on the compression stroke with the line on the balancer at the 0. When i install my hei i usually have the #1 pointing toward the number 5 cylinder or the last 2 bolts on the manifold roughly. On an hei number one could be any of the terminals aslong as the rotor is pointing to it and the number one plug wire goes there and that is where your wiring order starts. I tend to mark the #1 terminal which on my set up is the first one clockwise of the hook up for the batt. and power source. Then i take the cap off after i marked the cap and the base where #1 is together while assembled , Then i take the cap off and install and make sure the rotor is pointed to that mark. i then snug down the dist. and put the cap on and and the wires and follow the firing order .

copper128

No, I bought them from a local Olds dealer parts dept. in the early 90's. I planned to install a 350 Olds in an original Buick V6 car, but never finished the project. Now it's getting a new pro-built chassis which will include front and mid motor plates, so no need for the mounts anymore. They are painted purple, just so you know

Intragration

The old one should pop right out. The worst that's going to happen if you're "off a tooth" is that the vacuum advance canister will hit either the firewall or intake when you're trying to time it, so you just pop it out again and move it forward or backward.

Olds1971

Pm me with a price!!!

coppercutlass

I have had them backfire through the carb with it being a tooth off or having a mixed up cable.

Olds1971

I have decided to Prolly get an HEI distributor. Sounds like alot less maintance. If I get a HEI would the plugs on mine in my v6 go right up to it?? What kind of distributor would I look for.

Intragration

I think it's a good choice in this case, you can plug it in and pretty much forget about it. Any Oldsmobile non-CCC HEI distributor will work, new or used, ~1974 through ~1980. Coppercutlass makes a good point about the new parts on a new unit, I personally like factory parts and just recondition them if necessary. For plugs, there has been some discussion on it. HEI was intended to provide a bigger, more powerful spark, so I personally use an HEI equivalent plug for the motor, gapped at .060. For my '70 455 with HEI, I asked for plugs for a '76 455.

Olds1971

I might have asked this before. Getting a HEI for my car for that year would have vaccum advanced. My car doesnt havent that so where does that go?

Intragration

I recommend the manifold vacuum port on the carb. Some people say ported, but I feel ported is a compromise. Manifold vacuum gives you max advance at idle. I've noticed a difference, the car feels more responsive on manifold vacuum.

Olds1971

Soon im going to post everything thats not done like vaccum lines and hoses. Ill try to make it a big picture

oldybutgoody1137

Im putting a 73 olds 350 in my 83 supreme. Have slowly worked out multiple problems. My last major problem ( I hope ) is the headers. I bought a 7 qt morroso and the headers hit on one side so had oil pan prefabricated. Then they hit the starter so I got a mini but still no go. Whatheders are idealto use? I admit I slacked and got the cheapy flow techs but I have too much time and money in this car and motor and need it running. All help appreciated thanks!

Olds1971

Non ccc??? And so I could use any HEI distributor from 74-80?? What kind of cutlass had them in those years. Now I did find i have a HEI distributor in a box how could I tell what its from?

Intragration

CCC is the computer control, which you don't want. I believe as long as it has a vacuum advance canister, you're good. It would have to be from an Olds motor. Any Olds V8, from about '74-'80. G-bodies, B-bodies, C-bodies, E-bodies, anything with an Olds V8. If you can give me the number on the Olds distributor, I might be able to look it up. You could also Google it, it might show up there.

Olds1971

Where is the numbers located at on the distributor Ill take I look at it today. Man I cant wait to have this motor done!!! Im getting excited

Intragration

I believe they're stamped on the edge just below where the cap rests.

Olds1971

Ok I might have lucked out. When I owded my 71 cutlass s I had got given a HEI distributor and cap. I called my parts store and the HEI cap came from a 85 cutlass 307. If this will work this is what im going to use its in stock and ill trade what I have for what I need to make it HEI. 307s distributors fit the 350 correct? This distributors numbers are 1103291. Is there anyway to know if its good or not?

Olds1971

I just looked up the number for the distributor... Its for a corvette??? why would it have a Olds 307 cap?

Intragration

An HEI cap is an HEI cap. There are many differences in the distributors themselves, but the same cap is used on all of them. Because that's an L82 distributor, you might get more for it than you're going to pay for an Olds distributor.

Olds1971

So where would I sell that distributor at do you think? Whats the ideal year of cutlass distributor I should go with? I think this is the worst part of the build so far hha

Olds1971

Im posting some pictures to things I have no idea where they go or if I need them anymore. Hopefully the pictures come out bigger. The first picture is just an overall thing so far.
2. Whhere does this go and what kinda chrome cap can I use for this.
3. Whats this hole for if anything.
4. whats this go to from the choke.
5. hard to see but there is a vaccum line numb on it.

Olds1971

More pictures
1. vaccum line need or no.
2. vaccum lines need or no.
3. vaccum lines on manifold.
4. hoses from this.
5. What plugs into this

Olds1971

Last set
1. What plugs into these.
2. vaccum line on intake.
3. I have two lines that go into here what is this for and where do they go? Needed or dont need.

Intragration

1-2 - That's where the PCV goes, you put in a PCV valve and then connect it to vacuum on carb or intake.

1-3 - AC bracket.

1-4 - It's supposed to have a tube that connects to that well in the intake below it to grab heat from the exhaust crossover to warm up the choke.

1-5 - Can't really tell what I'm looking at. Connect all the vacuum lines that you know are correct or needed, and then plug the rest of them with rubber caps. There should be a ported vacuum port on the carb, that's where there is no vacuum at idle, but vacuum just off idle. I don't recommend using this one for anything, and plugging the vacuum advance on the distributor to manifold vacuum.

2-1 - I believe that's the choke pull-off. It works against the choke coil to open the butterfly a little once the car is running. Vacuum yes.

2-2 - If those are on the carb, again they are PROVIDING vacuum, not needing it. If you don't need to provide vacuum to something with them, then you've got it, just keep them capped off.

2-3 - Yet another source of manifold vacuum. Plug if not used.

2-4 - That's the heater shut-off. Vacuum hose goes to a line from the dash that shuts the valve when AC is on and/or heater is off. The hose goes to the inlet for the heater core.

2-5 - That is the coolant temp sensor. It would have been calibrated for whatever gauge or light was on the car the motor came out of. My personal approach would be to buy an aftermarket temperature gauge and put the sensor for it here in place of the one that's there.

3-1 - The one on the block next to the numbers is the oil pressure sender. Again, set up for the previous car that the motor was in. I don't trust old sending units on principle. Replace it with a new one from an '8x Cutlass, or from an aftermarket oil pressure gauge. The one on the intake is coolant temperature. Strange, I never noticed that there were two coolant temp sensors on mine too, one might be for another circuit, like the vacuum/temp/transmission/advance situation. I used this temp sensor location to the oil pressure sensor, and abandoned the other one.

3-2 - Another manifold vacuum source. Use or plug.

3-3 - For the choke heater.

Intragration

Sell it on Epay. Buy the distributor there too if you can't find one here, although you should be able to find one here. ANY olds non-CCC HEI distributor will work. If you're getting a used one and it's in good condition, it doesn't matter what it came from. Buy it, buy a Moroso recurve kit and install it with the lightest springs, replace the vacuum advance with one that only provides about 10-12 degrees of crank advance or make a limiter to limit the existing one, and throw it in. Lots of information up here on recurving the distributor, but I'm happy to answer questions or walk you through it once you get to that point. You should plan on spending some time with it when you do, timing is very important to overall performance and I think it's often overlooked or misunderstood.

SBORule

Dang, I hope Olds1971 takes Intragration out for a steak dinner for all the help he has provided.

Olds1971

Yeah hes helped a ton couldnt of done this without him

Olds1971

So went to bolt on the lower altinator bracket. I still cant for the life of me figure out how it bolts on. The picture Intragration put up it looks like it bolts to the first exhaust manifold bolt??

Intragration

That is correct, the lower rearmost hole gets the front exhaust manifold bolt through it, and the one above and forward of that connects to the small brace that bolts to the back of the alternator.

Olds1971

I got it!!! Ill post a picture here in a bit its mostly done. Im waiting on a response with a distributor kinda nervous about it though I almsot just stuck with the points. If it wouldnt be a big deal I would. I just dont know anything about them at all. Its looking sharp Im about 3.30 hrs away when I get this car painted and done Ill have to come cruise with you should be a fun time.

Intragration

Very cool, can't wait to see the car. I'm sure the HEI will work out fine. Then the fun begins.

Olds1971

Im so excited to do this. Next question lol. Which belts go onto what when im not running an ac pump?? I have two belts one long one small

Olds1971

Tired!!! Thought I would show its finally put back together!!! Thanks to Intragration and others I was able to take apart,fix, and reconstruct my first motor!!! Now on to tearing out my 3.8 and putting in the Big Hungry 350 rocket!!!!