vettemad

Ok guys, I'm about to put a fact. style hei in my 70 toro, I don't see it being hard but am concerned with the air cleaner fitting afterward, anyone done this? will I need a 75 or newer base? let me know and if you got an air cleaner or a base to one, let me know, include price....thanks, cliff

toro68

Back in 1990, I had a NOS 1975 Toronado HEI put in my 1968 Toronado (when the motor was rebuilt in 1989, 8.5 pistons was used).
The air cleaner we used was a 1971 Toro unit , and the back part was cut to accomate the space for the HEI.
If you use an HEI on a Toronado - it must be a Toronado unit only ! This is due to the lenght of the shaft.

Toronado

points are not that much trouble unless you are one lazy a-- mf. It is stupid to reduce value but if u r that sort remember to replace the power wire with a non-resitance wire of proper gauge.

vettemad

Yeah, I'm stupid and lazy....but not too lazy to spell out all the words in this reply, read the question....it says air cleaner...not how...or why... but here's why, reliability, maintenence, preformance....I'll save the old distributor for the next owner....thanks

Toronado

I bet u r fat too... fat people matter too

72 cutlass455

Dude the distributor on a 455 is a pain to work on being on the back of the engine. You must be part monkey to find setting the points easy. The hei conversion is a good way to go.

vettemad

you forgot Bald...

73toro

So do I have to find a Hei from a toronado. Or can I use any hei distributor. I want to make sure I buy right one first.

toro68

Toronado unit only!
I think it was mid-year 1974 HEI were aval on the Toronados.

vettemad

You answered this one twice!...I did put the gm style aftermarket hei in and it seems ok to me....what in specific was the shaft difference you mentioned....I've read that the same short blocks were used in the w30, w34,98 ect...and what problems would arise? thanks, cliff

Mr. 4 speed

I changed my 67 to HEI in 1976. Used a Toronado HEI unit. To answer your question, my stock air cleaner is tight but it fits. and because of where it is located it is not noticed very often.
Brian

ThePackRat

I have never heard of the HEI's distributor shaft in a Toro being different vs a RWD application.

What I do know is ....

There is a difference in the pickup coil & the in cap coils in an HEI in regards to Toro vs RWD Oldsmobiles.

This has something to do with the polarity & the starter motors location.

Toro's have the starter motor located on the passengers side vs the drivers side on Olds RWD cars.

Therefore, a Toro used the same pick up coil & in cap coils as a V8 Chevy or Caddy.

toro455

I bought an HEI for my 1969 Toro from the local parts store and it fit just fine. The air cleaner assembly was taken out of a 1974 Toro and it had the right offset and fit perfect. You really couldn't tell the difference and there was no hood clearance issues either. Worth looking into....The only issue I found was the metal tube ( crankcase ventilation ) being too short from the valve cover to the air cleaner...easily fabricated.