3 wire h.e.i.

[454Man]

I have the correct one for my truck but im leaning towards keeping things simple. Is there any reason to stock with the one thats in the truck now? Its an 82 and has more wires. Hoping to find one in texas, but idk

[ralphhemi]

Go to e bay type  in V8 Chevy     hei.  for $35. you can buy a complete new  65,000 volt distributor

[454Man]

Thanks will do

[timthescarrd]

If I'm thinking correctly bout what your asking, your's has the four wire plug at the bottom and you want the three wire plug, the three wire is for when there isn't a knock sensor. but it will work

[454Man]

Yeah I want to run the engine for a while on the engine stand and the one I have now has 4 extra wires that go through the fire wall, and they are hooked up to the other side of the module

[454Man]

Ok so I got a p.m. about my dizzy issue. Here is the link  I have been given. http://73-87.com/7387garage/drivetrain/escrepl.htm

My question now is (remember I'm new to chevys) does my 82 c10 have a ecm that would cause a problem when doing this mod? If so how do I identify the ecm

[Jason S]

I believe the only "ecm" on your '82 would be the ESC box that adjusts the timing on your current distributor. You can install a new, non-ESC HEI and if you follow the instructions in the link you'd totally bypass the spark control module and be running an internally controlled HEI distributor. 

If you were to follow the info at the bottom of the page on that link, you could just modify your current distributor to achieve the same results as installing the non-ESC HEI.

Either way, you'll need to ensure you have the timing correctly adjusted with the new distributor setup so that you aren't pinging along down the highway.

The remainder of the engine is mostly vacuum controlled in some form or fashion (e.g., vacuum/temp switches and a spaghetti of hoses), generally it depends upon how much emission equipment it has.  But yours may be altered from the factory setup over the years.

[454Man]

My rebuilt 350 that is replacing the locked 5.0 should be here in a couple days. There will be no emissions equip. I called comp cams and asked about my cams timing... initial 10 total 34 ill bring in the total at or around 2500 rpm. There will be no racing just cruisin with this motor. And pump gas is going to be used. Good to know I don't have a ecm because I would of routed around it anyhow. The carb is a 76 qjet which to me is the best for a daily because of easy adjustability. Thanks!

[454Man]

Now is this what I'm supposed to remove guys?

[454Man]

I tried the removing the glove box and tracing the wires, but they go too far back over the heater box to find out where they endup. So I found this under the driverside dash

[Grim 82]

That's the ESC box, the harness runs up behind the ductwork against the firewall and is tough to remove without taking the dash out. On the engine side of the firewall is a red wire that piggybacks into that harness, which has another red wire with an identical plug that goes to the distributor. Bypass that harness, verify that the single red wire is a switched B+ and plug that right in to the distributor, and that's all you need, provided you use a non-ESC distributor. For the price of a new one, I wouldn't bother modifying an old one.