HEI help on V8 ranger

[dyb003]

Does anyone know if those GM style HEI made for 5.0 SBF are any good I know they will not fit FI but I am running a carb? I have restored 86 Ranger and have a 1990 roller engine in it. I am looking to upgrade my ignition. I have a limited budget at this point. I have seen those HEI distributors for SBF's. They say it will even eliminate the square box
( CDI ) I think is what it is called and the coil as it is in the cap. Is this a better system from the stock late 80's setup that I am running now? Thank you for any help.

 

[rd]

I'd go with a plain old Ford Duraspark setup. I have had more HEI's die than Durasparks. Otherwise, yes, it should work fine.

 

[dyb003]

The resone why I want to change is because the gear on the distributor keeps getting chewed up by the E-303 cam. I am having a hard time finding a gear for this dist so I figure I would just change the hole thing. There is a person selling the HEI stile dist for the SBF for about $90 new. They said that I could just eliminate the box and coil. But do I run a solid 12 volt to this with no resistor? and should the 12 volts only be on when the key is on? Thanks again for the help.

 

[dyb003]

Will the HEI system give me a better/hotter spark than the stock duraspark system? Thanks for any help on my Mustang powered Ranger.

 

[dyb003]

anyone have any more help with this??? Thanks

 

[stang8urimport]

You are probably using the wrong dist gear. The gear is different for a roller cam vs a flat tappet.