Thinking about an ignition upgrade. Don't want to do the HEI thing, just go electronic. Will this be noticeable? Any reccomendations?

I don't know anything about the electronic upgrades you can make to the point distributor, and I really cannot speak for the aftermarket ones. But from what I have heard, the hei distributor is an excellent upgrade, but it is noticeable.

Why dont you want to go HEI??? Easy, cheap, and very reversable upgrade if you want to stay stock,,,, which I dont think you do?
Oh and I love rear ends

What about a small body HEI.....looks like a factory point distributor, but with electronic?

Personally I like the HEI....very simple swap.

I thought that there were "hidden" upgrades you could install in place of the points under the stock distributor cap...I don't like the looks of an HEI set up under the FGF hood. I really am attempting to remain as close to stock/era as possible.

What I meant by "noticeable" was if I would notice a performance difference. Can you you feel it?

Joe, thanks honey! Youre not so bad yourself :p You'll like it better next week. I'm doin' it Monday.

Drew, tell me more.

I believe something like the Pertronix kit is what you are after. I am looking at upgrading as well and that is the one I found that fits within the existing distributor and essentially looks stock. It replaces the points with a small module pickup and the cam with a magnetic "cam" I think the upgrade is around 70 bucks (US).

keyword it on Google and you will bring up a bunch of sites that have it.

I think the model number is Pertronix Electronic Ignition 1187LSCC but make sure for yourself....

I installed the pertronix and am very happy with it. They say you can install it without taking out the whole distributer, I removed mine and it was fairly easy. I think it would be a little more difficult with the distributer still in the car. I would recomend that upgrade and it still looks stock which I wanted. Pete

I think that the hei looks right at home under the hood. Cleans up the engine compartment with the intergrated coil and the lack of a coil wire.

I have an hei in my 9, but I don't have anything to compare it with because when I installed the reman 400, I installed the hei.

Spark only does so much. Yes, a hotter/more intense spark is better than less, and it offeres more power, but there is a point where more intensity of the spark has no value. For a basically stock configuration, the hei delivers as much usable spark as the engine can use.

The spark is stable, whereas the spark from the points isn't as consistant. Hot crank issue notwithstanding, my engines have always fired instantly without cranking. Even so, the hei helps ensure instant starts. Best of all, there isn't anything to dink with. Everytime you remove the points screws, even if you use a spring loades screw holser, do you wonder "will this time be the time I drop the screw and loose it?"

Go HEI, my friend!! You can do it for less than 100 bucks, and then scratch all those old settings off the book. Pick up an Accel HEI distro cap for less than 100 dollars, then work your way up. Its an immediate improvement, and it shortens the "car isn't running right" list a great deal.