1970 c10 distributor upgrade recommendations

[68 P.O.S.]

I've read the difference is the Skip White stuff uses cheap electronics. That seems to be the case with the one I bought. It couldn't even fire the engine.

[rockyrivermark]

Originally Posted by Auroch

Any thoughts on this one? Seems like a good value.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-850001-1

That's the exact unit I have in my c10 350.
Clears the firewall no prob on install and works great 2 years now

[crabman]

Do your research. If you are basing your opinion on the price and haven't seen or held his HEI you are uninformed. Skip White's HEI is vacuum advance and it's NOT cheap crap!! It even comes with a lifetime warranty. Look at the reviews and Youtube on it. Or don't, freedom of choice.

Originally Posted by 68 P.O.S.

No, don't even bother with Skip White. You get what you pay for with that cheap crap. You definitely want a HEI and one with an adjustable vacuum advance. What's your budget for it?

[Myoldtruck]

I picked up a brand new gm heI that came out of a new crate motor. Craigs list for 75.00. I use it every day no problems.

[HO455]

If your set on HEI then I would get a Factory GM unit and have it rebuilt and curved by a competent rebuilder. The factory units are good just not as shiney and none of the aftermarket ones will come curved for you truck. So new or used you would still want to have the unit's advance curve dialed in for your combination. I've bought dozens of used HEI's for between 5 and 40 bucks.

[AussieinNC]

Before you buy a new distributor, you should determine if the new 350 engine you are installing has a flat tappet or roller cam installed....

Roller cam engines, require a melonised distributor gear be installed on the distributor shaft.

Sure, you can buy any distributor and install a melonised gear, but why not buy the correct unit first up...

So may be a good idea to decide on the engine first, then worry about the incidentials....

IMO, unless I am performing a true back to factory original build, I usually go with a later model Vortec style engine...roller cam, one piece rear main seal, and less wear generally.

Anyhoo....have fun...

[Auroch]

Here's another find, any experience with proform?
https://pitstopusa.com/i-5080822-gm-...e-red-cap.html

[68 P.O.S.]

Originally Posted by crabman

Do your research. If you are basing your opinion on the price and haven't seen or held his HEI you are uninformed. Skip White's HEI is vacuum advance and it's NOT cheap crap!! It even comes with a lifetime warranty. Look at the reviews and Youtube on it. Or don't, freedom of choice.

I'm well informed. Not only have I seen and held one, but I've thrown one in the trash. I bought one, even though I was warned not to and had seen some informative posts here. So fresh out of the box and on my work bench, the cap cracks as I take it off for the first time to install a curve kit. Fine, I'll use my old cap. I open it up and the weights are ungreased and their casting is terrible. Looks very suspect, but I give it a shot. I install it, correctly, and the truck won't fire. After checking everything for the 6th time, I pull a plug and fire it, and there's no arc. Instead, the filament glows like its a diesel glow plug. I pull it out again and check the electronics. Terrible quality. It's all cheap Chinese junk. That's how he can sell them so cheaply. I promptly tossed it and and bought an Accel. Still using it today, properly curved and everything. No thank you on that lifetime warranty. I don't want a turd for life.

[68 P.O.S.]

Originally Posted by AussieinNC

Before you buy a new distributor, you should determine if the new 350 engine you are installing has a flat tappet or roller cam installed....

Roller cam engines, require a melonised distributor gear be installed on the distributor shaft.

This!

[jamyers]

Originally Posted by Myoldtruck

I picked up a brand new gm heI that came out of a new crate motor. Craigs list for 75.00. I use it every day no problems.

Can't argue with that approach!

btw, I've been using a Skip White hei in our daily driver for nearly 2 years now with zero issues - fwiw.

[slikside]

Originally Posted by 68 P.O.S.

I'm well informed. Not only have I seen and held one, but I've thrown one in the trash. I bought one, even though I was warned not to and had seen some informative posts here. So fresh out of the box and on my work bench, the cap cracks as I take it off for the first time to install a curve kit. Fine, I'll use my old cap. I open it up and the weights are ungreased and their casting is terrible. Looks very suspect, but I give it a shot. I install it, correctly, and the truck won't fire. After checking everything for the 6th time, I pull a plug and fire it, and there's no arc. Instead, the filament glows like its a diesel glow plug. I pull it out again and check the electronics. Terrible quality. It's all cheap Chinese junk. That's how he can sell them so cheaply. I promptly tossed it and and bought an Accel. Still using it today, properly curved and everything. No thank you on that lifetime warranty. I don't want a turd for life.

Manufacturing defects can and do happen with any brand, but I have had a Skip White installed for about 4 years now, and it has been flawless.

[jeffahart]

I spent more than twice as much on my plug wires than my skip white ready to run. HEI distributors for stock applications... can you say appliance. Skip White Ready to run, a simple appliance. It burns the gas.

My two cents, worth the price paid.



j

[Fbks_Cruiser]

Check this one:

https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-93440...ei+distributor

[Auroch]

Originally Posted by 68 P.O.S.

This!

Well, I have no idea. The crate I bought is remanufactured by Jasper as a class 1 350. Would that need a melonised distributor? I guess I can just call jasper Monday. Thanks everyone.

[68 P.O.S.]

I found this. Doesn't say a lot tho. https://www.jasperengines.com/crate-engines

[Andy4639]

Just go to any junkyard and pull a HEI off any small block GM product and install it. It's that simple. When I did my TPI motor I pulled one out cleaned it up and reinstalled in my 305 TPI. 325,000 miles later when I sold it, it was still working with only one module swap.

[68 P.O.S.]

Not quite. I advocate pulling a stock GM HEI distributor from the junkyard (especially since its CHEAP), but not just stabbing it in there. It needs to be setup correctly first before installng it. GM used a wide variety of internals in the smog area so you never know what you're gonna find. So if you go the junkyard route, you're probably gonna need a new cap & rotor at least, and need to get the #375 centerplate and #41 weights to give you 22 degrees mechanical advance. You'll have to scour junkyard distributors to find these. Or rob them from an aftermarket distributor since they use this combo of weights and centerplate as well. You'll also need an adjustable vacuum advance because a lot of those GM units provide way too many degrees of vac advance. Buy the Crane 99600-1 vac advance kit, it comes with an adjustable vac can, a travel limiter, and 3 sets of advance springs. Install 1 blue/1 silver spring so the advance will be all in at 2800 rpm, limit vac can to 10-15 degrees advance, and adjust vac can to 2-4 turns out from bottomed out for your vacuum level. Or you could save yourself the time and talk to this guy: https://www.davessmallbodyheis.com. He's the HEI master and will make a custom curved dist for you doing all the stuff I mentioned and more.

[tim71]

Is anyone out there using using a small cap HEI or electronic distributor? My K1500 has an MSD streetfire distributor that works OK except that the vacumn advance is not working. I want to switch to a small cap as the Streetfire (same size as GM HEI) sits about an eighth of an inch from the firewall. This clearance issue may only occur on the K trucks. Any small cap reccomendations?

[68 P.O.S.]

Originally Posted by tim71

Is anyone out there using using a small cap HEI or electronic distributor? My K1500 has an MSD streetfire distributor that works OK except that the vacumn advance is not working. I want to switch to a small cap as the Streetfire (same size as GM HEI) sits about an eighth of an inch from the firewall. This clearance issue may only occur on the K trucks. Any small cap reccomendations?

As far as I know (which isn't much), this guy (https://www.davessmallbodyheis.com/) is the only one who makes true "small body" HEIs.

[68 P.O.S.]

Originally Posted by Fbks_Cruiser

Check this one:

https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-93440...ei+distributor

That's the ticket