Can anyone identify this distributor? Is this a GM unit? My MSD 6A died last autumn. It literally went up in smoke just after I shut down the car. Because everything is a mess I will throw it out and put in a stock distributor and renew the engine wiring harness. but for that I will have to move the car first under it's own power. This HEI unit should work on it's own right? Or do i need an external ignition module with a transistor? Coil is on top and connector pins are named. But I do not know what the three wires are that go out of the distributor. I could not find a wiring diagram with those colors. Does anyone know what color wire is what? Greetings from Switzerland Benny
That is a GM HEI, and it has been converted to fire the MSD. You'll need an HEI module to use it on it's own.
Thanks for the answer. I guess the HEI Module would be inside the distributor and it has been taken out? Hence the weird wire colors...
Yes, if you take off the cap and rotor, you’ll see the MSD harness is connected directly to the magnetic pick up. This is what you have now, https://www.ebay.com/itm/MSD-8861-W...=item58fa913dbc:g:3yMAAOSwM1FcZGHW:rk:13:pf:0 You’ll need the module and the wiring from a stock HEI. Here is one on Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Distributor-...ring+harness&qid=1551197370&s=gateway&sr=8-19 https://www.amazon.com/TSP-HEI-Pin-Module-JM6917/dp/B008V5UIZS Then it is just a plug and play. To power the HEI, make sure you use a regular 12-14 gauge wire, not the original points resistance wire. The GM HEI requires full battery voltage. They sell a replacement power wire, or you can make your own.
Don't use the stock coil wire coming out of the fuse box,you will have to use a stronger wire,I have a stock original wire for that,but you can make that yourself.Bruno.
A stock HEI actually uses less energy than points at lower rpm. The points draw current 2/3 of the time (dwell) and burn up unused power in that ballast resistor. The HEI waits till the last possible time, then grabs all its energy for the spark. No waste, but a good connection must replace the ballast resistor so that surge can flow unimpeded. Bruce Roe
