Hey, Guys, I have just acquired a HEI dist. from another buick eng. and want to put it on my 68 Riv to get rid of the points. how do I wire it??
Doc, If it is like most hei distributers, It has the coil on top which plugs into the lead from the base, a positive terminal and a tach signal terminal. You put the lead form the base to the inner terminals, hook 12v direct to the positive terminal (do not use a ballast resistor, the hei needs 12v) and if you have a tach, the green (usually) wire goes to the tach terminal. These are nearly fool proof to wire. Make sure the ground wire is inplace under the coil cover. I have seen this cause many problems when not installed. The aftermarket makes hotter coils for the hei and MSD offers a stand alone coil set up, similar to what you are replacing.
Thanks,Joe, It will have to be fool proof because there will be a fool wiring it up. :laugh: I do pretty good on mechanical stuff but I cant see how electricity works so it is a mystery to me. I will keep this info on file for future reference. :Brow:
Doc, trust me when I say fool proof. I am much like you, I tear engines down daily but diag and electrical problem and I take forever. I just installed a hei setup in my wife 54 chevy (v8) to get the car running as my distributer is at the engine shop. I just negated the ballast resistor and hooked 'er up. Remember to set the gaps much wider with the hei, many chevies run .065". I am sure you will be fine as long as this has nothing to do with the cam in your PU. ou:
Howdy, I would like to add my 2cents here. Please make sure that the 12V wire is turned on and off by the ignition switch. I would like add that some cars used a resistor wire that cut the volts to the points so check the volts at that wire if you plan to use the original wire.
I will definitly use this info. :Smarty: I did get the truck straightend out, I put good old sealed power cam and lifters back in and it worked just fine . just drove it to nashville and back today. ran like a sewing machine all the way. Thanks guys. :TU:
