Upgrade To HEI

[Rapid Roy]

1974 C10 350/TH350. Decided I want to upgrade to HEI from stock distributor. Have seen a lot of brands available. The 1972 C10 I had previously owned had Accel when I purchased it. Looking at Accel 5048R 65K HEI DISTRIBUTOR. Would like to get opinions on this one and/or different ones that would be good.


TIA

[Rapid Roy]

Sorry, used wrong number. Should be HEI000R.

[VileZambonie]

Smart move upgrading the ignition system. I would suggest that if you choose a system, don't mismatch components.

[Engineer]

The fat cap HEI was so good the aftermarket builds them for furd and derge applications.

"Back in the day" I remember people telling the horrors of a blown module but that was never an issue for me. I even had a GM parts counter guy telling me I should pull my HEI and drop in an old points type ignition in my '77. "You just keep a set of points in the glove box and if anything happens you change the points and you're back on the road". (Oh brother :rolls eyes:)

HEIs are as simple as they come. One wire to the ignition switch and one to the tach.

[Rapid Roy]

Smart move upgrading the ignition system. I would suggest that if you choose a system, don't mismatch components.

Please explain more about mismatching components.

[VileZambonie]

Using a stock HEI with an Accel coil for example. The carbon button should match the coil. The cap and rotor should meet the requirements of the temperature increase. The electronic control module should be able to meet the demand of the ignition system etc. So if you want to run MSD, run all MSD, Accel, run all Accel, Summit etc etc. I've seen a lot of glitches and failures from mixing aftermarket ignition components. Pick a brand you like for whatever reason and go all in.