350 Distributor Recommendations

[Ronno6]

I am closing in on some of the final components I need to buy for my 350 build for my 84 C10.
Specs are:
355 cube from 1993 C1500.
Aluminum heads, 2.02 intake 1.60 exhaust
10.1:1 compression ratio
LT4 Roller Hot Cam .482" lift; 218° Intake 228° Exhaust duration
1.5:1 Scorpion roller rockers
Weiand dual plane intake
Holley 600 carb
Hedman long tube headers 1 5/8"
2.25" dual exhaust
Walker Thrush mufflers
Muncie M20 4 speed 2.56 first gear
3.73 posi
29" tires

What distributor do y'all recommend for this setup?

 

[WFO]

It's pretty hard to beat the ACDelco for reliability, and replacement parts.

 

[4WDKC]

I am closing in on some of the final components I need to buy for my 350 build for my 84 C10.
Specs are:
355 cube from 1993 C1500.
Aluminum heads, 2.02 intake 1.60 exhaust
10.1:1 compression ratio
LT4 Roller Hot Cam .482" lift; 218° Intake 228° Exhaust duration
1.5:1 Scorpion roller rockers
Weiand dual plane intake
Holley 600 carb
Hedman long tube headers 1 5/8"
2.25" dual exhaust
Walker Thrush mufflers
Muncie M20 4 speed 2.56 first gear
3.73 posi
29" tires

What distributor do y'all recommend for this setup?

Its all personal preference, I have never had good luck with anything Accel so I wont buy them. I like MSD and Mallory but they can be very expensive. Something else you might want to consider and this is how i have been thinking about stuff lately... If it breaks down how long will it take me to get replacement parts for the items I chose? The Distributor in my vette is an off the shelf product from parts store if I have an issue I can get a replacement anywhere in the country.

 

[Ronno6]

Should I just transfer the distributor in the existing 305?
Dunno if advance specs would be optimal..
There is a distributor that came with the 350, but out of a 93 C1500.
It used an external coil.
Maybe that would work with the 84 cap/coil??

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

I would get a vacuum advance Delco-Remy reman from RockAuto, Amazon, or something like that. If your old distributor is an ESC type, I wouldn’t bother using it after you spent all that time and money on a more powerful, tunable engine.

 

[Ronno6]

My truck originally came with the LE9 305 engine, but it has been replaces with an 86 or newer 1pc rear main seal engine. Vacuum switches on the firewall are there,but are not in use.
However I need to check for ESC controller and ESC distributor. It may have been moved from original engine to the replacement. I have read that the ESC can be removed from the distributor without having to replace it entirely.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

It can be bypassed, of course, but I just meant changing springs and weights to recalibrate your timing curve if that’s something you’d be interested in. Your parameters would be static just bypassing the ESC circuit, which is a pretty easy job if you wanted to go that route.

 

[bucket]

I've had good luck with the MSD Street Fire distributors. They are their cheaper line. But I've ran several without any failures yet, and if something does go wrong, they are the stock style so replacement parts can be found at any parts store. Hell, one of them I bought even came from Advance Auto.

 

[hatzie]

MSD quality levels aren't what they used to be. Not much is.

You can't use the small cap HEI with a carburetor. The TBI ECM completely controlled the spark advance on those engines on the RV squares and the earlier GMT400 trucks.

As noted it's hard to beat the old AC Delco large cap HEI with a vacuum can. These are fairly easy to rebuild. I posted a long howto on another thread.

Google SkipWhite HEI. They manufacture a brand new AC-Delco large cap HEI knockoff distributor that seems to have pretty good reviews. The nice thing about it is it's a carbon copy of the old vacuum advance large cap HEI... AC-Delco internal parts will fit right on the brand new distributor casting so when the cheap Chinese electronics take a dump you can fix it with Chinese AC-Delco parts that actually have some QC and motor on.

If you have to pass emissions you probably have to keep the ESC distributor. It'll work just fine on the 350. Just take it apart and clean it up and refresh any broken or worn parts.

Whatever path you choose be sure to check and adjust the endplay between the drive gear and the base of the distributor casting. It's usually way too loose causing unreliable timing. I usually set it between .017-.022". Spec says you can run .015" but I try not to go tighter than .017". I've pulled freshly rebuilt distributors out of the box with .060" of endplay... That's several degrees of timing float.
Be sure to use a brand new roll pin. I like to make sure the dimple on the gear under the roll pin, if there is one, is on the same side as the rotor tip. The dimple alignment may not be strictly necessary but that's the way it was originally setup from the factory.

 

[4WDKC]

I wouldnt reuse and old dist. the bushings may be about worn out, whatever you decide check with cam manufacturer and see if you need a melonized gear for the dist. since thats a roller cam. I know stock cams dont need them but not sure about the hotcam.

 

[bucket]

Another nice thing about the street fire. Iirc, they come with a gear that is roller cam friendly.

 

[Ronno6]

The cam is a GM cam, and the stock iron gears are s'posed to work fine.
I did verify that with Willhoite's Cams, the supplier of the camshaft.

Are there different replacement or aftermarket distributors for ESC/nonESC ??

 

[Snoots]

Had a Mallory. It made a better fishing sinker. Went back to GM and tweaking. No more problems.

 

[legopnuematic]

On my 76 and my 79 I am using the ~$40 specials from eBay that came with plug wires, both were from speedmaster79. Have put close to 4000 miles on it and have had no issues with it. 20 degrees of mechanical advance and an adjustable vacuum can

 

[Ronno6]

On my 76 and my 79 I am using the ~$40 specials from eBay that came with plug wires, both were from speedmaster79. Have put close to 4000 miles on it and have had no issues with it. 20 degrees of mechanical advance and an adjustable vacuum can

That ebayer has no listings. Probably changed names. Thanks...