[MuscleBlock81]

We have a 1986 Motorhome with a 454 in it running off of an HEI distributor. Are those 65,000 volt distributors on ebay for like $50-$100 worth it? Do they actually help the spark or is it just a gimmick to sell cheap distibutors from china?

 

[DeathRattle]

What brand are we talking about? For 50 to 100?
Pertronix wants 70ish, and MSD wants 130ish just for a 60k Coil.
To get the whole distributor for (50-100) that price means that some corners were cut and I think quality would be lower.
I have a bias towards MSD and pertronix. I don't think anything else is as good or even close for that matter.
The fact that the good reputable companies want 200-400+ for relatable parts would scare me away.

 

[techinspector1]

I think I'd be more interested in gettin' the curve right than worrying about the voltage.
http://www.performancedistributors.com/

 

[NDNslicks4me]

I've bought 3 of them from hotrodsauction.com for $40. one we put in a 63 nova with a 550" cam and it screamed to 7000. I was impressed.

 

[solidaxel]

For me, that's way too much money for what you get. My old HEI finally died and I ended up buying one of these. VERY impressed. Vac can is adjustable too. My son just got one for his 400 and we'll be dialing it in soon.

Mark

Mark, How many miles do you have on your distributor, is your cam gear affected in any way from ware.
You can NOT buy a coil and module for that price!

 

[autonuerotic]

...

I bought one of the ProComp distributors and couldnt be more happy with it, Its exactly like an MSD... I think J-Mark followed suit from an earlier post I started. They are great distributors and the quality is impressive for under $50. I think if you look hard enough on eBay, you might find a new distributor complete with the coil your interested in.

 

[nasty68]

Well, I recently bought one at the local and they wanted 130 dollars for Hei brand name. I came home and was browsing the internet. Came across the sale on Hei's for 50 bucks complete. I took the new one back and The new one was he ein two days and am comlpletely satisfied, . I have a Nasty 68 454 with all the nasty interior engine componets.

 

[Rick WI]

Just an FYI, we installed a bunch of these cheapo distributors on engines that were built a year ago and lo and behold they are coming back on a quite regular basis. The condition of the shafts and bearings after this short period of time is very poor.

I can say with confidence, they are NOT the same quality you get with MSD, DUI or Genuine GM.

 

[xntrik]

Just an FYI, we installed a bunch of these cheapo distributors on engines that were built a year ago and lo and behold they are coming back on a quite regular basis. The condition of the shafts and bearings after this short period of time is very poor.

I can say with confidence, they are NOT the same quality you get with MSD, DUI or Genuine GM.

As a second opinion, I agree with RickWI.

I've never bought a cheapo distributor and never will,

because I trust his word and his experience.

 

[NDNslicks4me]

like i said, I bought 3. One for me, two for two of my buddies. Mine is still new in the box waiting on rods to arrive. Need some pics? I got the actual item shipped and it looks good. real good.

 

[Chopt 48]

A quick google search for Procomp Distributor shows one online seller asking 89.99 and one asking 99.99 for the same distributor.
One of the big Mustang vendors sells the Ford unit for 119.95
List seems to be 199.00 for the Chev unit. = what most NAPA Type stores would ask if you had them order one in.
Search is at http://search.peoplepc.com/search?a.../i/common/ppco_blue.gif&q=procomp+distributor

The ebay seller is selling them at "warehouse" price which is the bottom level of the auto parts markup sheet. If you are familiar with the auto parts retail and wholesale business there are more pricing levels than peanuts in a box of Crackerjacks.

I for one am going to give the one on Ebay a go. thanks for the link.

 

[NDNslicks4me]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CHEV...2QQihZ017QQcategoryZ33690QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

that has the stock style cap and doesn't look as good as the ones I bought. I mean they look the same but on close inspection these look better and they have the good 65k coil, also cheaper....

http://www.hotroddersauctions.com/65K-COIL-HEI-DISTRIBUTOR-SBC-350-383-400-CHEVY---QQitem-102106

 

[xntrik]

First and foremost...... Rick said it all...... He has experience with them. Listen to him.

Second, you can't tell anything at all about those distributor caps from that picture.

The #1 most important thing about a cap is the ridges inside the cap between the terminals.

Spark misfire travels along the surface of the plastic, and the ridges make it twice as far between the terminals. Cheap caps have less or no ridges.

 

[MyMalibu]

I have a ProComp distributor in my '78 Malibu 355 eng and my dad has one in his '80 Malibu 350 both engine are built and run in the 8's in a 1/8th...and we haven't had any probs with these distributors we have even bought a couple for some guys we work for an they all work absolutely perfect great performers. My opinion when you pay big money you buy the name not the product...we have bought several name brand things it perform like junk and used cheaper products and had great luck with them.

 

[NDNslicks4me]

That's the cheap one, yes it had directions along with a lot of other stuff the ebay guy said they don't have. I just don't like misleading ads like his, I also like the best product per $.
MSD has it's time and place, a 12 second ride is just not really in the need for it when a $50 dizzy will do the same thing.

And if some say this cuts into MSD's pocket, well it probably does. and I'm not against it in this case b/c this is basically an GM HEI, not an MSD copy.

and look at the PP intakes. I bet you talk bad about them too. In my opinion the edelbrock I just bought, wish it was a professional products after closer examination. getting off topic, edelbrock vs PP, well then how do you feel about Holley vs Demon? if Demon was $75 a carb instead of $500 would that change ur mind??

 

[Rick WI]

They are the Procomps J.

 

[stewartcannon]

i have to agree the american made stuff has went to crap. they factor in the failure rate on everything made in american. atleast the foriegn stuff is just built cheap not built to break. everyone said PP intakes suck but they outflow edelbrocks and are half the price. everyone said they don't fit but mine went on without a problem at all. blows me away that the average honda or toyota runs for 250,000 miles and the average ford/chevy/dodge is lucky to make it 150,000 miles. its why toyota is about to kick GM out of the #1 spot. people remember all those cars they bought back in late 70's thru the early 90's that would crap out in no time from the big three. i say buy what works and heck with all that "buy american" crap. if those "building american" gave a rats butt about you they would build a better product for you to buy not something that breaks 2 months after the warranty wears out so they can sell you another one. spend your cash where ya want but i say foriegn doesn't always mean bad. as for the jobs all going to foriegn sorces blame the unions. i wonder how things will be once the minimum wage jumps up to 7.25 an hour. should be interesting to watch.

 

[dirtinla]

Has anyone tested these distributors... can I spin it out to 7000+???

I figure to turn 6800 in a 350 chevy.

Thanx in advance

-=Fred=-

 

[bubbahotep]

I bought a cheapo billet no frills dizzy off ebay for less than $50 not long ago. Entire dizzy with high V coil, weights, vac advance, cap rotor etc.

I took it apart and used only the guts (shaft, gear, rotor and cap). I didnt use the weights, locked out the advance, and disabled vac, used my MSD coil and MSD6A and timing computer. Ive run it to over 6000 a few times with no problems and my timing is dead on. So far. Its in my street 383 Stroker. I've never removed the inner shaft from a dizzy housing so I dont know if there are bearings in there??? Something in there allows rotation.

I keep wondering when this cheap thing is going to explode but let me say this: Compared to my stock GM dizzy which I replaced many years ago, this thing is FAR FAR better in quality. I hate to say it but I think the days of american "cast metal into a mold" are gone. Somehow they're able to produce some pretty good quality stuff overseas for real cheap.

The cap and rotor plastic are better than my original 86GM setup, the HEI stuff inside looked good enough, the lower gear seemed pretty good except that it had rounded corners are opposed to flat edges that my old dizzy had. The coil, Im sure, is truly high voltage as it states. Its just simple wire winding.

Granted, Im using MSD to do all the timing but the thing spins good so far.

One other thing I did notice was that the ADVANCE mechanism does not advance as far as my stock 86GM did. The original part had a longer travel for mechanical advance due to the mechanism. The new dizzy had a visibly shorter travel but since I removed it anyway I have no idea what limitations it had.

 

[Chopt 48]

I'm running one of the 65K units off ebay and it is good for street driving in my 71 GMC 3/4 ton but I don't know about how it would be for racing.
So far so good as far as daily driving 60 miles a day and I just finished two 400 mile trips with it.

I have about 10 K on it now and will have to wait and see how it holds up.