Stock hei upgrades

[Obwonkonobe]

A few months back I had my distributor out and decided to run through it and freshen it up. I mainly just got all the dirt out of it, unstuck the advance weights, and replaced the non functional advance canister. I did notice that the 2 bushings for the weights are very worn, so in the near future I hope to go back through it and replace some things.

I figure while I have the distributor back out il throw some new parts at it, seeing as how all the components that control my timing are 40 years old, and the truck doesn't even have to pass smog anymore.

Im looking for suggestions for some basic upgrades I can do, and some good companies to look at. Right off the bat I'm hoping to get new springs/weights, although I'm not sure what exactly to look for. Ive heard about aftermarket coils and electrical internals for it but I have 0 idea what seperates the gimics from legitimate upgraded products, and I'm not sure if il see any real preformance from it either.

The motor is a pretty stock 350, its got upgraded exhaust, intake, carb, no emissions requirements, but the stock 70s crap heads with 8.5ish compression, il probably set the timing again by just advancing it at part throttle until it runs best, and then backing it off a hair for insurance, thanks!

 

[HotRodPC]

There's not much to upgrade on an HEI dizzy. It's a great ignition system right outta the box. Just making sure the Vac and Mechanical advanve features are working properly, and the bushings are good is about all you can do. Changing springs and weights might help just a hair if have someone dyno tune it for you since there's no way to tell for sure without being on the dyno and the gain will be minimal at best. Only time it really pays to recurve your dizzy as in recurve the timing curve, is when you've had a cam swap, compression increase and things of that nature where you can take advantage of some more timing coming in a bit earlier than stock.

 

[82sbshortbed]

I'm going to rebuild my old distributor also and was asking about it in the thread distributor rebuild or replace. Hatzie posted all the part numbers and instructions on how to do that. A lot of great info. Maybe his post would answer your questions. Thanks again @hatzie for the well written post.

 

[Obwonkonobe]

I'm going to rebuild my old distributor also and was asking about it in the thread distributor rebuild or replace. Hatzie posted all the part numbers and instructions on how to do that. A lot of great info. Maybe his post would answer your questions. Thanks again @hatzie for the well written post.

That is a great write up, thanks!

 

[Obwonkonobe]

There's not much to upgrade on an HEI dizzy. It's a great ignition system right outta the box. Just making sure the Vac and Mechanical advanve features are working properly, and the bushings are good is about all you can do. Changing springs and weights might help just a hair if have someone dyno tune it for you since there's no way to tell for sure without being on the dyno and the gain will be minimal at best. Only time it really pays to recurve your dizzy as in recurve the timing curve, is when you've had a cam swap, compression increase and things of that nature where you can take advantage of some more timing coming in a bit earlier than stock.

That makes sence, il probably leave my timing alone for now then since the motors pretty stock and put my money else wear, thanks!