ignition upgrade ??

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e..._trkparms=algo=SI&itu=UCI&otn=18&po=LVI&ps=54

Have any of you used this specific make of dist. and should I use it to replace my Dura junk set up? The price is right...

 

The price is certainly right... brass contacts, doesn't look bad.

Interested, they offer a "lifetime" warranty on the HEI for my engine (258), but the HEI for the 304 (from your link) is only a three-year. Wonder why the difference... it may be worth looking at newer listing from them to see if they changed it to lifetime for all their products.

 

Will this improve throttle response and performance at all and is it hard to do. I see that I can email them fir the instructions if needed.

 

this has been covered here ad nauseum.

Search for my install write up, pretty much the same set up I have. Its been on for a year with great results. Make sure to reuse the original drive gear off of the old dist.

 

Dante's Write-up...
http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57029

Also see the second page which has links to a LOT of other writeups.

 

Generic aluminum housing, usually made in China.
These tend to have the vacuum advance that gets into the power steering pulley when you try and install them correctly.

Cap and coil cover seem to be Mallory knock offs.
Watch for brass WASHED terminals instead of solid brass terminals...
A few arcs inside the cap and you will wind up with aluminum oxide that is NOT conductive and causes problems with the spark energy getting to the plugs.

Most of the '50,000' volt coils require you to open up the plug gap to 0.050" or 0.060"...
This drives the VOLTAGE up,
But it reduces the primary parts of the spark energy,
Amperage and Duration suffer quite a bit when you drive the Voltage up that far with the early E-coil designs used in the IN CAP distributors.

The excessively high voltage has a tenancy to jump gaps it's not intended to...
Like blowing though the rotors and trying to weld the advance weights to their pins,
Jumping to the wrong terminals,
or just jumping to ground on the distributor housing.

Excessively high voltage also breaks down the center electrode in the cap, and blows through the insulating gasket between cap and coil.

Distributorshafts are often made of soft metal, and let the shaft head 'Wobble' under the weight of the advance head.

The drive gears are often 'Import' and hardened or have the wrong tooth profile, so they are VERY HARD on the camshaft drive gear in your engine!

If the shaft is too long, then it will bind the impellers in your oil pump to the case, and that often causes an entirely different set of problems...

You get what you pay for, and $69 isn't a deal if you have to strip the front off your engine,
Replace the distributor and camshaft gears,
And replace the front housing because the oil pump wiped out the housing...

If you insist on going HEI,
Consider DUI or MSD units.
They are between $300 and $500, but you won't need to invest in $1,000 worth of engine repairs when you switch to them.
-----------------------------------------------

Now, if you consider upgrading the Jeep/Motorcraft distributor compared directly to the HEI distributor,
Read this,
http://www.junkyardgenius.com/ignition/jeep/HEIcompair.html

You really are converting to something that is still a weak, single fire, short duration, low amperage FACTORY ignition, and swapping it for another weak, single fire, short duration, low amperage FACTORY Ignition, just from another maker,
AND,
You are swapping for mostly 'Import' parts made in China or someplace else they don't know what 'Quality Control' means...

You are MUCH BETTER OFF sticking with the more tunable, more adjustable, and better designed Jeep/Motorcraft distributor,
Upgrading the 'Consumable' or 'Tune Up' parts (Cap, Rotor, Plug Wires) and adding a CDI module that will give you 500% or more increase in spark energy over either the factory Jeep/Motorcraft or HEI clone...

 

He was asking who had used this specific make of dist... Yes I have brought this dist and very happy with it and the people who sell them..But I have only had it my jeep for a month or two. Still too early to say how well it works.

 

cookieman, did you use the gear that came on the dist. or did you put the one off the stock dist. on it? I'm hearing some of the aftermarket one are to hard of steel. Your the first I've heard from that used this specific make. I like the price, but if it's junk I'll look elsewhere.

 

Yes use the gear that came with it . so far it been good but like I said before only one month or two .

 

The dist I got from 4wd hardware looks identical. Chances are its the samke make.

 

I have that dist in my 74 with a 304 V8. it uses all GM pre-81 parts. so parts are easy to find. price is good. I paid 99.00 brand new. Made a huge Diff on my 304.

 

Use your original gear, or your just asking for trouble.

 

Just double gasket the new dist and leave that gear on it. mine has quite a few runs on it and it looks great. you just need the gear clearance that a double gasket will give you!