70 duster points to electronic diet and hei wiring

[cawcislo]

I got my stock mopar electronic distributor hooked up with the adapter plate and hei module. I’ve hooked up the two wires from the distributor to the hei module, but I need to complete the wiring with a positive and negative to the hei. I’m assuming just ground the negative to the engine? Where do I get the 12 v (do I reuse the one wire that fed the old points distributor? Or is there a better wire I should use for positive? Then i’ll pop it in and fire it up. If all is good i’ll Upgrade the mopar canister coil to the ecoil and bypass the ballast, but one thing at a time.

 

[67Dart273]

Is the HEI 4 pin or what?

Be sure you get the distributor pickup polarity correct

You need to hook the wiring at the ballast together to bypass the ballast. You can then use the original coil+ wire for the feed. Run it to coil + and run a jumper from the HEI to coil+. Be absolutely sure the HEI is mounted "flat" to the heat sink. HEI should have a "pin" protruding out the bottom side, you need to cut/ file that off. It should be grounded OK when mounted to the distributor

 

[cawcislo]

Yes 4 pin hei module. I did not notice any ‘pin’ protruding from the hei module. Maybe I need to have a second look. Can I not try this setup without bypassing the ballast just to keep it simple and easy to go back to factory distributor should something not work properly? Or will that not feed enough voltage to the hei module?

 

[cawcislo]

Okay I unbolted the hei from the designed to drive mounting plate and I now see the two ‘nubs” or pins you refer to on the hei module, but they do not interfere with the hei module mounting flat on the mounting plate. The thermal paste actually held the module on and I had to pry up with a screwdriver to get it off once I removed the screws so it’s definately flush with no interference from the nubs/pins on the hei module.

 

[halifaxhops]

You can jump the ballast and use the oem wire for the +12V. Also you need to change the coil to a hei "newer" style.

 

[TrailBeast]

Yes 4 pin hei module. I did not notice any ‘pin’ protruding from the hei module. Maybe I need to have a second look. Can I not try this setup without bypassing the ballast just to keep it simple and easy to go back to factory distributor should something not work properly? Or will that not feed enough voltage to the hei module?

To simplify the initial run testing you can temporarily connect the power to the coil and module directly off the battery positive, and then once you are satisfied that it's going to run ok then connect it to the ignition wiring.
Grounding the module is normally through the mounting screws on the module, but when mounted to the distributor it's not a bad idea to have a separate ground wire connected from one of the module screws to the engine block or firewall.

I say this because if the module only gets it's ground through the distributor to engine block when you have the distributor clamp bolt loose to adjust timing it's easy to loose the ground.
A direct ground wire on the module eliminates this possibility.

Unlike the old style canister coil the Ecore coils need a constant 12v as does the module, so jumpering the ballast to bypass it works fine as long as the OE wiring is up to it.

 

[cawcislo]

Okay I unbolted the hei from the designed to drive mounting plate and I now see the two ‘nubs” or pins you refer to on the hei module, but they do not interfere with the hei module mounting flat on the mounting plate. The thermal paste actually held the module on and I had to pry up with a screwdriver to get it off once I removed the screws so it’s definately flush with no interference from the nubs/pins on the hei module.

I looked closely today and I stand corrected. The two nubs or pins do prevent the hei module from sitting flush and you do have to remove them in order for the module to rest completely flat.

 

[67Dart273]

it's not a bad idea to have a separate ground wire connected from one of the module screws to the engine block or firewall.

I say this because if the module only gets it's ground through the distributor to engine block when you have the distributor clamp bolt loose to adjust timing .

THIS