Well I am continuing on with my project truck. I am getting ready to buy a new distributor but I am sorta of confused in which direction do I go when it comes to the distributor. Do I get a HEI distributor or a Billet distributor???

 

What are your plans for the engine? If it's close to stock, the stock dist will work. On the HEI, I have heard they work well, but sometimes you can have clearance problems because of their diameter. Don't know about Billet distributors. Is that a brand name?

 

I see that the Billet has a more normal size cap so more the original size. They are shown on ebay. I have also found a "Pro Billet" on Amazon and ebay that is pretty inexpensive compared to the normal cost of a new distributor.

I do not know anything about these cheaper versions but I think I might try one when I get to the change out time which may be soon. I do not drive my truck a lot of miles so this may work very well for me.

 

I guess "normal" depends on the person's experience.

In my opinion, those don't look "normal" but, rather, what I would consider GM-ish.

Depending on the year, ignition type and engine size, a Ford cap fits onto a plastic cup-like thing tht Ford calls an adapter (this one is upside down):








The assembled distrbitor looks like so:





The real tall caps remind me of GM engines for some reason.

BTW I am leery of no-name stuff on eBay, it's very often Chinese-made crap.

 

That's the deal breaker for me on a lot of this aftermarket stuff. If it breaks and you are on a trip away from home, were do you get parts? With the stock stuff, if you can find a auto parts store, they will always have the common stuff on the shelf. I would check on what parts they use before I bought one. If the HEI uses the common GM module, cap, coil, etc. that would be helpful.

 

Most of these in the description they state that cap, etc. are some kind of GM. If I knew what kind of GM I think you could get parts easy enough. What I don't understand is the low cost for a distributor with coil for only about $50, so it probably is Chinese. If it is Chinese that might explain some the two or five hundred dollar difference to some degree. It looks like you do not need any other parts to make it run. One on ebay says that all you need with their distributor is a high voltage coil.

I think I will write one of the sellers and ask what is involved and how to get replacement parts. I will let you know what I find out.

 

I have researched the sellers on ebay and amazon as well as some other independents. The $50 distributors are very likely Chinese or from India and most of them seem to use GM parts. For a difference of three to seven hundred dollars I think I will opt for one of these and carry a spare if I go on a long journey.

Check this out:
"Forged means it was pressed into a shape with great pressure, compressing the metal and making it a bit stronger per unit volume.

Billet means it started as a solid block (known as a billet) and the shape was cut out of it.

Per unit volume, forged is stronger. Billet receivers can be stronger than standard forged ones if they are left thicker at certain points, but at the same dimensions, forged will win."

Some of these units require a separate coil and some include the coil in the cap. The difference between "HEI" and "Billet" seems small. The greatest being the use of a coil. The large Ford electronic distributors are probably about twice the size of either of the ones that I have found. All of these inexpensive units look like a GM.

I have written a couple of sellers asking about parts and what is needed to convert to their unit. I will let you know when I hear back from them.

By the way, a Friends $62K (list) 2012 F250 Diesel is made up of parts from all over the world, including Chinese.

 

One thing you have to look at is those parts have to meet Fords specs. When buying "aftermarket", especially chinese or whatever, what are their specs? Do they even have any? Is the dizzy using the cheapest parts just to make it work for a while or is it really built to last?


My opinion, a factory Ford unit is a very good unit, and when backed by a MSD box, even better. The Ford units are good to 8000 rpms. If you really don't want to run a Ford unit, spend the extra money and get something good like a MSD or alike. I wouldn't trust anything of lower quality in my truck, would you?

 

This is what I am trying to decide between:

HEI
Summit Racing® Blueprinted HEI Distributors SUM-850021 - SummitRacing.com

stock-like
PerTronix Flame-Thrower Stock Look Cast Distributors D134600 - SummitRacing.com

and billet
Summit Racing Street & Strip® Ready-to-Run Billet Distributors SUM-850303-1 - SummitRacing.com

 

I received an answer back on one of the cheap distributors and it is built using Chevy parts (available at auto parts stores anywhere). The billet is machined in California, assembled in Mexico with all US parts. The entire thing is done to Ford specs so I think this will be my new unit. It is a machined billet and not cast but I am not going to be banging on it with a sledge hammer therefore I think it will last longer than my old truck.

 

I purchased one from Skip White, so far so good. (1 week) already have extra coil and internals from a gm hei.

 

Thanks oily, I just ordered this one:FORD 351W WINDSOR HEI DISTRIBUTOR 50K # 6510-R | eBay

 

Belen1705,
Let me know whats your experience with the distributor.... i'll probably be buying one of those also but I want to know what your experience is like first.

 

I should have it by next W/E and as soon as I get it installed I will write what I found.

 

Ive have one of those 50 dollar hei dizzys in my 302 for about a year now. I havnt had a single problem with it since i bought it, (except the time i took the cap off and set it on the shop bench and it rolled off and cracked it lol). you can take gm hei parts and put in it. I gained hp with it too. one thing your gonna wanna do for sure with it is put lighter springs in it because they come with really strong springs and keeps it from winding up faster (less acceleration). The lighter springs changed the tone of my exhaust too, in a good way.
Chinese made or not, very good working dizzy. Though it will kill your pride a little bit putting a gm style part on a ford :/. For 50 bucks its not a bad deal at all to me lol.
I also put one in my 63 f100 351w, no problems with it so far either.