Going to get rid of the entire wiring system on an old 87yj. Any suggestions on a specific brand/model? This will be a mall crawler for wife/daughter so no need for anything specia. I've found one on Amazon for $65.
I'd check into just wiring in a 4 pin hei module using the stock distributor and pickup. It would be a little more involved than dropping in an hei retrofit setup since there would be six or so wires instead of one, but it would have the same benefits plus the modules mounted under the hood on a heat sink is supposed to be more reliable than having it under the distributor cap anyway.
It's a pretty common swap on duraspark fords to get rid of the problematic Ford module so there's plenty of info out there.
From the searches I've done it seems like dropping a$70 hei is as easy as dropping it in and hooking power. A late 70's Chevy dizzy looks like the right match. Amazon lists several that say direct drop in, hoping someone here has done it.
I have a Davis designed for the 4.2... it dropped right in and works well but is more expensive. I've heard any HEI distributor from a straight 6 will work but I believe you have to swap the distributor gear out.
One other thing to keep in mind is you should probably wire up a relay to power the HEI, the power wire from the original duraspark ignition has a resistor in it and works fine as a signal wire for a relay but can result in weak spark if wired direct to the power terminal of an HEI.
I also ran a DUI in my 87 CJ7. It was great and super easy to dial in. I had an aftermarket cam, header and carb and Davis built the advance curve on the Dist. to match my setup. They are expensive but worth the coin in my opinion cause they can be tuned in more for "your" application.
I run one on my 8 with the 258. I picked one up off of eBay for around 100. I've read about some of them eating up cam gears, I contacted the seller to make sure they didn't use the hardened gears. I ran a new wire from the ignition. It's ran good for 6 years. I'm running 10 or 12 degrees, but that's something you can play around with. 45thousandths on my spark plugs too. Helps to clean up the engine. My engine didn't run before I installed the hei and the 2100 so I can't say how much it improved it
Easy there killer. www.performancedistributors.com
<<This motherfucker has used them a bunch. Not the cheapest, but the best. Tech service is drop your panties Badass.
Brian is my contact.
Remember, i still run a AMC 360 in my trap you whiner.
I got mine off eBay, ran it for several years with no issues. Think they're around $60. The factory tach will not work work hei. They use a different signal type signal. I used a cheapo sun pro tach with no issue. You'll also need different plug wires. The factory dist uses female terminals, hei use male. You can use plug wires from 4.0.
That my friend is some funny shit! Dunno bout the 6 but I used a gm hei in a 86 cj8 with the 360 other than that Id go to performance distributors for hassle free solution!
I got mine off eBay, ran it for several years with no issues. Think they're around $60. The factory tach will not work work hei. They use a different signal type signal. I used a cheapo sun pro tach with no issue. You'll also need different plug wires. The factory dist uses female terminals, hei use male. You can use plug wires from 4.0.
