HEI distributor for a 351w?

[66whofan]

Hello, I was wondering if anybody has installed an gm style distributor in their ford, I see them on ebay from $60 to $160 all the time. I have a 351w w/a wells electronic ignition, from what little research I've done it seems like an easy install. All you need to do is connect the ignition wire and the tach (am I right on that?). Thanks in advance.

[GT289]

Can't vouch for the Ebay stuff but Davis Unified Ignition started doing
Ford distributors a long time ago. Hard to beat them. Excellent customer
service as well. Never owned one though.... dyno tested lots of engines
with that setup over the years.

[gwstang]

I got one from summitracing for about $120 that went into my 5.0 HO and it runs great. I have had 3 petronix units go bad, so I gave up on them. Very easy to pick up a spare module anywhere. I had to go to a small air cleaner to fit because the cap is large on those things and also a curved mc bar as the straight one won't fit with it either. You might want to check into that before you drop some coin on anything.

[EP429]

I had one, worked fine, I just got tired of looking at the ugly thing and trashed it.
I currently run a Duraspark 2 style distributor controlled by an HEI modlue hidden under the battery tray. Same effect, looks factory, made me happy

[2manyhobbies]

They look like a tumor on a ford.

[dav65mus]

I had one in my 331 and liked it so much that I have another new one sitting in the box for my new motor build. I have never tried the summit or ebay models I have only bought the performance distributors DUI units.

I have owned mallory, msd, and accel dizzy's along with msd ignition boxes and stock ford point systems and duraspark setups. Yes the cap is a little large on the HEI, but that is because it is a complete reliable one wire ignition system. It does not look bad IMO and I could care less anyway because I use what I feel is the best most reliable parts for my cars.... msd has left me stranded several times and have lost me as a customer.Mallory hall effect pickups have crapped out on 2 different dizzys. No more of my money to them either. Accel was an old dual point which worked good but was too much maintenance.

It is all about having a fun and reliable ride to drive which is why we modify our cars with brakes, intakes, cams, headers, new wheels,etc. in the first place and none of that stuff is factory ford either. I keep seeing people say don't put a g.m. dizzy in a ford when actualy you are putting a ford dizzy in a ford which an aftermarket company built by borrowing a good g.m. design.

If you buy one the only thing you need to make sure you do is feed at least a 12 gauge or larger ignition wire to the dist for power, the small stock ignition wire on a ford will not power it correctly.

[gikort]

I have one and really like it. I can't remember what brand, but it was over $200... prob the same one as the $60 ebay one who knows. I really like it, runs great. You can see it in my sig pic.

[ajzride]

I've got the $60 fleabay special. It runs fine for a recreational driver. It's ugly as hell, I can't wait to upgrade it.

[Al Newman]

Only worked on one of the HEI dizzys on a small block Ford. Ran well enough, just had some real worrisome fitment issues with the intake runner as well as the thermostat housing. Your 351 should not have the thermostat housing issue, but it could have clearance issues with the intake runner, air cleaner, monti carlo bar, etc. I liked the two piece oil pump drive setup. It was easy to manipulate when installing the distributor.
Best,
Al
Best,
Al

[66whofan]

So basically if I go with the HEI unit all the wires going to the ignition module and coil are replaced with 1 ignition wire and 1 tach wire? Thanks in advance.

[bartl]

Ask me how many GM HEI distributor modules I've replaced over the last 30 years....plus they're damn UGLY. If you want electronic ignition why not choose a DurasparkII unit? You can fire the DSII box from an OE-style points distributor with a Pertronix conversion or, for that matter, if you don't like the DurasparkII box you can fire a GM HEI module too.

[2manyhobbies]

You can use an 85 mustang distributor with the duraspark and the stock cap from a points distributor. Won't be ugly and will be very dependable.