HEI Distributor Installation

ssg66stang

Well-known member
I am getting ready to tackle installing a HEI distributor into my 200cid 1966 mustang coupe. First I want to start off by saying that I purchased a HEI distributor from Ambler Race, and although I haven't installed the distributor yet, the purchasing process was great. Bill is a great guy to deal with and super helpful.Not to mention the product looks amazing. And although Bill provides good installation instructions with all his distributors, I am hopeful that some of you will give me some pointers as far as the installation goes. Things to do, things to avoid. I am planning on running a relay so from my understanding this is the sequence that I should follow...run a hot wire from the ignition switch to the relay and then another wire from that relay to the distributor. Is that the jest of it? Does anyone have any pictures of their wire setup? Any help and/or pictures would be great. Thanks in advance!
 
I just used the old switched primary coil power from the ignition switch to the switch pole on the relay. I ran a supply line over from the battery side of the solenoid. I also used a fused link at the connection point. It was fairly painless except for the part where I tried get everything all purty with a new loom.
 
Aaron, remove old distributor with the rotor just a little past #1 plug wire which should be very close the the six o'clock position with the cap removed.
If the timing mark is close to TDC turn the damper to the 18' before area on the timing cover.
On the HEI with the vacuum advance facing the the back of the engine compartment, & the rotor facing the six o'clock terminal on the cap mark that spot on the adapter with the cap removed with a magic marker.
That will be your #1 cylinder plug wire. The firing order is 1-5-3-6-2-4 clockwise.
Before you insert the HEI make sure you lubed the gear with moly grease or camshaft grease, also lube the '0' ring on the distributor housing.
Move the rotor clockwise past the #1 mark you made on the adapter. The reason for this when you engage the gear with the camshaft gear the rotor will rotate counter clockwise as you engage gears, if you are lucky & the distributor shaft lines up with the 5/16" oil pump drive & the distributor sinks all the way in, terminate all the other plug wires & with a timing light hooked up see it the engine will fire up. If course you had to install the power to the cap after installing the cap.
If the distributor did no sink you can rotate the crank shaft with a 13/16" wrench & turn the engine over till the shaft engages the oil pump shaft. Or you can remove the distributor & with a 1/4" drive with a 5/16" socket rotate the oil shaft slightly & try again.
After the engine fires up set the initial where i specified with no vacuum hooked up.
When the engine reaches running temp, see if the engine idles better with the vacuum advance connected to manifold vacuum, it no gain then use ported vacuum.
Any questions give me a call. Bill
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Before this weekend comes around and I install the distributor I want to be sure that I cover all my bases and get this installation correct. But I still have a few issues I need to work out with my vacuum. I want to be sure that I set it up correctly so please let me know if I am missing something or if there is any issues with my thinking.

Firstly, I am planning on using the vacuum port on the intake log and one on the carb spacer a few inches above the the one on the log to supply the vacuum for the car. From what I have researched and gathered, there are four vacuum lines that I need to run. one to the transmission(currently hooked up to the port in the log), one to the distributor, one to the PCV valve, and one to the brake booster. Is that correct?

I was planning on using the vacuum port in the intake log to run a line to the transmission and one to the brake booster. I was going to use the port on the carb spacer to run a line to the pcv valve and the distributor. Is that a solid plan?

I currently have a breather in the valve cover where the PCV valve would go. Is there any benefit to me putting in a PCV valve instead of the breather? Would the car be easier to tune with a PCV valve or breather cap?

Is the vacuum from these two ports enough to run to these four lines? I was also planning on running hard steel lines instead of rubber lines, I think it would look better. Is there any issues with hard lines vs. rubber lines?

As always, thanks for the help and advice!!!
 
Please bear with me and read this entire post, I need some advice and help.I will try not to be longer winded than I have to be.

Ok so the HEI is finally installed. It wasn't as complicated as I thought it was going to be and It was a great learning experience...The getting the timing right and getting all the vacuums correct seemed to be and are still currently being the challenge.

First of all, once I got the distributor to fully seat and once I got all the spark plug wires built and connected she fired up on the first try. So with all vacuum ports plugged I let her get warm and thats when the funny business started. At this time the only vacuum that was connected was the transmission and the PCV valve(I recently added the PCV valve - this was the first time running this motor with a PCV). After the car was warm and as recommended I started to advance the timing to the specs I was given (custom curve for my application, 18*) and I also decided to connect the vacuum to the brake booster. After a few minutes the timing started bouncing around, at first just a few degrees and then more and more until she was bouncing around up to 6-8* or so. I cut off the car and thought ok maybe I need to connect the vacuum to the distributor so I connected ported vacuum to the dizzy. When I started the car again(had to key the motor a few times she was a bit harder to start this time) with the ported vacuum connected she was idling very high - 22-26*.So I disconnected the ported vacuum and connected manifold vacuum. The car ran a bit better with manifold vacuum but still not great, so i disconnected the PCV valve and put the breather cap that I had previously back in. This improved the idling a bit more but the timing was still bouncing around. After a few times of trying to adjust the timing and the car dying, trying to adjust the timing and the car dying, I started to notice that each start was getting harder and harder the warmer the car got.

I also noticed that with the brake booster connected to the vacuum line, my brake pedal would go all the way to the floor with almost no effort. The brake pedal was mush, completely gone. So I disconnect the vacuum and plugged the port on the booster and the pedal came back. This is also the first time that the car has had the current brake booster connected to vacuum(recent front disc brake upgrade).

So all in all today was a success because I was able to get the new dizzy installed and she looks great. But I need to get this car on the road and I only have about a month to do it. (evenings and a few weekends). I need desperate help.

1. Why would the car run worse with a PCV?
2. What could cause my timing to bounce around the way it is?
3. What could cause my warm hard start issue?
4. Why would my brake pedal turn to mush with the vacuum connected?

Simple answers please, I'm not a pro. Just a guy who loves his classic car and is learning as he goes.

Thanks!
 

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:unsure: it sounds like you may have a bad brake booster. As for the PCV is it hooked up correctly? Was the correct PCV valve used? If it's the right one then try hooking it back up without the brake booster this time and report how that goes. Good luck (y) :nod:
 
The PCV was hooked up to a vacuum port in the carb spacer plate. It was the only line that I had running to that port. That's correct isn't it? I will try hooking up the PCV again without the booster and see how that goes.

Is there a way to tell if my booster is bad without having to pull it from the car?

Are there other things that can be causing all my issues?

Thanks
 
The wrong PCV valve can make your idle rough. Different valves open with different pressure so you have to make sure you have the correct one for your setup. I know they aren't cheap, but an adjustable one would solve that part of the equation.

http://mewagner.com/?p=444
 
Aaron, just to make sure, remove distributor cap. Look at contacts in cap for rotor interference. Make sure nylon rotor screws are tight. rotate rotor clockwise & make sure it rotates freely checking movement for smooth centrifugal advance. Carefully reinstall cap till it seats fully on distributor housing.
Then return to the vacuum deal, PCV & brake booster. The plastic nipple that goes into the booster is also a one way check valve. Once it gets vacuum it should hold that vacuum till brake pedal is applied. Bill
 
Timing should be set with vacuum disconnected from the dizzy.
What PCV valve did you install?
Boosters usually don't go bad. Try with just the transmission and PCV hooked up.
 
Ok, so I finally had the opportunity to set the initial timing on my mustang and I was able to adjust the carb so the car is running on the leanest possible mixture but still running well. The problem I am having now is that the car is still having issues with hot starts. So after I set the initial timing I was not able to set the vacuum advance because I cut the car off and it wouldn't start back up. If I wait at least 20-30 minutes the car will start right up again. Does any one have any suggestions?

Thanks!
 
It will turn over normally but won't start? Does it turn over slowly? Will it start if you hold the pedal to the floor? Describe the problem a little more clearly please.

As for the PCV, assuming it is the right one and isn't defective, when an engine runs better with pcv plugged that usually indicates a vacuum leak somewhere. I would plug all vacuum ports except the pcv and go from there. If it still runs poorly, get a new pcv, if that doesn't fix it, start checking for vacuum leaks at the carb. If it runs well, add in one port at a time until you find the culprit. If it isn't @ the carb it has to be either the booster, booster check valve or grommet, or the transmission modulator.
 
Econoline,

Everything you said in your first statement is correct.

Once the motor is warm and I cut the car off and try to start it again, she is hard to start. The car turns over more slowly, like the battery barely has enough power to supply to the starter ignored for the starter to turn the motor. And yes she will sometimes start a tiny bit easier if I push the gas pedal to to floor.

Someone has suggested that too much initial advance can cause the hard hot start issue. I don't have any reason not to believe that statement but I really feel like the initial timing is where it needs to be. When the motor is cranked cold, she always starts the first time and once she warms up the sounds and feels great. Any thoughts on this?

I reconnected the brake booster this weekend and I checked the booster check valve and that is not the source of the vacuum leak. The pedal is still super soft but the car does stop. When I release the brake I can actually hear a metallic click. I can't tell if its the pedal linkage or something else. I still need to connect the rest of the vacuum lines (PCV and vacuum advance to the dizzy) but should I address the hot start problem first?

Thanks for any advice
Aaron
 
Too much initial timing can cause hard starting issues. What type of alternator are you running?
 
some hot start probs R coil / regulator oriented.
As Seth asks: "what alt?" as some have a regulator in there
(I don't believe these are the 'hot start' prob ones tho).
 
Disconnect power source to distributor. Then crank engine with no ignition. Does it crank ok?? If so back off initial to 16-14.
Take vehicle to Advance Auto parts or Autozone & have them run a test on your battery & check cranking amps.
 
Bill the test that you suggest, should I do that when the car is warm and giving me the hard start issues or when it’s cold.

I would think that the battery has sufficient CCA because I just replaced the battery, 1 week ago. The battery states that it has 650 CCA.

Thoughts?

Could this be “heat soak” in the starter or carb? I’m not exactly sure what heat soak is or what it does but could a mini starter help with this issue? Do they make mini starters for 200cid? I was thinking about this “upgrade” prior to the hard start issue because I don’t believe that I will be able to change out the starter without removing the headers (whenever the time comes for a new starter).
 
Check starter amp draw hot. A hot starter hopefully is the problem. Carb flooding to the point of hydro-static lock in rare.
Double check initial advance to make sure you did not go too high.
Another test when engine is hot, remove spark plugs & spin engine over & see if any coolant squirts out. I doubt you have a leaking head gasket or cracked head. Has the coolant level lowered??
I would like you to do a cranking compression test when the engine is hot. Remove all spark plugs, disconnect power to distributor, hold throttle WOT. Let me know the readings you get.
The mini starter is the way to go, especially with headers. Heat soak can destroy a starter or cause your problem.
Check with Matt at Vintage Inlines to see if carries mini starter.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/pwm- ... el/mustang
https://www.cjponyparts.com/powermaster ... p/STR9606/
Maybe other forum members could chime in for a source of mini starters.
The company i purchased mine from is out of business. Bill
 
Ok, so it seems that a mini starter is going to be one of the next options I try to fix my hard hot start issue. Does anyone have any first hand experience with the starter in the link below? Any recommendations on mini-starters will be GREATLY appreciated. I need to get this car drivable in the next week or so before I take her to Missouri from Texas.

https://www.cjponyparts.com/powermaster ... p/STR9606/

How can I tell how many teeth I have on my flywheel without pulling the motor? If I remove the starter can I spin it and count the teeth?

Bill - I will complete the tests that you mentioned this weekend and get back to you with the results.

Thanks
Aaron
 
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