Upon receipt of a used HEI distributor from one of the Chevy Pirates, I was able to get a little further with my project. The attached picture(s) illustrate my attempts to mount an HEI distributor with "Less" intensive surgery to the engine.

I'm getting closer fellas.

(Pendy, keep your comments about my photography skills to yourself :flipoff2:)

PT

Another picture showing the adapter sleeve I made and the HEi distributor. At this point, things are just dry-fitted.

Last one (for now)

There are two more distributors on their way to me. Now that I've learned what I've learned by chopping on this one, I'll know how to get the next one right the first time!

PT

PT,

How's the length and width of your HEI compare to the DUI unit? Are you going to have similar issues with the ps pump and the intake manifold being in the way?

From the looks of it, your (modified?) HEI might be tall enough to clear those obstacles.

---Norm

hood clearance?

This one is quite a bit higher than the Davis setup, although the diameter is presumably identical (I only discussed with David the height/length dimension). The Davis sits the body of the distributor about 3.5" away from the hold-down boss. In this configuration, that point is almost 6" above the mounting boss.

I believe that I can achieve clearance with the power steering pump by trimming(:flipoff2:) the clamshellportion of the power steering mount and hopefully, won't need to "Trim" the power steering pump itself. If needbe, I can trim about .250" from the pump without dramatcially impacting its integrity, physical nor hydraulic.

As for clearing the hood, the distributor won't extend higher than the plenum housing, much less interfere with the hood. If you look at the first and last picture, the distributor body barely exceeds the height of the water outlet. I'll see if I can find time to trial-assemble the rest of the plenum for pictures and visualization. I'll also have to call Steve at Magnecor for a set of 10 m/m wires to fit the Rover-bet he'll love this call :grinpimp:

My only difficulty now is hauling the mocked-up engine to Shopgrrl's uncle's house so I can mill the power steering housing and trial fit before going back to the shop. Hhmm, maybe I'll just use the sawz-all :flipoff2:

This distributor was really badly worn and probably isn't in acceptable condition for even a trial run, but I learned enough from the modifications that I can apply them to the next one I receive-like let's not try to turn the body of the distributor to 1.0". Next one, I'll aim for 1.10 or thereabout, but that will make machining the sleeve more difficult as I can't find a 1.100 drill bit at Wal-Mart :grinpimp: Also, I'll use much more penetrant when disassembling the distributor-that was an error to go along with all of my trials (not in courtrooms!).

I checked out my mechanic in Tulsa's '95 RR LWB (4.2L w/ serpentine belt). Looks like he cut overhanging lip of the ps clamsell off at the top mounting bolt (nearest the distributor) and said he had to grind down the manifold so the bolt nearest the distributor could clear the distributor. He said the DUI fitting takes about 4 hours labor and he set the ignition for 8* BTDC. He also mentioned that MSD distributors might work without having to do any grinding. I checked their website and saw they make a dizzy for the Buick 215 and it appears to be proportionally narrower (but taller) than the DUI.

---Norm

Norm any chance I could get your guy's number in Tulsa? I'm fitting an HEI to my 95 LWB and having some wiring trouble. I have a few quick questions that I'm sure he could clear up if you don't mind.

So far I have the distributor mounted in the engine bay and have the timing roughly set and the distributor is sending fire to the plugs. I had to grind the hell out of the power steering bracket and saw one of the distributor cap fasteners off of the cap but I think it should be fine in the end. Other than the usual grinding of the intake the install wasn't too bad.

The main issue I'm having at this point is the damn engine won't start. Can anyone clear up what I am supposed to do with the existing ignition wiring and how it ties into the HEI distributor? At this point I'm sure the issue is fuel related but I'm not sure what needs to be connected to allow fuel to flow.

Any insight would be helpful.

Hey Patrick,

How'd the distributor install go?

Norm

Jeepers Mr. Shram if I'd known you needed pictures taken I would have broken out the camera when I was there. Made it home and the truck drives much better. Rear bushings are next.

Jeepers Mr. Shram if I'd known you needed pictures taken I would have broken out the camera when I was there. Made it home and the truck drives much better. Rear bushings are next.

Finally somebody who can vouch for why I don't have time to finish my many projects :flipoff2:

Glad the work resulted in an improvement. Lemme know when you wanna do the rears, they should take even less time than the fronts.

Peace,
PT

Hey Patrick,

How'd the distributor install go?

Norm

Everything worked out well. I called your guy in Oklahoma and he set me straight on the wiring. I had to connect a wire from my current harness to the tach output of the new HEI distributor to send a signal to the injection system; this signal tells the injectors to open and without it I wasn’t getting fuel.

So far I’m pretty happy with the HEI. I still need to adjust the timing a little because I have pretty poor power before 3000 rpm. Once I hit 3k it really rips open. My idle is also much smoother than before. I need to re-gap my plugs to take advantage of the hotter spark but overall I’m happy with my $80 investment. I’ll post some pics of the grinding I had to do to the intake and power steering set up tonight. Thanks for your help Norm.

Here is a look at the cutting that was required on the PS bracket.
http://www.pmdnet.net/images/hei2.gif

A look at the clearance with the cap on.
http://www.pmdnet.net/images/hei3.gif

Everything ready to roll excluding my sloppy plug wire routing.
http://www.pmdnet.net/images/hei1.gif