Distributor recommendations

[Starliner]

Hi guys.
I posted on the other great classic ford site.
Here is my post. I am pretty sure that Jim and Gary and the rest of the gang can weigh in.
Here is the post:

Thanks
Joe

1983 F150, 5.8

I need a distributor. I see HEI ones on Amazon for $70.
Bronco Graveyard, $140
​​​​Jegs $112
for all I know, they could all be coming from the same plant.
What do you guys think of these?
A few years ago I bought a points one from Autozone, BIG mistake, pure garbage. 
thanks,
​​​​​​​Joe

[85lebaront2]

My opinion, I wouldn't put a Chinese Chevrolet distributor in my Ford EVER!

[Gary Lewis]

85lebaront2 wrote

My opinion, I wouldn't put a Chinese Chevrolet distributor in my Ford EVER!

I wish Bill would tell us how he really feels and not hold back.  

Personally, the HEI dizzy doesn't scare me.  But it is so easy to just use a DS-II dizzy and module, so why not stay Ford?

I'd only go HEI if I didn't have the wiring harness, dizzy, or module.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Edit: my bad.
"New" user revived his old username and I am focused on too many things at once.

Sorry!  

[Gary Lewis]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

He has absolutely NO engine harness, and that's the issue with the firewood truck.

That changes everything, and thanks for reminding me, Jim.

In that case it is HEI for me.  As Jim said, a relay and some wire and Bob's your uncle.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Well, skip White only seems to offer an HEI for the I-6 these days... 🙃

There are a bunch on Amazon, and Amazon really seem to have a no bs guarantee.
There are some offered w/ plug wires and tach harness.
Id probably go for a package with plug wires and tach connection than buy everything piecemeal.

I would definitely not waste my time & $ on a 'branded' unit from the same child labour factory.

[Starliner]

Well, I am convinced.

I am not sure about the distributor, but I know this:

You guys are all nuts!!!

[Gary Lewis]

Curly, Moe, & Gary.

[mat in tn]

I'm currently in this same discussion with my son about the 5.0 he is building for his fox body. now I have used a few hei units. I have two in the garage on trucks right now!  so, from this background I will give a couple points. the same as I said to my son.
first off there is the brand loyalty side of chevy vs ford. it's not my preference but it's a bit foolish really. if someone were to put chevy valves in their heads they would be doing something impressive.
I'm halfway convinced that there is only one maker, and it gets sold under many different brands. not a claim other than my suspicion.
then we get to the real stuff. this thing is bulky! interferes with the air cleaner. my bronco has a generic 10" chrome unit as a result. but it suits the build, so I don't mind. on the f100 I'm stalled on I have modified the factory 5.0 air cleaner to clear the dist.
now I have used two others on hot rod trucks and dealt with the same issues, but they all have worked well. now we have had three in as many years fail on different vehicles in the shop. enough so that we are trying a different stand-alone unit. which is smaller like the points style dist of the past and still needs a coil but is electronic and also a two wire install. the jury is still out on it at this time so I'm not making a recommendation.
if my choices are chinese hei, chinese duraspark copy or chinese anything then I'm not. holding too much brand loyalty. but the majority of my trucks/builds have ford ignition systems and I'm not changing them. my 82 has the factory coil and ds2 box paired with a new dist. since I swapped a v6 for the v8 in there now.

[viven44]

A few FB folks that I saw locally on trucks for sale went to HEI/MSD because they couldn't get the duraspark "junk" to work. All of them also had a push button start to boot accompanying their HEI/MSD that they were so proud of..  I wanted to explain to them that their ignition switch was probably misbehaving and affecting the duraspark from doing its job.

My experience with HEI was very tricky. I also ran it with a painless wiring harness... HEI is what came with the truck so I kept it.. Even something as simple as the length of the wire from the A terminal of the voltage regulator to the battery ... I believe this is the "feedback" loop which tells the regulator how it is regulating the voltage.. when it was too long it was enough to make the truck not run at all.... The length of the wire affects that feedback quite a bit (resistive and possibly inductive voltage drop). Even a blinker on and off would cause fluctuations in alternator voltage. These fluctuations in voltage was enough to put the alternator output close to 12V at times.. truck would not even idle when the turn signal blinker was on...

[ArdWrknTrk]

You definitely have to be aware how bulky it is to have the coil and everything else built in.with 460's I haven't had issues with the air cleaner, but sometimes you need a different water neck without all the thermal vacuum switches.

This might be a problem if you're keeping EGR, but obviously the vacuum advance one doesn't matter.
Also, you can rig spark retard with a transistor and the 5 pin module from a 1980 Tornado if you feel the starter is sluggish...

[Starliner]

I can only guess, but my version of an air cleaner "modification" would involve a 2lb hammer.

I haven't heard it yet, but are you guys hinting at Motorcraft, Motorcraft, Motorcraft?

[ArdWrknTrk]

Please explain how your alternator problems affect the ignition.

Which alternator are you talking about?
Why not just shorten the sense wire and connect it to the output, making it inches long?

[ArdWrknTrk]

You can go straight back to stock DS-II.
If you can't, then choose your battles wisely.

[viven44]

I am not going to claim I understand the workings of an HEI. I have very little experience with it...

-- when the alternator voltage was fluctuating wildly (12V-16V).. often because the demand was high (AC running, Blinkers going). the truck would not idle at all... This was because that battery voltage feedback loop was too long (no specification on this length in the painless harness and the 'tap' for this was taken from the wrong location... not from the battery).

After I shortened that feedback loop (Straight from battery to the A terminal), the voltage was stable (14.5V) and I never had any problems after that... This was on Big Red. Stock alternator.

I had assumed it was the HEI module/distributor that was very sensitive to the voltage... I don't have an account of how Duraspark would have performed in that scenario... but I have had no troubles on DS-II in the past even when the alternator had no output... I drove my Bronco for a day that way on DS-II on barely 12V until the battery died and woundn't start anymore...

[ArdWrknTrk]

The HEI is a power hog and will absolutely cut out if it doesn't get what it needs.

The Duraspark coil otoh is powered through a resistor in run, and ohms law tells us that resistance changes with current and voltage.
To some extent it's a 'self regulating' system.

Solid state modules (either flavour) are never running at 14.4, or 12.6V. though they are switching system voltage hundreds of times a second to fire the coil.

You're in semi. You have to know all this.  

[85pig]

I'm with you - I wouldn't have one of those gargantuan GM abominations in my Ford.  Too easy to wire up a DSII to me.  I've run several DSII conversions, and never had a problem.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

Edit: I stand corrected.
I'm confusing two separate projects, and I apologize!
This sometimes happens when the OP gives no backstory, or details of their diagnosis....

You could spend months and thousands putting it back to where it was, or you can spend ~$65 to have it running and doing the job it was bought for.🤔

Man, tribalism is an enigma to me.......😆

[thelastkeg]

I bought an HEI distributor with some gaudy bright blue spark plug wires from Southwest Performance Parts a year or so ago.  I think it was $135ish or so.  I don't remember why I went with that website over Amazon, it was probably when I had stopped buying from Amazon due to their terrible drivers that use their personal vehicles and rut up the yard and damage my wife's flower beds.  It is on my 86 that has the inline 300, so no fitment issues at all.  It was a very quick and easy install, and the truck starts up and runs great.  Have had zero issues with it.  The only other things needed were a relay and some heavier gauge wire, and that was all pretty simple with help from this forum.    

Other than the stupidly bright blue wires which I will replace one day, the aesthetics of the HEI on the 300 don't bother me.  

Speaking of brand loyalty - I've got a 68 4 door Chevelle that has an inline 230.  I also have a parts truck with a 302, and I've found on the internet an adapter that let the 302 mount to the Chevelle's aluminum powerglide.  I think that would be pretty cool to surprise people with a Ford powered Chevelle.  It's a pricey adapter, but it's on my long list of projects that I'd like to get to one day.

[85pig]

Seems they're both easy to install, I just prefer the Ford stuff.

Mine's on a 300 as well.  Junkyard harness, "blue grommet" box, and the DSII distributor - maybe $100.  Even the later (85-86) Ford cab harnesses are still set up for DSII, so it's plug & play.