Need a new Dizzy - What should i get?

[dznucks]

I have been chasing down problems with my timing for some time now and i have narrowed my troubleshooting down to a worn out distributor.

I have a 350, mild cam, edleborck 600, 3 speed in a '69 SWB. Its just a daily driven street truck. I have been looking at the MSD street fire, but i have read about the skip white distributors on ebay, and i have heard good things about other manufacturers as well.

Thanks

[Sinister]

I got a flea-bay HEI, (not a Skip White), and I'm very happy with it. Good bang for the buck. Lot's of people seem very happy with Skip White's distributors.

[lowriden58]

MSD street fire HEI for like 159 in summit or jegs

[Chevyholic]

I just installed a Skip White and am very happy with it. Can't beat it for $50.00 shipped.

[GruntyPants]

I actually got two of the cheap dists on ebay, one for the Chevelle, and another one with a tach-drive for the Corvette, both worked great, very solid units and good tolerances.

[70rs/ss]

i LUCKED INTO A sKIP wHITE DEAL, aCCEL LOOK ALIKE FOR $48 EACH, BOTH LOOK NICE AND TIGHT, i HAVEN'T USED THEM YET, BUT AS OTHERS HERE HAVE i HAVE NO PROBLEM SAYING FOR $50 COMPLETE YOU CAN'T BEAT IT, AS A GOOD CAP AND ROTOR WILL RUN YOU $25 Easy (sorry for the caps, just saw it and too lazy to redo)!

[Longhorn Man]

skip white in one, junk yard unit in the other.
Both work perfect.

[dznucks]

Thats kind of the way i am leaning, towards the cheap one. there seems to be alot of good reviews about them. and thats better, IMO, than just buying something with a name on it.

Grunty - there seems to be a few of us in the atl/marietta area, we should all try to get together sometime.

[70rs/ss]

Here is how I sorted through it all, the JY unit will cost $25 (usually) a cap and rotor, $25 so you have $50 in a dist that will more than likely have a worn bushing and at best give you sporatic timing, at worst, needs a coil, module, recurve kit, worn weights, etc. for $50 I can afford to have 3 or so for back up (I bought 5) so I'll replace the unit rather than a cap and rotor! (just kidding, but I am hesitant to trust my life (can't walk, bad back) to a cheapy dist, so I bought a couple extra for just in cases. Can't go wrong, IMO.

[Longhorn Man]

If you play your cards right, you can get a great one at the junk yard. Esp you chevy guys. When i was shopping for one to go in the caddy, it wasn't quite as easy, but I still ended up on top.
Find an HEI that feels tight bushing wise, now, start looking under every HEI equipped vehicle for a new cap... you'll probably find one. Under that cap, I'll bet a kick in the balls there is a new rotor, possibly coil, and maybe even new wires to the plugs.
It's there, you just have to look for them.
Many older cars are junked becouse someone with little to no money can't get them to run. What's one of the first things ppl do on an old crap box early 80's land yaught that stopped running? A tune up. I've been doing this for years, and honestly, I have never been burnt.

[Billla]

If you're turning less than 5000 RPM, any working stock HEI is going to be fine and deliver just about exactly the same performance. Check for worn bearings and distributor end-play and just drop it in. Remember that it needs a new 12V ignition hot source - search is your friend for installation instructions on the board.

The higher-end aftermarket HEIs offer more tuneability (they typically come with centrifugal curve kits and an adjustable vacuum advance) and will deliver out to about 6200 RPM; 7000 RPM with CD add-ons. Having worked with a bunch of these from a performance/tuning perspective, IMHO the Accel stuff is all junk, and the MSD stuff is universally outstanding.