I'm installing an HEI distributor on the 250 that is in my 66 pickup. I have several questions. The distributor I have does not have a coil in the cap. Will the stock coil work OK or do I need a different coil? There are two wires coming from the distributor (brown and red) and I'm not sure where to put them. Most articles I find refer to the coil in the cap version.

Jeff

Jeff, I'm not sure that a stock coil wouldn't work, but here are a few considerations. The HEI is meant to work on 12V. The stock coil is not. The control module in the HEI might not like less than 12V. The stock coil might get a little smoked running off 12V on a long run. Here is a thread on Stovebolt about mounting an external coil. Richard posted some great photos. There are also external coils made by MSD and ProComp. I picked up a ProComp on that auction site for what a cap with the coil in it would cost, which is another option
Larry

http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=001851

Thank you for the ideas. I'm assuming that, if I get the proper coil, the plug from the distributor will fit directly into the coil, is that correct? As I mentioned earlier, there are only two wires and most of the articles mention 4 prong or 5 prong connectors. If I switch to a coil in the cap, I'm still at a loss as to what to do with the two wires coming from the distributor.

Jeff

The two wires coming from the distributor (factory connector on the end) will only plug onto the external coil connector in one direction. If you switch to the coil in cap, you will have to change the two wire pigtail to a three wire. The third wire (black) provides ground to the coil. The yellow (or orange) is 12V, the brown is points (HEI equivalent), also tach.
Larry

A visit to my local wrecking yard yielded a HEI coil from a V6 S10 that had the correct HEI connector. It runs great with the coil wire jumped to the battery. Now all I need is to find the right place to hook it up permanently. Thanks for your help!

Jeff