My 67 400 currently has points and condensor. The engine is not the original the car came with. Would like to switch to HEI, and comments or suggestions
Been through this myself, I have had all three types. First an HEI Accel set up, then switched to stock dist. w/Pertronix Ignitor II setup, now, I have gone back to points/cond.
I can only tell you what my experience has been and I will say that I have not noticed ANY advantage to any of the above. In fact, if anything, the car runs better with points for whatever reason. I for one will stick w/points JMO...
HEI is the easiest to maintain and it's an easy swap IMO. Good choice. If you need any wiring tips just ask..... The HEI will always outperform a stock points distributor due to the added volts it can handle. You will get a stronger spark. I have one with the stock module and another with the HiPo computer chip style module. I can't tell a big difference between the too.. I like to add the Super Coil on top of the cap.
The higher voltage allows a larger plug gap. The larger plug gap can allow for a slightly faster burn. Electronic ignition of any sort is less maintenance intensive. I have some with points, HEI and Pertronix and see no noticeable differences after extended use as long as the distributor is within specs to start with.
Vikki 1969 Goldenrod Yellow / black 400 convertible numbers matching
You will see the difference more with the higher energy distributors when you start getting into higher performance engines. The improvements are documented, not imagined, in these applications...
What, in your opinion, makes a "higher performance engine"? I'm not talking about 7.6:1 emission motors. I'm comparing on blueprinted or better '68-'69 400s with 16 and 62 heads.
Vikki 1969 Goldenrod Yellow / black 400 convertible numbers matching
What, in your opinion, makes a "higher performance engine"? I'm not talking about 7.6:1 emission motors. I'm comparing on blueprinted or better '68-'69 400s with 16 and 62 heads.
I'm basing what I said as a reply to your opinion that there's no performance gains to be had by higher voltage ignitions... The only sense I can make out of that is you must have had low performance engines to have not noticed any gains. To me, the gains are obvious.... And they can easily be documented on a dyno.
Well, I am running a 400/stock Q-jet/62 heads/ stock intake/ stock dist. w/points and I am pushing right around 404/rwhp. Not sure if my engine combo constitutes high performance or not, but I am happy with what she puts out.
I will be going for an updated dyno soon and I will post the results. I will do so once the new M21 & new shifter have been installed.
PS I'm simply offering my results as an example not too try and claim any performace advantages etc. as everything I do is and has been trial and error etc. And I am ultimately no mechanic by no means. As I stated above, I have had all three types on my car and noticed no improvements and in my opinion wasted money on the HEI as well as the Pertronix conversions and ended up right back where I started. LOL
The car was dynoed just a couple of weeks ago. I felt fairly confident now that I have racked up over 3k miles on the motor. I've had my share of issue to say the least as some of you know. However, with the cam issue solved (now all roller), running hot (now solved), breaking up at high revs (wrong wiring of hood tac).
Luckily, one of the guys in the car club that I just joined works at a local dyno shop. The car pulled some decent numbers but we only ran her once as my tranny has some major issues. We ran her hard though I will say. Took her much higher on the revs than I would ever do on the streets (5500RPM). Normally I'll only hit about 4800-5100 on the streets.
The guys in the shop were pleasantly impressed with the old girl as was I. I was hoping for about 375 rwhp. My engine builder guaranteed me 400 but I did not expect it. Anyway the bottom line is I am very happy with the outcome.
I expect to install my new M21 with the new Hurst shifter hopefully in two weeks. Then we will run her through the dyno once again and get some hard numbers. Once we do so I will post the results with all the stats.
Also, as a result of the dyno run I did have two oil cap (things that sit over the top of the valve springs) break on me. I contacted the builder and he instructed me to remove the remaining caps before any more dyno runs.
Some of the other guys will be able to give much more detailed info as to performance. From what I could see, the conversion advantage is the simple fact that you can retain a "stock" look. That was the reason I went from HEI to Pertronix as I wanted a stock look. I then went back to points in an attempt to fix my "breaking up" issue. As it turned out it was my hood tac wiring that was causing the breaking up. Based on the fact that I could not see any performance advantage I left the points as I like the look and just knowing I am running old school tech. I think it's cool.
When the points take a dump on me and leave me stuck on the side of the road, maybe I won't think it's so cool, but for now I'll keep em!
just ask..... The HEI will always outperform a stock points distributor due to the added volts it can handle. You will get a stronger spark. I have one with the stock module and another with the HiPo computer chip style module. I can't tell a big difference between the too.. I like to add the Super Coil on top of the cap.
