Installing an HEI in my 292 was one of the best upgrades I did. I installed a spring kit, IIRC used the fast advance springs. Installed a adjustable vac adv. The vac adv had to be limited, that was in the instructions. I replace the wire to the ignition switch with 10 awg. The 292 ran great even if it was old.
The OEM HEI distributor was for emission control, as such it lost both centrifugal and vac adv over the years. The later HEI distributor have more advance lost than the early ones. The first year for HEI was 74-75 and they had external coils. The OEM HEI does not have the advance of an early points distributor. There is a points replacement kit for the points distributor called Pertronix that will get you a bit more spark. May have to get another coil. I've heard good and bad about the Pertronix, it is not a true HEI.
Search the internet and you find the bent 8 group have a particular set of weights they like. There are instructions for rebuilding, and trial error re-curving. I have copies on one of my computers, se3nd me a PM and I'll try and find them.
Larry
