A while back, I asked for some help with my 86 F-150 4.9 (300).

The previous owner had removed the computer so I had no advance.

The distributor had broken ears so I needed a new one.

I was trying to figure out how to go back a few years and put in an older Ford distributor with a dura spark, new coil, resistor, connectors, .... seemed like it was turning into an engineering project.

I had seen GM style ignitions for my 300 six but they were in the $300 range.

Then someone on this forum pointed out one on amazon for $90!

Ordered it along with some silicon 8mm wires ($32) and new plugs (just plain copper ones after another post).

I took a hot off the starter solenoid, ran it through a fuse ($2 on ebay) and into a 30 amp relay ($4 on ebay). I used 12 gauge wire so no problems with power ... soldered and heat shrank all connections ... lots of dielectric grease.

I switched the relay with a wire that originally fed the coil.

Incredible!

The difference was like night and day.

Truck runs better than ever! Simple ignition wiring ... one wire to the distributor. Much easier to set the timing ... easy to get at the lock down bolt. I now have an advance.

New wires could have been a bit neater but this was the first time I made up a custom set of wires.

I am still not sure if I have the correct port on the carb or if I need to re-program the distributor. I will play with these on a warmer day.

Thanks again for all the help!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike

 

I have heard rumors that the electronic carbs did not have the proper ported vacuum port. The proper port would have no suction at idle, only suction when you rev it up a little bit.

If yours doesn't have it, that can be your next project, a older carb swap. No harm done if you don't hook the vacuum line up. If you do hook it up to a manifold vacuum source(suction all the time) you can try that, but your idle may be a little high and if you turn the idle down and you have a automatic, it may want to stall when you put it in drive. Just play around with it.

 

The carb is old, dirty, corroded, .....

I even found the screws loose. I am not sure if it original or not. The buy before me did put a manual choke on it.

There is a couple of ports on it that are capped off.

I just took a guess and took the lowest one.

I did see there are something (probably letters) cast into the body by the port but I could not read them.

I will pull if off and see if there is any vacuum on idle.

I do need to either rebuild the carb or find another.

I saw these cheap Chinese copies but I am not sure how good they are ... anyone tried one?

Thanks ..... Mike

 

See my answers above.
Dave ----

 

The common opinion here is not to use the Chinese HEI distributors, but to be honest, I haven't heard of anyone running them long term.

Please keep us updated on how yours does down the road, OK?

There's a post over on the inline six forum about Summit now selling one that's ~$250 or so; DUIs are $370.

 

I did see several others selling for a lot more money. Since I only paid $1000 for the tuck (new tire and plow included), I didn't want to spend a quarter the price on just the ignition.

Here is a link to the distributor I used:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It actually looks very good!

Machining was done nicely. Cap, coil, module .... everything looks brand new and very well made.

Came in a box with "rally" written on the side .... no other markings or paper work other than the part # RSD-FO 300 T/GM

Inside, just a foam box filler ... could have been better packaged but it made it to me in one piece. No paper work or instructions (not that I needed any).

It seems to be working awesome right now. I will keep an update every few months just to let everyone know how well it holds up.

If anyone has any questions, just give a yell!

Here are a few pictures of the unit when I got it.

Thanks .... Mike

 

It's almost weird to have someone start a thread about their truck working better than ever.

​​​​​​​Thanks for sharing your positive results with the rest of the forum!

 

My $76 ebay HEI has been installed for over a year now without issue. Not sure if that qualifies for long term. I went with it due to needing a longer shaft distributor for an 87 engine block with an 84 top end. Aftermarket tach plugged up easy also. Keep us updated.

 

Been on one for about 6 months now and it's been great I have a spare module ready to go but I have had zero issues.
The company I got mine from was from long Beach. And they were great to answer questions for me.

 

Bottom line...if it works and you are happy with it, then it's all good. Restorations to OEM specs are one thing but, daily driver's with reliability are another. Most are the latter whether or not they are admitted to by the consensus of the forum.

 

We have had a couple people write in with bushing/shaft problems with those units. So keep us updated.

 

To be honest, I have one, too, but I haven't run it yet. It was intended to go on my '85 F150 4x4 to replace the feedback setup. That project has kinda stalled due to the '81 F100 I acquired, but I need to get it running again and sorted out, so good to hear folks are running them OK.

 

I have about 10 years and 30K miles on a DUI version. So not one of the cheap ones (understatement). No issues for me.

 

Mike, I'm doing the same conversion. Quick question, where did you get 12v that was only hot at key-on to use to trigger the relay? I have everything else wired up and complete, that's the last thing I need to find.

 

Post one paragraph 9 says he used the old coil wire to trigger the HEI's relay.