Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Distributor

I need my distributor replaced but having alittle bit of a tough time finding one cheap. On e-bay they have 2 listed by the same seller 1 black 1 red, but the black one just seems to be for a v8... so i kinda dont even trust buying from him if he cant get the picture right. But 69 bucks for a dist. is a good deal as rockauto and autozone and others go for $120. Does anyone know a good cheap reliable place to get a 250 distributor?

There is no thing as good cheap. It's either Cheap Or it's Good.
what's normaly cheap Is cheap.You get what you pay for.if your looking for something kinda on the cheap hit up the bone/junk yards around your area.

I agree with Larry. Unless it's new and/or rebuilt you are going to have to rebuild it anyway just to be sure it's good. Why not just rebuild the one you have?

X2

Go for the salvage yard if you are on a budget.

I'd rather have a used GM part than a new part of questionable quality. For $69 you should be able to find decent used factory parts.

Not directly quality related but I like the look of factory stuff, not flashy bright colors and chrome. That's just my preference though.

believe me I'd like to just rebuild mine it'd be a whole lot cheaper, and the only thing wrong with mine are the weights and springs... So now the question is where do i buy a rebuild kit, i wasnt able to find one either. MSD doesnt, summit has V8 rebuilds but not I6 and so on.

The springs and weights are the same as the S.B.C. HEI units.....vac advance chambers also; get an adjustable one for the V-8 and dial it in for your application.....the modules don't care if they are in a V-8 or I-6 distributor; they all respond to the signal generated by the pick-up coil...it is just a 6 tooth reluctor for the I-6....check the pick-up with a DVOM; it should be between 800 and 1500 ohms, preferably to the low side.....fats

Im lost with all that!!! The weights I seen for a v8 model looked different than the weights for my inline. Thats why i wasnt sure it'd even work... But 6 tooth reluctor? DVOM? im lost man!!!

Before I screw it up more, I'll take it out to an automotive shop and see if they can get it back in order, hopefully it wont be too much money.

WAIT... are the weights and springs the same between a v8 and inline 6 distributor? 2 post up I said they looked different but that was in a picture i seen... so im just curious if thats all i need i can swap them out no problem!

Even store-bought rebuilt units for engines that are not insanely popular (which means your rebuilt might have been rebuilt in the 90's or even the 80's) need a full teardown, shaft out and all that. Not only does the assembly lube harden with time, often they don't do a good job cleaning them in the first place, or even replace those long brass bushings in there.

Luckily, tearing down a distributor is a decently easy do-at-home job. Worst part is the annoying little C-clips and/or wire clips that hold things together.

Unless you're in there seriously farting around with the ignition advance curve, you don't even need to fiddle with the weights.

A gun cleaning brush is the best tool to get in there.

Old points distributors seem to have more wear on the shaft bushings, since the points spring actually pushes on it sideways, and they gunk up, don't get lubed, and wear. That makes for dwell jitter. If you can push the shaft sideways in the distributor bore more than .002" or so it's worn, and that side motion will translate to wiggly dwell and timing.

You can get a SBC "recurve kit" that is just some springs. About $5. In general, stock motors can take a lot more mechanical (centrifugal) spark advance; gas is better today, and you turn your motor better than Joe or Jane Average did when it was new (or so the factory was betting). Put in weaker springs (earlier advance) and likely improve performance, unless your car pings like crazy already from high compression etc. A stocker? More advance.

Some distributors have weights you can flip over (usually marked with a number, which is degrees of advance of the DISTRIBUTOR, not crankshaft degrees...) to get different amounts of advance. Free power!

But just clean, spotless, lubed well, worn parts replaced will do wonders. I 'collect' things like distribs, disassemble and take to my local machine shop for cleaning, and keep 'em in a box on the shelf. I can usually build a decent distributor from that.

Also, with junkyard units, you can do this on you bench, take your time, find parts, etc and drive you car in the mean time. Then at install time, you can A vs B compare, make sure everything matches, and have a fallback unit should you mess up. It's nice having a spare!

Good advice^
I could only get maybe 12-15* advance giving me 22-25* advance without vacuum, it'd run like hell... when I hooked up the vacuum i'd get around 34* advance and it'd run great! The springs are so rusted its not funny... getting a recurve kit sounds the best route, i just thought (as i said above) that i couldnt use a v8 curve kit... but since i can i'll get a kit and make sure i lube everything down good...

I just searched on Ebay and you can get a new in the Box HEI for $69.
Sorry for the long link, maybe you should search yourself. Point is you can get what looks like a good new HEI for less that $70.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-HEI-D...es#ht_500wt_956

Sorry I wasn't more clear; The Reluctor is the piece that rotates with the distributor shaft inside the pick-up coil; it has 6 teeth vs the 8(for a v-8).....that(and the pick-up coil) generates the signal to the module; the module doesn't know if it is in a V-8 or an I-6.....DVOM is a digital volt ohm meter .....you need to check the resistance through the pick-up coil (green wire and white wire that attaches to the module)....I try to use the pickup coils that are on the low side of the resistance range (800 t0 1500 ohms).....completely removing the distributor shaft and advance mechanism allows you to remove the thin clip holding the pick-up coil in place for removal and replacement....pick-up coils are available at most part stores.....rust in the centrifugal advance can cause the distributor to lock or fail to advance fully; the distributor shaft must be removed to properly clean and lube the mechanism to allow it to freely advance....fats

Fred, one of the problems with the rebuilt units is they are assembled from parts that are only visually checked for compatibility. A distributor must be phased correctly to deliver adequate spark (at the proper time)......the reluctor and pick-up coil must align when the rotor is aligned with the terminal on the cap; this can be a problem on some rebuilt units; it bears checking when dealing with a distributor of unknown origin....fats

On the $69.00 new HEI, I would check to make sure it takes a std GM module, cap and rotor. If it takes off the wall components, it might end up being very expensive in the long run.

X2
For me, HEI has 2 advantages of almost equal value:
1. enhanced performance
2. ease of service - which means not only that it needs no regular maintenance (point and dwell adjustment), but that high or OEM quality components are available everywhere.
If it needs special bits, it's not as useful.

I'm no expert on the rebuild/repair of HEI units (or anything else for that matter), but I found this website awhile back and it was extremely helpful.

http://www.rustpuppy.org/ignition2/Ignition%202b.htm,

I agree with Larry in terms of the after market, low budget stuff - you get what you pay for - and that doesn't just apply to HEI's.

Personally, I get alot more satisfaction from fixing the old parts and keeping the original look, especially when the repair requires no special tools, very little jing, and mostly common sense.

Good luck.