Dui Ignition Performance? Other Dauntless Hei Results? It's Replacement Time...

My Delco HEI has degraded due to heat and aging. Screws are pulling loose and now stripped. I've made things work for now, but it's obviously time to get something new in there.

Last year I had ordered a DUI setup, including the wires, but after the purchase they wrote back to say the order was going to be 6-8 weeks out due to them all being built in-house there at their facility. I just upgraded my internals rather than going with a new setup, because I wanted to get my CJ on the road (offroad) and have some fun with it rather than wait.

Seems like it was going to be around $500 for the setup. A bit pricey.

So you guys who have the DUI, how do you like them? Did you actually notice any difference in performance, or are the super-high quality products enough in themselves?

And for others who've bought other HEI distributors, what are your results? Reason I ask is because I've has some terrible luck buying some of the 'cheaper' components off of Amazon, and now lean toward known-quality vs. a toss of the dice. I had a fuel pump for my Polaris 6x6 last one hour, stranded us in the woods, a 'performance' ignition module blow within a day, an ATV carb malfunction right out of the box, which I was able to troubleshoot and bandage together, and so forth.

So I'm wary of the distributors out there.

Even the keyboard I'm typing on, a replacement for my HP laptop, has lost all the ink on the majority of the keys, and several of them need to be hacked-on just to get them to register, the reason I replaced my old original keyboard to begin with!

DAMN.

I could go on--

So I'm leaning toward a DUI, but any quality HEI may work for me since this Delco seems to have lasted quite a while. The Delco HEI came on the CJ when I bought it two years ago.

I have the Dauntless 225.

Thanks in advance!

 

Lots of goood info there

 

I have an OEM NOS Delco Remy odd fire HEI that I am willing to sell. It also has the OEM NOS Packard cables to go with it.
I’ll sell at my cost. Just Need to locate my old receipts.

 

I’m running a DUI extended unit, it is a nice unit, built well and the company is real easy to work with. I bought it used on this site, never had been installed, called up company to have it dialed for my engine and they did it for no cost. That being said, I was running the PerTronix in my distributor and really like it, only upgraded because I got a great deal on the DUI unit.

 

Another option, Sam sells a lot of these, reasonable and fast.
https://stores.partsdude4x4.net/buick-225-odd-fire-hei-distributor/

 

I switched from a standard Delco with a Pertronix to an HEI....really couldn't tell any difference. At some point I'll probably go back to the regular distributor.

 

Davis is a good distributor and Brian there is top-notch. They use the best components and run test them. The distributors themselves are made
from older odd-fire cores and the extended ones are assembled on a jig. It may take some time for them to locate old cores and then build them.
No worries about having the incorrect drive gear. The extended model resolves many issues. I highly recommend them. Remember, we are a very
small market for them.

 

Hero of the day right there.... thank you for posting the cross references n and especially that skylark advance can!!!

 

Good luck finding it. You might have some luck with the interchange numbers. I think I found one before but it was not on the Rock.

The best I could do: https://www.rockauto.com/en/partsearch/?mfr=STANDARD+MOTOR+PRODUCTS&pgname=Ignition&partnum=VC

Partsdude has it: https://stores.partsdude4x4.net/hei-side-port-vacuum-advance-canister/

 

The DUI unit is going to do absolutely nothing for you over a stock HEI.
I’m not saying the DUI unit is bad… it’s just not necessary for a stock dauntless, or even moderately built dauntless.
If you spin your dauntless engine high enough rpm to utilize the benefits and extra cost of a DUI distributor……. You either have a super high $$$ engine or your about to spend allot of money on your next engine.

 

I've got a DUI on the '68 with a Dauntless, a factory HEI on the '69 with an odd-fire 231, and Pertronix in a stock Delco housing on the '71 with a Buick 350. All work well and I can't tell any difference between them.

 

Not entirely true. The Extended DUI gives more room for fuel lines, no grinding of the intake, easier access to the hold down bolt, no grinding of the cap to achieve the correct
engine advance and more positions to point the vacuum advance canister. My canister points at my power steering pump as opposed to those that point at the fan blade requiring
special canisters or an elbow on the vacuum line. No need to add a fan spacer.
What HEI and the Pertronics both do, is eliminate the need to adjust the points as they wear on the cam. Less maintenance.

 

Thanks so much @Warloch, and others!

NAPA just happens to be the only auto parts store in our small town. Next town with auto parts is 22 miles, and the next is 30 miles in the opposite direction... But in the event of a breakdown while away from home, this will be a great reference point.

That Parts Dude 4x4 looks like a great source as well. I already had their HEI bookmarked. Looks like he gets it. I think I did buy something off him last year as well.

Sounds like the DUI is great, especially for the extended version, but whether it changes much remains to be seen. Unless things change, whatever I get will likely last the life of the CJ while it's in my hands. Right now I'd be good to get 1000 miles a year out of it, and even if I go full-crazy on it I doubt I'd ever hit over 5000, especially if I end up towing or trailering it to trail destinations. We'll have to see. Depends on whether I start pulling the boats with it on fishing outings. Life plans can really change when you have a solid rig to get you to remote locations, however, so I may find myself hitting 10k a year before long. It's a 50 mile round-trip just to get to my preferred long-range shooting destination. Hmmmmm....

Great advice and response, everyone! I totally appreciate it. I run electric fans so the vacuum port likely won't be an issue, though I currently have the side port.

 

The extended shaft is the only benefit, but it really only changes not having to grind the intake bolt.

If your vacuum canister is pointing at the power steering pump, your HEI is installed improperly.
Yes your engine probably does run to your standards, but it is not taking advantage of the HEI system.
It is likely that you have the distributor installed a couple teeth off and you are using the wrong #1 location on the cap.
Here is a link that shows what I am talking about.

http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/81488/

 

There are three positions that will work. As long as number 1 leads into a 150 degree interval to number 6, the distributor doesn't car which way it points. From the factory the only position that really works is with the vacuum can facing forward because the can hits things in the other two positions. The extended distributor may open up the other options.

Edit: fixed the interval following #1 to the proper 150 degrees.

 

Seems to me that any other position would lead to an intermittent miss fire, given the unequal length tangs in the cap, like CJ6442 had in the thread linked above.
I guess you could re clock the distributor cap to index on the distributor body in a different location.
On a even fire engine I totally get using any number one position on the cap that you desire.

 

You can use any of those odds for #1 and it will run fine. You just can't use any of the evens. All of the evens will lead 90 degrees to the next cylinder firing. All the odds will lead 150 degrees to the next cylinder firing.

For example, the #1 on my 231 is two spots backwards from the number one on the cap. It was that way when I got it and It runs great, so I've never bothered to pull the distributor, rotate the rotor and re-wire it just to be proper.


Edited to put #1 on any odd post like it should be.

 

I gotcha!