good hei dist for 96-03 vortec 350 engine

[sweetk30]

whats a good hei dist for my new 96-03 style 350 vortec long block engine .

not afraid to spend a few bucks .

feeding the engine with holley snipper unit .

also seem to recall a member here in my searches say these engines dont like as much total timming as older ones . 28* max maybe if i recall ? ? ? any info on this would be great .

thanks guys .

[garyd1961]

I'm running a MSD 85551 with a 6al box but that's only because I had two with one already wired to my truck. I have read that people have had great luck with a cheapo Skip White HEI and I'm thinking of switching to one myself.

[bluex]

If you're running a Sniper buy a hyperspark setup and take advantage of the electronic timing control.

[Captainfab]

Just a reminder that you will need either the GM melonized gear or other roller cam compatible distributor gear. The Vortec heads are typically good with about 32* total timing.

[SunSoaked]

If your running a Sniper (like me) you should follow the Sniper forum on the Holley website. The majority of problems people are having with Sniper is with it controlling the ignition, be it a MSD, HEI or otherwise. Throwing $$$ at a Hyperspark doesn't seem to be the fix. I'm sticking with a well tuned HEI.

[bluex]

I'm running a dual sync (hyperspark wasnt out yet when I bought everything) and once I got the wiring isolated and away from the plug wires I've had no issues with it.

[Tom]

A OEM distributor works great.
On my 79 with a 99 vortec 350 I put a melonized gear on, MSD coil and module, and adjustable vaccum advance. 32* is indeed what vortecs tend to like.

[sweetk30]

i dont have any good used trusted hei units on hand .

was looking at this https://www.summitracing.com/parts/p...0711/overview/ found this for 210 price point.

or this https://www.summitracing.com/parts/msd-8360/overview/ found one for 250 over the reg 350 price point .

yes i know i will need a coil .

[Captainfab]

At the same price point, I personally would go with the Summit house brand over a Pertronix. I've just had bad luck with Pertronix and will never buy from them again. Just my experience.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-850205/overview/

[SunSoaked]

Using Summit brand here. No issues or complaints.

[Rickysnickers]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

At the same price point, I personally would go with the Summit house brand over a Pertronix. I've just had bad luck with Pertronix and will never buy from them again. Just my experience.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-850205/overview/

Captain,

I'm curious what kind of issues you had and what were the symptoms. I have a Pertronix in my truck and have had any issues, that I'm aware of. Not being a super duper type of mechanic I don't know as I would even know what they were. Just asking so that if I do have some problems, I or we (whoever else may have one), might know what to look for.

[sweetk30]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

At the same price point, I personally would go with the Summit house brand over a Pertronix. I've just had bad luck with Pertronix and will never buy from them again. Just my experience.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-850205/overview/

ya man do tell . what problems ?

[Chevyrestorerman]

I got a pertronix in VW bus. Never had a problem yet.

[Captainfab]

It's been a long time ago and I don't remember some of the details but this was with one of their HEI distributors. Right out of the box the mechanical advance was jacked up/bent. Sent it back under warranty and had to wait 2 weeks to get it back. Then after we got the truck running again, the module crapped out after a couple months. Then later while installing this engine in another vehicle, we had a mishap that resulted in the distributor shaft getting bent. We contacted Pertronics about purchasing a replacement shaft. We were told that they do not have replacement parts for the distributors that they sell. I ended up getting a new shaft from the Chevy dealer for a reasonable cost. I just was not impressed with their $220 HEI distributor.

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

Captain,

I'm curious what kind of issues you had and what were the symptoms. I have a Pertronix in my truck and have had any issues, that I'm aware of. Not being a super duper type of mechanic I don't know as I would even know what they were. Just asking so that if I do have some problems, I or we (whoever else may have one), might know what to look for.

Originally Posted by sweetk30

ya man do tell . what problems ?

[Chevyrestorerman]

Drove my flame thrower ignition driven VW to sturgis and never had a issue. Glad I read this post after I got back. Maybe more vendors need to be on this forum to protect their interest.

[Captainfab]

Maybe their products have improved over the past 18 or so years? I just don't care to go there again when there are other options available.

Originally Posted by Chevyrestorerman

Drove my flame thrower ignition driven VW to sturgis and never had a issue. Glad I read this post after I got back. Maybe more vendors need to be on this forum to protect their interest.

[Chevyrestorerman]

I see that you are a gold vendor on this forum. If someone had issues with your products would you rather have them come directly to you to work the issue or read about it from some forum where someone is bashing your products you are trying to sell. I have been watching this forum for years but never joined. If I sold products on a forum I sure would not bash other products but that’s just me. Plus you experienced the issues 18 years ago. I am not typing this to get into a pissing match but you been here in this forum for a long time and bad news travels fast.

[Rickysnickers]

I realize you are not looking for an argument. I think the Captain was merely pointing out the issues he had with the product. Apparently, it came him him messed up and he did go through the company to get it taken care of, the first time around. Then he admits to messing up the part installing it into another vehicle. Asking the company to purchase a smaller part for the distributor and they wouldn't or couldn't. I don't see where that is "bashing" a product.

[Chevyrestorerman]

Yea understand. Bashing is a word most people don’t like and it’s not PC. Thanks. Moving on
Posted via Mobile Device

[sweetk30]

its all good in my opinion . and talking about it on chat forums is NO different than guys standing in a car show parking area talking about it .

years ago i got 2 bad sets of accel parts out of the box . a new super coil for hei and a new dist . each time i fired the truck up and drove it in the shop with the old worn out gm hei . pulled it and installed both sets of accel stuff each time and no fire . each time i put the old worn out gm dist / coil back in and fired right up .

said no more and spend 150 more on msd and fired first hit . still running in a friends truck to this day . that was 20 years ago ish .

thanks for all the feedback so far guys good info to help me pick .

[Captainfab]

I don't consider what I had to say to be considered bashing. The OP was asking for advise on a distributor and I originally simply said that I personally would not recommend the Pertronics since I had had a bad experience with them, and left it at that. Then I was asked to elaborate and I did. Then I went as far as saying that, that was 18 years ago and maybe their quality has improved since then.

And yes some people do post on the forum first if they have an issue with one of my products instead of contacting me directly and solving the issue, which I always do regardless.

Originally Posted by Chevyrestorerman

I see that you are a gold vendor on this forum. If someone had issues with your products would you rather have them come directly to you to work the issue or read about it from some forum where someone is bashing your products you are trying to sell. I have been watching this forum for years but never joined. If I sold products on a forum I sure would not bash other products but that’s just me. Plus you experienced the issues 18 years ago. I am not typing this to get into a pissing match but you been here in this forum for a long time and bad news travels fast.

[sweetk30]

so i ordered a few parts tonight .

msd - 8360 small cap ready to run dist .
msd - 31229 wire set 8.5mm cut to fit .
msd - 82131 vertical mount coil bracket .
msd - 82023 blaster 2 black coil .

thats $499.89 from summit all new .

i scored the dist as a motor broke in use only take out off evilbay .
then the wires off evilbay new in box .
ordered the coil / bracket / new black cap / wire terminal die set to go with my msd crimpers i have and saved money and got what i wanted and more .

total saving cost $ 328.68 to my door .

thats $171.21 saved .

not much more than the other stuff i was looking at but its MSD quality .

will keep you guys up to date on this in my build thread located here : http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=755514