The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop wiring an HEI distributor

Winter is coming, and I need to make my truck move under its own power (350 with HEI). The three-prong plug on my distributor has brown, black, and orange wires. Where do these connect to, so it will start and run. A new wiring harness is stll months away.

If it's like the 6 cyl HEI I have, with the coil mounted on top of the cap, that three-prong plug goes into a matching socket on the bottom of a rectangular extension of the coil housing. There are two blade connectors at the outboard end of that extension marked "TACH" and "BAT." Hook 12v to the BAT connector. If it doesn't have the integral coil, I dunno.

Joe

I assume the coil is on top of the distributor. I have never had an HEI before, and it is an odd looking thing. The wires are a three-wire pig tail coming from the distributor base and ending in a three-blade plug. The other half of the plug is missing, so I just need to know where each of the wires goes. One certainly goes to the ignition switch, but which one???, and what about the other two ??

Well...is there a center terminal in the cap for the high-tension lead to the coil, or is there a big rounded lump in the middle of the cap held on with (I think) four screws? If there's a big rounded lump, look for a rectangular protrusion that sticks out between two of the plug towers. Your three-prong plug goes into the bottom of that protrusion. Take the cap off, or use an inspection mirror to look underneath. There should be two more blade terminals under the protrusion, and they should be identified on the top of the protrusion. You only need to hook up one wire to this type of distributor, and that's the wire to the "BAT" terminal. It should come from the IGNITION teminal of the ignition switch, and must be the full 12 volts, not reduced by ballast wires or resistors. Check with a good meter to be sure you have 12 volts at the distributor.

Joe

One more thing, you should hook the IGNITION and START wires together at the key switch, then run to the BATT conection on the HEI coil which is in the underside of the cap. With out the START wire hooked up, you won't have 12V to the coil when cranking.

Use 12 gauge wire if you can. The HEI pulls a lot of current and works better with full power at all times. Joe

Do you have the distributor cap that goes with the HEI distributor you now have?
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WHat year is your truck?
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What these guys are talking about and directing you to do is correct.

Here's a pretty detailed writeup:

http://www.oldengine.org/unfaq/hei.htm

I feel like such a bonehead, but stovebolters saved my bacon again. Joe, the three-blade fitting does indeed fit nicely right into the bottom of the coil. I will connect the Batt to the switch, as you guys have instructed, and hope for the best. The HEI page on the oldengine web site has some good pointers. That goes directly into my tech file. Now I'll print out this whole thread so nothing is lost. Thanks again.

Russ, Check out this HEI web site! Ray,s HEI [img]http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/ubb//eek.gif[/img]