oem marine HEI distributors? do they exist?

[stackz]

I mean they have to right? I've been searching ebay for the past couple months. all I want is a good used oem unit. I dont want an aftermarket mallory, etc unit...just a rebuildable or serviceable oem unit. I see distributor caps for them all over but no used distributors...

or is it the only difference between the marine and auto units in the cap design?

been looking to upgrade from my ancient points style units on my parents boat

 

[Don S]

Re: oem marine HEI distributors? do they exist?

There are OEM distributors, want to tell us what engine model, and year you have and what drive?

 

[stackz]

Re: oem marine HEI distributors? do they exist?

its an older cobra setup retrofitted to my parents boat using an sei adapter so we could use the mc-1 outdrives that they had 3 of. its got a 72 truck 010 4-bolt longblock in it using the old style points distributor ( a used one I got off ebay like this one http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Smal...at_Parts_Accessories_Gear&hash=item20baf7abe4 ). points keep burning out though as they always do and I'm tired of it...and having to carry spare sets with us.

want to convert to an HEI unit. I've got several automotive units as well as advance cams ranging from 10-22 so I can recurve the distributor to my liking once I get it. just cant even find the specific pictures of whats diferent auto/marine wise or I'd wait until september and see if I could get lucky at the charlotte auto fair swap meet lol. I know the hallmark of marine carbs is the bent inward bowl lines on top. apparently marine carbs have a screen somewhere to prevent spark escape but no idea where it is or what else is different.

mainly I want one from the early HEI days so I can "one-wire" it like the automotive units.

 

[stackz]

Re: oem marine HEI distributors? do they exist?

hmmm, wonder if I can use this one or if this is for one of the fuel injected engines? looks to be electronic controlled advance so probably not unless I converted the engine over to a tuned port setup.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MerC...at_Parts_Accessories_Gear&hash=item20b65921bc

 

[Tahorover]

Re: oem marine HEI distributors? do they exist?

and see if I could get lucky at the charlotte auto fair swap meet lol. I know the hallmark of marine carbs is the bent inward bowl lines on top. apparently marine carbs have a screen somewhere to prevent spark escape but no idea where it is or what else is different.

mainly I want one from the early HEI days so I can "one-wire" it like the automotive units.

Marine dizzy's use all centrifugal advance and no vacuum advance. So what is wrong with an aftermarket like MSD?
http://www.msdignition.com/Products...Chevy_V8_Marine_Ready_to_Run_Distributor.aspx

 

[stackz]

Re: oem marine HEI distributors? do they exist?

they are expensive as hell and I'm working with trying to get a distributor for around $100. this has been a very budget minded rebuild on their boat. I basically funded it by selling off the two 4-banger mercruiser setups they had to buy the sei adapter and use their spare outdrives. then I sold off the cobra outdrive after fitting the sei stuff and have been trying to finish the setup with that money. the engine setup, as I said earlier, came from an old chevy truck at my dad's salvage yard...

I'm actually surprised I got as far as I have with this without having to go into my own pocket more than $200.

 

[sdowney717]

Re: oem marine HEI distributors? do they exist?

I went with PERTRONIX IGNITOR for my distributors.
http://www.pertronix.com/prod/ig/ignitor/default.aspx
they have them for all of the distributors.

 

[stackz]

Re: oem marine HEI distributors? do they exist?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MerC...2615522QQptZBoatQ5fPartsQ5fAccessoriesQ5fGear

anyone know what these connectors are for? electronic timing advance control?

 

[stackz]

Re: oem marine HEI distributors? do they exist?

hmm, followed a link in this thread:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=498010

looks to be connectors for a thunderbolt V system so I guess it really is for an MPI engine. oh well. the search continues! lol.

oh as for the pertronix, I know lots of people swear by them but I had a bad time on a ford 351 cleveland back when the company first started that has just left a bad taste in my mouth with them. I'm sure they've revised the little stupid plastic "clearance" tool since way back in 98 when I used them but I'm still done with their products. so much easier/cheaper to convert a ford over to a duraspark setup or a chevy to an HEI setup...

 

[paw2000]

Re: oem marine HEI distributors? do they exist?

Here is a marine HEI http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...witem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_1497wt_872

They claim CG approval, This is the way I would like to go, they are so easy to tune and setup, simple install. WHy a HEI wasn't offered in a marine version is probably politics. Gm probably wanted royalties or wouldn't share, so the marine engine companies had to come up with their own designs. When engines went fuel injected a computer control dizzy was needed and the HEI wasn't needed. Just my opinion