Have a F100 w/ a 360 and thinking about ditching the OEM distributor w/points for a HEI unit, probably one from Skip White for $100 w/wires.
Any thoughts on these or others? My only quick concern would be clearance w/ the 14" Edelbrock air cleaner. Anyone know of a clearance issue here??

 

I don't know about on a FE motor, but I did put one in a 302 before i went fuel injected.
IMO that is the only way to go, I know it is not a "ford" distributor but it's a lot better than black goo running down the inner fender and sputtering in the rain!!!!!

 

Or you could buy a Petronix breakerless ignition for a lot less on eBay and keep it Ford if that is a concern.

 

I have the HEI Gm based Dizzy , works great . But yes it is huge , If you have a flat bottom Air filter it probably will not fit . Luckily I have the 2" raised one so it clears .
I had to move my Temp sensor from the intake to the thermostat housing also .

 

I have an Assault Racing HEI in a 460, it needed a different thermostat housing to fit. It's my favorite style of distributer because of the large diameter cap. That gives more distance between the secondary terminals which makes it harder to crossfire.

 

As of 1977 Ford came out with a 2 piece cap. Just as big around as a HEI. Same plug wire terminals on it like a HEI. Looks like the top of a spark plug. AND the 2 piece cap and their matching rotor will fit directly on a Ford V8 points Dizzy. NO ADAPTING other than 1977 and newer plug wires. SO a pertronix,77/ cap kit,and a hot coil equals a HEI IMHO.

 

Now I remember those distributers...it was a better design because you can get the distributer cap off easier. The GM style can be a bit cumbersome.

 

Yep. The lower 1/2 of the 2 piece cap snaps on with the same retainers that held down the points Dizzy's original cap. Then the top 1/2 snaps on to the lower 1/2 with 2 more of the same retainers.

 

This is an '83 Duraspark II distributor from a 300 that I have to go in my 240.

The lower (base) of the cap is attached to the distributor by two small screws. The upper cap is retained to the lower half by clips.



This is just a personal opinion but, I think the HEI distributors look best and fit best on the brand X vehicles they were originally made for.

If you want to use some Chevrolet parts on your ignition system, you can run the Duraspark II distributor (that fits without interference) and swap the guts out of the Duraspark module and replace them with the GM HEI module --good ignition power but, the GM component can't be seen because it's housed inside the shell of the Duraspark module.

TRICKY or TRICK? HEI Module Inside Duraspark Case - Ford Muscle Forums : Ford Muscle Cars Tech Forum

There's plenty of other information and wiring diagrams on the net about this swap.

 

Thiers always something that gets over looked before the installation of the an upgrade.

Air filter housing clearance will be an issues unless a carb spacer is used like a 1.5"+ will be required. Then once you add a carb spacer. Then you'll have carb & tranny linkage issues, you have to add extra lengths to them.

Water temp sender on some like Mike had to deal with.

Then you'll have to run a 12v power source with a #10ga wire. It's best to run off a relay and use your stock ign coil wire to activate the relay power on & off.

So if you don't want to deal with all the issues when installing the HEI dizzy

Go with one of that was listed above but the Petronix ll or lll is better units with matching coils then the first Petronix l units.

then in stall the later wide cap an adapter base makes a nice setup using the 460/400 plug wire sets...

Orich

 

#1 advantage to the HEI dizzy over petronixs parts are available at any local auto parts store . This was the deciding factor for me as I read numerous threads on Petronixs leaving people high and dry with no way to fix quickly