Distributor question for Jim Hupy or anyone that knows

[Matt Colie]

Jim,

Just now over on the EFI mail, you made mention of the small cap HEI distributor use for some Buick engines.

Question:
Was the body of this distributor close to the size of the earlier?

If it is, I want one.
I have no love for HEI (well earned in MARCO's lab), but I would like to go to knock controlled spark someday with having to hammer the air filter
housing into submission.

I would still have to give up my CDI and 0.060 plugs thought. I might miss that.

Matt
--
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit

 

[Jim Hupy]

Matt, the diameter of the Buick piece was the same as the Chev/Olds/Pontiac
HEI, but it was not as tall as there was no need for it because of the
remote coil. They were used on the even fire V6 and the 305 Buick only V8.
Buick always had some latitude in engine design compared to the rest of GM.
They were not entirely without design flaws, however. On the Buicks, to
achieve a lower hood line, the air cleaner kinda surrounded the Carburetor
and fit closely to the rocker covers. That put the air cleaner in very
close proximity to the plug wires. There were cases where the initial plug
gaps (.100") caused the secondary current to seek an easier path to ground.
Namely the bottom of the air cleaner inside the area of the air filter.
They experienced situations of underhood fires because of that. There was a
GM Tech bulletin that told how to fix that by ordering a plug wire intended
for the 1-5 cylinders to replace and reroute the conductors from under the
air cleaner.
I have (SOMEWHERE?) in my literature a GM publication on HEI that
explained the differences on the Buicks. I will take a look later today and
see if I can find it. I think I remember where I last saw that stuff.
A good parts house guy should be able to sort that out. If I can't
find my stuff, I have a friend in the auto parts business that I can
prevail upon.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Oregon

> Jim,
>
> Just now over on the EFI mail, you made mention of the small cap HEI
> distributor use for some Buick engines.
>
> Question:
> Was the body of this distributor close to the size of the earlier?
>
> If it is, I want one.
> I have no love for HEI (well earned in MARCO's lab), but I would like to
> go to knock controlled spark someday with having to hammer the air filter
> housing into submission.
>
> I would still have to give up my CDI and 0.060 plugs thought. I might
> miss that.
>
> Matt
> --
> Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL,
> GMCES
> Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum
> Brakes with Applied Control Arms
> SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
>

 

[john r. lebetski]

Mid 80s Chevy L98 TPI 350s had smaller cap divorced coil HEI and spark control. Not sure if this could be adapted for fit and rotation to Olds.
--
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II

 

[Jim Hupy]

Chevy distributors turn the wrong way for Olds. They can be modified.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Oregon

On Mon, Feb 21, 2022, 10:42 AM John R. Lebetski
wrote:

> Mid 80s Chevy L98 TPI 350s had smaller cap divorced coil HEI and spark
> control. Not sure if this could be adapted for fit and rotation to Olds.
> --
> John Lebetski
> Woodstock, IL
> 77 Eleganza II
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
>

 

[john r. lebetski]

Aren’t all divisions backwards from Olds? Also a small version is found in the S15 Vortec 4.3. Divorced coil and ESC.
--
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II

 

[jim kanomata1]

Matt,
Since you have a 73 your Filter housing need to be modified.
Get one off a 75-78 and get around this issue.
You can avoid headache if you use a Delco parts.

On Mon, Feb 21, 2022 at 11:48 AM John R. Lebetski
wrote:

> Aren’t all divisions backwards from Olds? Also a small version is found
> in the S15 Vortec 4.3. Divorced coil and ESC.
> --
> John Lebetski
> Woodstock, IL
> 77 Eleganza II
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
>

--
Jim Kanomata ASE
Applied/GMC, Newark,CA
jimk
http://www.gmcrvparts.com
1-800-752-7502

 

[Jim Hupy]

I have been looking, off and on, since I last responded to this thread.
Well, yesterday, while looking for something totally unrelated to this, my
wife discovered in the back of a filing cabinet drawer under several reams
of new computer printer paper, there that information was.
So, I will try to sort out GM part numbers for the remote coil and cap
system. The distributor cap does not care which way the rotor turns, so if
the cap fits your Olds distributor circumference, it should work well with
the rotor that fits the short cap. The correct coil for the Oldsmobile
Toronado is GM part number 1875894 and has a YELLOW tachometer lead.This
coil has to be partnered with the correct pick up coil inside the
distributor. Part number 1875981. It can be identified by a yellow tie on
the conductors, or on the connector plug. It will be yellow to match the
color on the coil. If you get this wrong, you will experience cross firing,
back firing, and early module failure. The polse generators are all the
same. That is the permanent magnet "spikey" looking thing that surrounds
the pickup coil.Some of the remote replacement coils will not come with the
mounting brackets. Genuine GM parts usually come with the brackets. There
is only one Buick V-8 that came with the remote coil setup. all the rest
were V-6's, both even fire and odd fire versions. The matching ignition
module can be identified by a dot of yellow paint on the top of the module.
The Howell system uses the 5 pin module on their earlier versions before
the EBL was introduced. The EBL Howell uses a different distributor that
does not have either vacuum or centrifigal advance, because it does all
that with the computer. I do not have the part number for that 7 pin module
used with the EBL here. I do have one of the modules in a distributor, but
it is an aftermarket product and I have not used it enough to say whether
it is any good or not.