When Building my 29 Model A I recessed the firewall to accomidate a HEI Distributor,a distributor that was around for years and worked very well for me in the past with other cars.Now I'm at the point where I need one. I just got the lattest Speedway catalog in the mail yesterday and they show a new one for the SBC for $69.00. I can't get one in a salvage yard for that .I wonder what gives .I have bought from Speedway in the past and usually satisfied. The old expression "you get what you pay for" Will I regret the purchase.it seem way to cheap ?? gene
They are made in the far East, that's why they are cheap. I have no personal experience with one because I use the junk yard brand !!
Yeah, they are disposable anymore. Get 2 so when it quits you'll have one on the shelf. Cardone is a bit better at 99.00, at least I hope so
Probably a "top brand" like pro-comp. You're better off with a used OEM HEI with a new cap and rotor. Put a MSD module in it [with the extra wire for the rev limiter ] and a hotter coil it is good enough for a race engine. A $69 dizzy plus the towing fee [when it fails on a trip] = a better HEI
Then there is this http://www.skipwhiteperformance.com/detail.aspx?Item=6500BKKIT lifetime warranty, I've had one in my Ford SBF for 4 years no problems.
im a fan of skip. i use his hei dizy all the time. i have installed at least 20 of them only had one to go bad,replaced it with a new one to get back on the road. When i took cap off to see what was wrong it was the ground wire loose tightened it up fired fine and its in my 51 panel now
i put one in an ot. truck..........never could get it to run right.......switched back to oem........perfect.
I bought a used OEM HEI at a swap meet for 10 bucks installed a new cap, rotor, and module,--so far it has 12,000 trouble free miles on it. I just don't know how good the $69.00 can be. I'd be a little nervous about the quality.
I bought an HEI from GM Performance for the engine in my '40 Chevy and it works fine. I also carry a spare cap, coil, rotor and module in the trunk along with a few other parts and tools for roadside repairs. Aftermarket modules seem to be less reliable that the GM OEM stuff and I have loaned out several to other stranded people. I looked under hoods at the local Pick-A-Part and most of the HEI units are gone.
Used a cheapy HEI from Jeg's and it crapped out in 90 days. Went to a stocker from the local Chevy dealer and it's still going strong.
Well I am not a big HEI fan as most already know, but they are a 25 dollar commodity at any swap or U-Pull it. If I had to have one and wanted new I would wither go with a DUI or a Mallory, they are more pricey but they are a good distributer. I have a certain fondness for things like good distributers.
I don't know who makes them for Speedway, but my guess would be that they are offshore as in way off shore. The problem with *a lot of that stuff is that it is a crap shoot, you may very well get a good piece and you may just as likely get a bad one. *a lot of that stuff in general not a lot of that Speedway stuff specifically.
One big problem with those "top quality" cheapies is the rotor. I have helped guys with cars on the roadside who had holes burned thru the rotor. Maybe a good quality rotor would take you farther.
I bought a Summit Racing HEI for $100 or so. It uses OEM cap rotor and module. That way if I'm out some where, every Napa is going to have parts.
If I were buying a Chinese HEI, I'd buy two. One for a spare when you crap out in the middle of nowhere. Its the old story, you get what you pay for. Gary
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