i have an old 429 in a 77 f250 that we use just for off-road... I need help deciding which type of distributor to get. more specifically, if i get an hei style distributor, will i need to get an after-market ignition box? im stricktly a ford guy, and i don't know very much about how chevy style ignitions work. so if i get an hei style, will i need to by a 6AL style ignition also?
thanks

 

I've been running the stock dizzy out of a 79 400 in my 72 429 with no problem. Never had much of a problem with the ford dizzys, don't see much of a reason to swap when performance isn't a problem.

 

the only things you will probably have to change will be the thermostat housing, hei style distributors will hit them they make one you can get from napa for about 15 bucks I think, and the air breather if you still have the stock one or raise it to clear the dizzy, other than that just hook a wire from the ignition switch to the correct terminal and it will run but a good duraspark dizzy will work quite well but if you are changing from points to electronic hei is the easiest way to go, if you have been using the 77 duraspark just get a good rebuilt unless you want to get rid of the box on the firewall.
The HEI needs no other ignition parts to work, just kinda big on a ford is all

 

GM hei distributors have many bad points, arcing messes up the centrifugal weights-usually seizing them, the tab between the coil and the rotor fail alot, they are huge and stink of gm, hehe you can look it up online.
Run a good ol duraspark dist. with the electronic trigger, and control it with either the stock box-they aren't that bad, or an msd box. Or control the stock dist. with a gm hei module using normal ford coil and wires etc.
I ran an msd 6al for awhile, it quit, so I went to the wrecker and got a coil from an 89 mustang, a 4 pin gm hei module, and another coil wire to fit. Wired it up, figured out a heat sink for the module and it works great! Seems to perform as good as the msd, and it cost me less than $30 As far as I am concerned the only good part about the gm hei distributor is the hei module-the rest is junk.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ei-module.html
Duraspark- HEI hybrid Ignition - FFCobra.com - Factory Five Racing Discussion Forum
Dirt cheap Ignition

 

hey thanks for your input guys. i think im gonna go the route of getting a cheap hei off ebay...see if i like it, they're only 50 or 60 bucks. if i don't like it, i'm going back to tried and true msd...i've put complete msd ignitions on 3 mustangs now and a bronco...gotta love em. just not ready to buy something that nice for this truck quite yet. thanks again

 

Food for thought: Duraspark dizzy in combination with an aftermarket GM style 4 pin ignition module, and your good to 7000 rpm. I've never been a fan of the Ford module, the factory ones are pretty good, but once they go, good luck finding an aftermarket one that's worth a darn. The GM module conversion is simple, cheap, and reliable!

gofastforless.com

 

thats what i did and it cleaned up some messes that i had with points.

i know its gm, but so are the disk brakes on the rear of my truck. i guess gm couldnt mess everything up.

 

I have a recurved duraspark dist. for propane(redone curve) hooked up to the 4 pin hei module(stock junkyard piece) which triggers an msd blaster coil for an 89 5.0 mustang, with accel 8.8 wires, and some ngk plugs. The only improvement I am going to try is a hei module either for propane, or an msd module. Either module should provide a fatter spark-altho the setup works awesome as is.
I use the "big" cap and rotor of the duraspark stuff which resists crossfiring, and seems to work really good. I tried an msd cap and rotor, was ok until I took the cap off and the center electrode fell out...(like the gm cap w. coil problem) So now I run jobber type cap and rotor, usually echlin or whatever is decent, but cheaper than finicky msd pieces-as long as they have the brass looking terminals its all good!
I next will be setting up a continous hold 15amp relay to get more amperage to the gm hei unit, and should make it even better and have less load on the circuit. Apparently some of the gm performance vehicles used 10guage wire, the high performance ones used an 8 guage wire to the hei module.
I tried the holley multi spark unit, an msd 6al, and prefer the frankenstien duraspark/hei, works just as good, parts are cheap and plentiful-even tho I haven't had to change any parts other than maintenance stuff like new cap/rotor and wires/plugs once in awhile.
I've run this type of setup since 1992, it only caused me grief once when some ground connections got corroded, and it lights off my 429 with a big cam quite well!
Stick with what your comfy with, and works-just trying to help. Plus my bigblock looks stock, and performs strong!

 

This works great. I ran a Duraspark/Accell HEI module, and a Ford TFI coil on my 300 for a while. It also enables you to open the plug gaps to .050 for a better burn. I only went to the Pertronix because I like the look of the factory points dizzy, and the cannister type coil. I still have the Duraspark/HEI st up in my tool box.