Well I knew it was coming... Figured I might as well get that out there myself before someone else does. I get it though, I really do. I know I did a bad thing when I bought that. Just look for any post by me with the word "Wal-Mart" in it and you'll know how I feel about global economics, overseas outsourcing and Satan.
Sure does. Especially with an MSD box it will throw one hell of an arc when you pull a wire off and play with it like a redneck. Looks and sounds like a stun gun.
Duraspark does the same thing. You cannot even remove a wire from a running engine with thick rubber gloves on.
i installed one on my comet 3 years ago, it was expensive then but well worth it... my next upgrade for it will be a DUI, module for it, watch it rock... i think i even have one laying around from my 66 impala
heck duraspark w/ a gm module worked great on my six shooter just a little re wiring. and not to mention the bad ass spark i get..... hurts my hand just thinking about it.....
I don't think one has any clear advantage over the other. One is smaller, the other has variable dwell, they both have magnetic triggers and adjustable mechanical+vacuum advance. We can talk about the alleged heat problems that are supposed to be so rampant on HEI's, (yet only Ford people seem to ever know about that) and they're big and ugly, (Are the Durasparks really that "pretty" with the external coil and extra boxes and wires hanging off them? I call a draw there) but really they're all the same. The differences are ultimately negligible. I think some people just don't like these things because they look like a Chevy part and they're members of that crowd who has to hate one American car manufacturer over another. (Where does that come from anyway? What is that, 70's NASCAR influence?) And I think some others don't like them because they're automatically (and justifiably) dubious of anything cheap or foreign made. But the facts are the HEI works fine, the Duraspark works fine, both of them are better than points, and neither of them are expensive, unreliable or difficult to deal with. I just run the HEI because I wanted to replace my entire ignition system, and there it was all in one box and in a form I'm very familiar with.
i'd rather hit up daves small body hei he builds you an msd eletric pick up unit for msd or an hei in a points unit..so its smaller then the hei units
i got a HEI on my 351w works great and very easy to hook up and i only paid $50 for it. one thing i have a problem with is it cutting out 4800+ rpm but if i advance my timing then that gos away, but then it idles a little rough. it's like it doesn't advance any more after 4000rpm. may just have to play with it some more or get weaker springs in the dis.
My disdain for the HEI unit has nothing to do with it being a GM creation. It's just too friggin big and fugly.If it was a Ford part, I'd feel the same way. As for the Chevy -Ford thing, my dislike for Chevys (Oldsmobiles were OK) stems more from the attitudes of those who run em and constantly run down Fords. There are a few Chevy's that caught my eye as for their styling though. The small block Chevy wasn't one of their better creations neither in styling or engineering. It just got lucky in the 70's when Ford pulled out of performance altogether, and Nascar imposed the 355 cube limit
But how's that any different than what they do? I considered myself a "Chevy guy" for a long time, mostly because of the attitudes of Mustang owners. (Well, that and I hadn't driven the right Fords yet.) But then I realized it wasn't even about the cars and the "I don't like them because they don't like me" thing doesn't really work.
