Anyone have an oppinion on wether a 78 FJ-40 with factory electronic ignition would beifit from an HEI conversion? I would appreciate any feedback......

Also if I did convert it will I need to play around with the spark plug gap?

Thanks in advance..

Keep what you've got, maybe run a bigger coil.

I've got an HEI, and I'm constantly fiddling with it. Though, not nearly as much as with the points I had before.

Something nobody mentions is that the HEI curves waaay too far for a 2F. You'll have to recurve it, or stay below 60-65ish (on flat ground...hills it's worse) to keep it from pinging...And that's with the timing retarded way the heck back.

I was always told that the factory electronic ignition was better than HEI.

But then again, my momma told me the easter bunny was real.......soooooo...........:D

I like hei because its all in one. And if something goes badin the middle of nowere usa parts are everywere for it the curve isue didnt matter for me because my computer contorls the advance.


search this topic has been hashed out before.

Always fiddling with HEI??? That's nuts.... there's nothing to mess with. Get the distributor, put in the weakest (most aggressive advance) springs available in a recurve kit, and set your total timing to around 38 degrees. Gap the plugs at about 50 (I use motorcraft plugs) and forget about it. Torque on demand (due to the advance), no pinging, one wire hook-up, and you can carry all the spare parts you need in your pocket (module). I do run a header and a 38/38 Weber, so if your setup is different you should adjust things.

Thanks for the input..

I went to the junkyard today and got a ditributer out of a 78 Nova. I like the idea of having less parts to mess with, and I always worried about my current setup failing when out on the trail.