hei distributor

Is anybody running a General Motors HEI style
distributor on there 351W??? I am about to
order one for mine, just wondering how well it
performs.

searching on the winsor forum came up blank, so i posted your question.

do the weights spin the right way in an hei for a ricky motor?

Ford distrubutors turn the same way right or left counter clockwise.

This is probably the best ignition system
money can buy (within resonable budget)
check it out cc junkies....
http://www.performancedistributors.com/marinedui.htm

I would double check and make sure the gear is correct standard rotation and reverse rotation 351W the dist. spins the same direction but the gears are different.

I was just trying to point out the difference in the gears not rotation, sorry. the system does look pretty cool though.

I have/had a 5 year old Prestolite which took a dump on me. It took me a month of partial downtime and replacing everything else electrical before a old codger hanging in NAPA told me to look for a broken advance spring in the dist. It was. Got a replacement spring, installed it, but it still didn't run right, breaking down at anything above 2500rpm. Got tired of it and pulled one from another boat. Then I was told later that I should have replaced both springs. Who's the expert on this? I know squat. I hate trashing a 5 year old dist, with maybe 300 hours on it.    

Msd does make a marine distibutor, however not with the opposite rotation gear, you have to buy one from dealer or whomever and have it changed as the hole does't line up.

SS-201 Bill,
I did replace everything, however this wasn't an HEI dist, just a points type. I replaced the cap, rotor, points, condenser; did I leave anyone out, before finding the broken spring. How do you lock the advance?

OOPS made a mistake MSD does not make a MODERN ELECTRONIC DIST. for the small block ford, only the big block ford. I guess if you prefer the old point style and have a dwell meter and like adjusting your timing a lot. Than thats the set up for you. Me personally I would rather set it and not worry about it for several years. Then again if you are the type that leaves the ignition on with-out the motor running than I would not use a modern electronic dist either becuase you will burn up the electronics and be stranded. Or you could keep a replacement module on board for when it does go out on you.

For the rest of you who would like to lock the mechanical advance in a set position it isn't very hard to do. Remove the plate the points are attached to so that you have access to the advance weights and springs. You will notice that around the post that the springs are attached to there is a window or hole in the plate arounf the post. This allows for the mechanical advance weights to rotate the plate and advance it. All you have to do is use something that prevents the post from moving inside of this area, tack weld, J-B weld, a screw would work. Don't recommend doing this, unless all you ever do is full throtle but it's your choice.

Then again I doubt that any of you have ever designed a modern ignition system for GM either. Put I have.

Well quess I will have humble myself as everything else, windsor stuff is diappearing, You are right 351C-460

I'm sure there are other ways to make a rev rot MSD dist by taking parts from here and there to get you what you need and make it work. I just prefer to buy something that is already designed for the proper application and that the next guy that owns the boat can figure out when it wares out and needs replaced.

points style?

tryan, good to here from you again. I've seen that style and if you we're racing that would work great. Really all you have to do to swith an automotive dist. to marine is put in flame arrestor screens in the vents. I guess what someone has been missing is an electronic not points style dist. MSD makes a points style marine 351w put not an electroinc version. It's not hard to figure out that it is a points style concidering that the mechanical advance is locked in place.

Thought it was MSD.    And the spark plug wires are connected to what? A point style distributor with fixed mechanical advance and which is also used as a triggering device to fire the cd ign box with optional control for advance and rev limiting? Seems like a bulky system for a CD ign system.

We always had our coil intagrated in to the diecast housing of our CD system that was used on the old Chevy Ilmore Engines that Penske, Rahal and Newman-Haas racing bought from us,(Delco-Remy), will that's what it was called back then, now it's part of DELPHI and moved to kokomo and Ilmore is now Ford.

Anyway I don't want to send $600+ on a CD ign system and worry about having to mount all of the boxes all over the boat. Give me a modern drop-in system that looks stock and cost half the price. I think there called sleepers in street rod world.