The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 68 250 6cyl. Dist.

Hello, Can someone tell me what ing. to use to elimate the points setup? also how do you wire it? Thanks, jerry baine

I don't know what year HEI came out, but I've got a HEI in my 235 that came out of later 250. My other "79" 250 has an HEI in it. There is a tech tip on this topic. They wire up the same way as the original dizzy, but you can eliminate the ballast resistor.

You can use the HEI like Yaki says or get a Petronics conversion kit. The factory HEI came out in 75 but the first 2-3 years had a separate coil for the 6 cyl. models. Is is OK but the coil in cap is the preferred one. When I convert to HEI I tie into the pink wire on the back of the ign. switch with a 12 gauge wire. Hook it to the bat term on the HEI unit.

HEI is the way to go. 1974 and 75 are external coils, from thereon they were coil in cap. AFAIK the caps don't interchange. Since the HEI was designed for emissions All OEM HEI distributors to varying degrees limit centrifugal and vacuum advance compared to points distributors. That may not be a problem depending on what you want. A Pertronix would get around that or recurve the HEI.

Larry

If you call Summit and tell them what year and engine they will give you part numbers for the kit. I used it to keep the OEM distributer in mine. Also tell them the delco P/N on your distributer. When you look it up on the web site all it shows is that year having HEI. So with the P/N your can get it. Or go to the scrap yard and grab a HEI. Good luck

I've had both. A pertronix kit for my original distributor and an Hei I bought from skip white on ebay. I prefer the hei. Hei was the best thing for driveability I did to my truck. Cold startup and driveaway is far superior to the pertronix kit.
If you want a stock looking motor go pertronix. If you want better starting and running and aren't concerned with looks go Hei.

HEI for the late L6 came out in very late 1974 and ran through about mid year 1976. It is a bolt-in for any 250/292 cid with points. Find the 20GA pink/purple wire that comes from the bulkhead connector and goes to a connector near the coil where it becomes yellow and forks to the stock coil and the starter. Remove it from the bulkhead connector on. Get terminals for the bulkhead connector from NAPA. Part numbers for the male and female pins are 72145 and 72147 respectively. Install a 12 GA (minimum) wire in place of the one you removed, and run it to the IGNITION connector on the HEI cap or POSITIVE on the HIGH OUTPUT remote coil. While there MAY be some smog control L6 HEI distributors, I have been unable to find any evidence in GM parts books, but you CAN get an adjustable Vacuum can and spring kits. Just a note, but on the cab side of the bulkhead connector, EVERY truck that came with a late L6, that's '62 on, that I have personally worked on has a 12GA to the ignition switch! You get more bang for your buck doing this than anything else to your late L6! Also, I have converted remote coil HEIs to "Coil in Cap" HEI by changing the cap and coil. I'm sure it will work the other way, too, but I have never tried it. The HEI gets its reduction in pollution from its clean burn, not it's advance curve.

Best wishes,

Les

Here are a pair of "How To" articles that really explain the ins and outs of BASIC HEI. First is a teardown article and second is an installation article.

Les

http://www.rustpuppy.org/ignition2/Ignition%202b.htm

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=148346

Here's an article on how to modify the weights and springs to change the advance curve.

http://www.pontiacstreetperformance.com/psp/distcurve.html

Larry