when i converted my 78 from a 6 cylinder to a V-8. I bought a new hei from a parts store. It costed about 150 dollars(i have seen advertized for 99). Plus all the hardware coil , cap. It worked well for a while but it gave me problems. a gear inside the distributor would jump up and move a few teeth. Then go back down. This would change the timing of my truck. My truck would just die out on the road. Then wouldnt start. Then all of a sudden the gear would jump again. then bingo it would run fine for a while then repete. well it took for ever to fix. I changed the timing chain (it was fine ) I changed coils on and on. Well i pulled the distributor and took to a friend of mind and he found the problem just by chance. i exchanged the distributor and havent had a problem since. I recomend new parts . i would compare prices from stock to a performance unit. For a mild performance motor a stock hei distributor is plenty good.
