HEI conversion question

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Mon Oct 14, 13 11:20 pm

Gents,

been reading lots of old threads etc on this and fancy tackling it as a Winter project....

As usual I am reading so much that Im starting to go round in circles a bit. To simplify it, could someone please answer the following questions....and sorry if the answers are already here, Im reaching saturation point so may have missed them...

1. HEI unit earthed in a similar way to orange box....case to ground basically, I like Daves idea of a small bracket jubilee clipped around dizzy. Is it ok to earth it with a lead to the rear engine earth or similar??

2. Is the MSD blaster coil the preffered option still? I understand that if I use one, then I can bypass the ballast resistor.

3. I dont want to buy the wrong stuff so does anyone have the part number of a quality GM HEI unit that they would recommend I go for please....

thanks in anticipation

cheers Steve

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Tue Oct 15, 13 12:30 am

http://pages.ebay.com/motors/link/?nav= ... 0503309663

would this do??

Also...some of the MSD coils on ebay are listed with a ballast resistor....would this be used if I just used the coil on my existing orange box set up and binned if its for an HEI system??

Kev · Post by **Kev** » Tue Oct 15, 13 4:19 am

Coil with ballast set up is usually rated at 9v running, 12v starting (ballast bypassed). You will need a 12v rated coil.

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Tue Oct 15, 13 8:41 am

Thanks Kev....what threw me a bit was the fact that a couple of the MSD 12v coils I found on an ebay search had a ballast resistor in the pack....just made me wonder why as all the stuff ive read says 12v and ditch the resistor. Think I need the MSD 8202

Cheers Steve

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Tue Oct 15, 13 8:44 am

The resistor with these coils is used when you still have a points type distributor. Otherwise the points would burn out quick.

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Tue Oct 15, 13 8:46 am

Ah....that makes sense....thanks Dave

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Tue Oct 15, 13 8:54 am

Steve wrote: Think I need the MSD 8202

Yes.

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Tue Oct 15, 13 8:56 am

Or this one if you want to peel off the sticker and make it look stock.

http://www.msdignition.com/Products/Coi ... _Coil.aspx

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Tue Oct 15, 13 9:28 am

Thats the beast for me Dave....cheers!

Dave999 · Post by **Dave999** » Tue Oct 15, 13 10:51 am

the HEI module earths by one if its bolts
bolt to metal that touches metal that touches engine and its earthed

ideally you would use an HEI coil

here is my search for the module

put in ebay search

(AC DELCO,Wells,petronix,car quest,Napa, niehoff,Borg Warner,GM,Mallory,jegs,moroso) (DM 1906,D1906,ACC35361,aCC35367,D2000,21040,ECH TP45, Dr400 ,CBe4,cbe22,10482820,607,555-40600,97857) (module,hei,)

here is my search for the coil

HEI coil (DR-35, E41, DR-182, IC22, 342D, GC400,D525)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from= ... SRCHX:SRCH

and at £8-10 + £10-20 postage they are a bargain. proper little mig welder

notice you will need a hybrid ford style stud (sparkplug type) to bucket (mopar Lucas bosch dizzy type) king lead or convert you dizzy with a converter for the king lead connecttion MSD do em

no ballast, short it out

just make up a lead with piggy back female/male lucar spades (in the Halfords bumper box of connectors) and join both ends of ballast together then plug in what was originally there onto the piggy back spades.

bobs ya mothers special friend

if you want to keep it standard

dig out all the gunk in your busted old mopar box
undo the big transistor
snap off its pins and glue it back on to the front of the box

bolt the HEI inside the box
wire it thus

and plug in your old loom

and do the ballast resistior jumper as described above

dave

if you have no plans to rev it more than 5000 rpm you can use a bosch "blue" coil from your local german and swedish or euro car parts

this is a 1 ohm 12 volt coil designed for small 4 and 6 cylinder performance applications i.e 7-8000RPM. not stricktly a v8 coil but low rpm usage no probs... 8000 rpm on a 4 cylinder is 4000 rpm on a v8 8 sparks per cycle not 4

https://www.google.co.uk/#q=bosch+blue+coil

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Tue Oct 15, 13 11:13 am

I am not sure if some of those little HEI coils are up to firing a V8 at high rpm though.

Which is why you get one coil per cylinder on most cars these days I think?

Dave999 · Post by **Dave999** » Tue Oct 15, 13 11:44 am

these coils aren't actually that small 3 inch by 3 inch laminated iron core kicks ass compared with a solid core cylinder coil

in theory good for red line in a coil in cap config on 70s corvette stingray and the 70s v8 caddies
the lower the resistance the more chance you have of competeing at higher RPM and these tings are 0.8 ohm primary

same coil different connector

but also used on Talbot and peugeot 4 cylinders oddddd

so never gonna set the world alight like a proper race set up but alllllllright

coil on plug and wasted spark for Hi static CR variable valve timing fuel injected extreme ecconomy on cruise type modern set-up

the kinda motor that tries to be really ecconomical and has to fire off deliberatly lean mixtures reliably to avoid ruining the lambda sensor and cat

coil on plug works really well on an v8 ( chevy LS?? and modern hemi) but you need igntion ECU and of course the coil on the plug is small and sized appropriately to do 1 spark or a multi spark per 4 stroke cycle, loads of time to power it up .

dave

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Tue Oct 15, 13 5:47 pm

Fantastic gents .... Cheers. Ive been reading all the stuff that has been put on the forum about this and it seems quite straight forward. I am going with the MSD coil in black as I want the standard look....just want to make sure I get the correct HEI unit as the search for that throws up a few options...

Thanks again

Steve

Dave81 · Post by **Dave81** » Tue Oct 15, 13 8:27 pm

Steve wrote:Fantastic gents .... Cheers. Ive been reading all the stuff that has been put on the forum about this and it seems quite straight forward. I am going with the MSD coil in black as I want the standard look....just want to make sure I get the correct HEI unit as the search for that throws up a few options...

Thanks again

Steve

For the Unit (ignition module), i went with the Petronix Flamethrower and as above the Blaster 2 Coil.

Most recon you need a heat sink too, to help prolong the life of the Module. Most just bolt them to the inner fender, or firewall and use the bodywork. Some use Ali blocks, others go ott an make housings to try and keep engine bay temps away from it......or go one step further and have them housed inside the cabin.

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Tue Oct 15, 13 8:52 pm

Dave these are the HEI coils on my Corvette. As you can see they are about the same size as the ones in your links. You can just fit 4 of them on each rocker cover.