HEI swap question... please read

[littlejimmythatcould]

Has anyone run this set up (pics), I am finally tired of my points and rather than get the points eliminator kit I thought I'd take the plunge to HEI. I've bought tons of AC Delco stuff before, but I'm not too sure about this coil, will my plug wires clear the top on the coil (pic)? I know they're supposed to be held on there by the coil, but in the instructions it shows putting different wire boots on. Another question, the red wire is positive, the black wire is negative, but what does the brown wire go to? I did a search ( to try and curb the onslaught of questions) and found on there that one of the wires gets ran to a 12 volt power source with 10 gauge wire. Would that be directly to the battery or could I tap off of something else? I've got a hanes manual to get the firing order out of so hopefully I'll have the answer to that. Another question, will my timing be different and if so how much or will I have to play it by ear when adjusting it? I'm hoping to get it installed this weekend. Ya'll have been great so far and I really appreciate the help. Thanks

 

[divorced]

The connector with the 3 wires plugs onto the bottom of the cap as shown below. Connect a switched + voltage wire to the "Batt" terminal on the cap. I'm not sure if it gets 12 volts or a little less... That's it.

 

[theperfectgarage]

Yes, HEI boots are different at the cap end, and you need to feed it about a 10 ga. wire from a ignition " run " source at the fuse box. Dont hook it straight to the batt, you dont want it hot all the time.
Timing really shouldn't change. But play with it and see what your engine likes. You can also run a tach off it.

 

[divorced]

I think he needs to find a "hot through start" source for the switched voltage instead of just "run".

 

[theperfectgarage]

I think he needs to find a "hot through start" source for the switched voltage instead of just "run".

You are 100 % correct, thanks for adding that for him. I have done this stuff so long, I forget sometimes what some don't know.

 

[1-ton]

Man, is this a “blast from the past”. Converting from Points to HEI ignition. Back in 1977 I had a 1970 Chevelle SS 396. It still had the original points distributor. From the late 70,s to the early 80’s there where still a lot of old muscle cars running around with the original points ignition distributors, and converting them to HEI was all the rage. Of all the modifications I did to my Chevelle (camshaft, intake manifold, carburetor, headers, and high compression), nothing produced a bigger Horsepower gain than converting it to HEI. That car went from being a 12.60 E.T. quarter mile car to an 11.90 E.T. car. What Divorced said is pretty much it. Just make sure the hot you use on the BAT+ terminal is only hot when the key is on. Here is a link with more info on the conversion, if you want to study the whole conversion in more depth.

http://www.oldengine.org/unfaq/hei.htm

 

[littlejimmythatcould]

Appreciate your help guys. Thanks for that article too 1-ton. It was short and sweet and to the point. I think I just might have it now. I'll give you all a holler if I have anymore questions about the swap, but for now thanks. I'm off into town to hunt down some different wire boots for the HEI cap. thanks again.

 

[dave_90_blazer]

you can use the original positive wire to the old coil if you trace it back and bypass the resistor wire/ballast resistor

 

[Cmoe]

Great link... Didn't hear some of that info before...