*sigh* Since most of my ignition system could benefit from a replacement anyway I decided to trade up to an aftermarket HEI system I bought on Ebay. The brand name is Procomp and it's made in Australia but it's pretty much identical to a MSD model. Trouble is I can't connect it to my Ford harness obviously and I just spent like an hour walking up and down and back up the road between a local speedshop and a basic part store. I asked for a harness or plug or SOMETHING just to get some electricity to this thing and they all look at me like I have 2 heads. I know atleast some of you have made this modification so I ask what did you do to adapt it?
i dont think the parts store will have what youre looking for, unless you go with a GM part, that design is lifted directly from GM, my fathers 81 firebird uses that same setup
Hmm. I guess I'll probably go to Pickn'Pull and snip off the right connector for grafting on to my system. Should work I guess.
yep!!!
be sure and get the left one as well so you can hook up the tach.
My question to you is "why?" That HEI setup is the ugliest thing ever. Even Gm was smart enough to put it in the back of the motor. When you pop the hood people are not going to see a big round air cleaner, they are going to be drawn to that out of place distributer cap. God its so big and bulky, about 4 inches taller than a duraspark isn't it?
make sure to get a gear on it to.
im sure you knew just noticed it wasnt there:)
Yeah I know it's really bulky and could end up being an eyesore in my engine bay but I think the advantages outweigh that. At some point if I order a black or blue cap from somewhere atleast it will blend in better. And yeah the bottom gear came separately wrapped for some reason. I'll have to secure it to the shaft with some glue or something.
Um, not sure that's how it should go on! IIRC it should either need to be pressed on (like a bearing), or placed on the end of the distributor shaft and held in place with a pin. Or perhaps even both. Someone who's a bit more in the know can chime in and confirm or deny that.
When I replaced the PIP sensor in my distributor I had to remove it from the motor. The gear at the bottom was pressed on and also had a pin. It was a very tight fit and you have to make sure to line up the holes for the pin on the gear and the shaft before you tap the gear back on.
There are pin holes on the gear and the shaft but near as I can see they serve no purpose. For one thing they're at right angles to each other when the gear is on. And the holes don't intersect or anything. Also the gear slips on firmly but it slips right off again, I don't know if tapping it will give results.
Going to have to do something, glue aint gonna cut it pal!
Is this a 302 or 351? For a 351 the W is different than the Cleveland so sometimes they don't put it on. Should be held on with a roll pin. Or maybe it because the roller cam has a different gear and you would use your stock one.
What no directions?
TED
the roll pin needs to go thru the gear and shaft.
the gear will only go one way and line up with the shaft/roll pin .
if you have any doubts take it to a machine shop and have them install the gear.
pro comps never have directions . i have one in my car also but the msd knock off.
the 351c uses the same dizzy as the 370/ 429 / 460 the will not interchange with the 260/289/302/351w family
Maybe the machine shop is the way to go. There's only one hole in the gear and it doesn't intersect the shaft at all. I can't see any logic in this thing.
maybe they can get ya a pin in there.
45 and my memory is failing me. I remember the distributor I purchased was for a 351 cleveland but I had to change over the drive before I could use it, but I don't know why now.
I also purchased one of these procomps for a future project and I just went out there to look and it has the drive already installed.
Kind of makes you wonder if someone returned it and they sold it to you?
TED
I suspect that's exactly the case. The cap is cracked too actually, they've yet to get back to me about sending a new cap.
A Ford truck forum (edited by me), but....
[COLOR="Red"]TxBrokenarrow
hi again...this is on a 351m motor...pulled out my new procomp hei distributor today to look and see what i am going to be dealing with... if i have the gear part on the end of the dizzy and turn it upright the gear part slides off.
TxBrokenarrow
ok talked to the procomp guy and he described exactly what i have and he said to tap the fork on the side,then slip the gear on and it will stay...i was thinking of spreading the fork to make it tighter but he said i wanted to squeeze the fork a little...he sounded pretty sure of himself...that kind of makes sence...[/COLOR]
Your first pic seems to show a "fork" at the bottom of the shaft where you would expect a hole. Maybe the gear is wedged on without a pin? (Don't blame me... I didn't design it!)
(a few minutes later)... but these guys did:
http://procompelectronics.com/
Maybe it's just me, but that distributor looks awfully short, maybe there is another piece that goes on the bottom???:dunno:
Look at the distance from the oil seal to the bottom of the shaft.:D
yeah it is maybe he got a defect one or one someone has cut off the oil pump drive :O
yeah, here is a little pic of the distributor he is supposed to have:
(http://procompelectronics.com/PICS/HEI%20ford.gif)
That's got it. I tapped the shaft gently a few times with my hammer and then was able to tap the gear firmly into place. It's not going anywhere. Thanks guys. Incidently here's a picture with the gear on, it looks long enough now.
that looks better.:D