What year was first HEI Dist

[charles oliver]

Does anybody know when HEI first came out ? I have heard talk of calibrating the HEI to your Motor Specs. Can someome elaborate a little on that. Such as how that is done?

Thanks in advance you guys have been a lot of help !

Thanks

Charlie

[teamroper!]

1975 was the first year for hei in trucks, don't know about calibration

[old Rusty C10]

the electronic ignition first came out on regular 350s in cars in 1974 i dont remember it in any of my 73 impala cabs but it was in my 74s and they were stock i have no clue about calibration tho

[Blue Beard]

I looked at a 73 GMC truck today with HEI..

Don't know if it was stock........

[kaycee]

I say 1973

[70burbulgy]

1974 on the cars

[72 CustomCamper]

1975 on trucks

[Bill72BB]

Here is what GMC JIM posted awhile back on setting up a BB with HEI.
I use these specs to set up my HEI



When I installed an H.E.I unit in my '71 GMC ( 402 engine) ; I had a distributor rebuild shop set the advance curves as per the GM factory manual. The specs are :- 0 degrees @ 930 RPM; 2 @ 1260 RPM; 16 @ 2400 RPM and 30 @ 4400 RPM. Vacuum advance specs are 0 degrees @ 8" hg and 20 degrees @ 17" h.g. Initial ignition timing is 8 degrees advance @ 600 RPM ( idle speed).
... Above specs are from GM 1971 Chevrolet Truck Service Manual.
... Another GM reference is the 'GM/AC/Delco Tune-up Specs Manual # SD-100. These specs call for a 10-13 degree centrifugal advance @ 2000 RPM and a total advance ( vacuum & centrifugal ) of 28 to 35 @ 2000 RPM...... When I installed my unit about 10 years ago; I used an adjustable timing lite and set the timing to 35 degrees @ 2000.........No problems and I am well satisfied with the engine performance.............

[Hooter]

my 74 Cheyenne had an option of HEI DELETE, on the options sticker, why anyone NOT want HEI?

[mrein3]

Originally posted by Hooter
my 74 Cheyenne had an option of HEI DELETE, on the options sticker, why anyone NOT want HEI?

I bought a very early run 4.0l SOHC in my 1998 Explorer. One engine and two sets of timing chains later Ford realized it wasn't that great right away. Any wonder why somebody would be afraid of HEI when it first came out?

People were afraid of "those new fangled disk brakes" when they first came out too. So I guess I'm not surprised to see somebody delete something like HEI when it first came out.

I was always told 1974 was the first year for HEI. I know my 72 Malibu was points from the factory.

[Blue Beard]

People who don't know mechanics could care less about HEI...........more of what is HEI or it'll cost more...........

[tom hand]

It was an option in 74...across the board in 75. The first ones did suck...mainly because they were running .060 gaps at the plugs and the ignition prefered to fire thru the rotor to the mechanical advance and take it out....045 gap fixxed that

[botboy]

Originally posted by Hooter
my 74 Cheyenne had an option of HEI DELETE, on the options sticker, why anyone NOT want HEI?

HEI caps are more expensive than regular distro caps, and marginally harder to tune your engine with. They also require different spark plug wires most of the time.

[busterwivell]

Yup, I'm old enough to remember not wanting disc brakes! I guess it was cuz I knew how to do drum brakes. Now everything has disc brakes before I drive it! Same for HEI's.

[Longhorn Man]

I was reading an old Hot Rod mag that i found at a yard sale dated 1979, and there was an article on how to install a 'high performance' daul points ignition system in your newfangled HEI car.
They were bashing the "magic distributor" like it was junk.
Then again...I too fear chainge...chainge is not good.

[Hooter]

I stuck HEI into the 74 cuz the points annoyed me, the power would drop out at 4000 RPM, and I liked having just one wire, plus I have 3-4 HEI distributors kicking around


Longhorn, I bet that article was written by one of the companies offering dual points at the time, dual points are a pain to tune in my opinion, nothing better then one wire, two if you are running a tach