Technical Timing

Anybody know how to wire/time a HEI distributer off speedway.com? I pit the engine on cyl #1 tdc compression stroke and the rotor pointing to #1, but I can't get the engine to fire. Is there a specific order different than a stock distributor? It's on a early 283 without a harmonic balancer. I can't get the thing to light, but don't want to crank too much with a brand new cam/lifters.
Thanks,
Alex Gillman

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No, I have no idea what the distributors that Speedway sells have had done to them.

With used HEI distributors, I connect the BAT wire to 12v through the ignition switch, connect the plug wires 18436572, get #1 in firing position about 10-20 degrees BTDC, then turn the distributor back and forth until I feel the reluctor "grab" a bit going each way, that tells me it's probably going to be timed right. Then turn the key and fire that sucker up! works every time

 

Ok I'll try that out. Thanks

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If your having trouble getting the distributor and wires in the correct place you better call someone to break in that new cam. If that’s not done correctly you’ll burn that new cam up. Just a suggestion good luck.


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Be methodical, triple check that you’re definitely TDC compression, firing order is correct, you have switched power at the BAT terminal on the cap/coil and that the plug from the distributor is plugged in. Once 100% certain those item are correct, it can help to have a friend crank while you slowly advance the distributor. Also make absolutely sure you’re getting fuel.
Good luck!

 

Or pop your distributor into another SBC and see if it runs?

 

You could bench test the HEI. Put it in a vise with all your wires and plugs. Battery 12 v to + terminal.. , ground the dist. body to -..Give it a spin by hand..See if it snaps , crackles, and pops.

 

Also, no ballast resistor used on HEI, just plain old 12V. Also see if there is hot wire from the solenoid to give you 12V when in "cranking" mode and also in "run" mode.

 

Ok thanks for all the tips.
I'll check I have the fire order correct and make sure it's on the compression stroke. I wouldn't be surprised if I put it 180 off. I'll let y'all know once it goes!

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I had one of those speedy knock off HEI units, left me stranded. The speedy HEI looked good, but died in no time. Replaced it with a MSD and forgot all about it. Hope you have better luck with it.

 

Rotor goes clockwise in SBC. Just saying to be sure.

Chris

 

Firing order is Clockwise

 

HEIs like a full 12-14 volts to fire .
A resistor anywhere can prevent it from operating.
A low battery that drops too many volts while cranking can cause an hei to not fire well.
Like said in another post, make sure there is no ign resistor in the wiring path, PLUS another thing to watch out for is the fact that some cars may have a wire in the wiring harness that runs from the keyswitch to the ignition coil that has a built in resistance to take the place of the dropping resistor.
If you have one of those cars that has a resistor wire in the harness, you will need to run a new wire from the keyswitch to the dist. to get the full 12v to run on.
ANOTHER hei prob I had in the 1980s when I stuffed a Caddy engine in a small car was that the big Caddy engine took so much from the battery to spin it over that the HEI didnt fire even tho it bench tested perfectly.
I tried all sorts of things till I found out the difference between the very common "white wire coil" and the higher voltage-step-up of the "Yellow wire coil" (the color of the small wires on the in-cap coil. red,white,black or red,yellow,black)
I pulled out the common White Wire Coil with the moderate voltage step-up, and installed the higher step-up Yellow Wire Coil, and the problem completely vanished.
It seems to me that the higher voltage step-up of the Yellow Wire Coil made up for the voltage drop from the heavy cranking loads.
The Yellow Wire Coil permanently solved my spark problem.


WHY BE ORDINARY ?

 

Great tip, plan to try it tomorrow. Do you put it at the middle of "grab", one side or the other, or is it a small enough arc that it doesn't matter?

 

Don't really notice a side that it prefers, but I haven't checked it scientifically. I do use a timing light once the engine is running.

 

Thanks Jim. Is it necessary to have all the wires and plugs hooked up to feel the grab? Is it actually firing the plug?

 

No, it's just the magnetism of the reluctor wheel

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