H.E.I. distributor from chevy to 230 6cyl

will the hei distributor from a 1985 to 1989 chevy 305 / 350 cu work in the 230 6cyl ? and if it will work what has to be done to make it work also is this worth the effort ? and what improvements will i see by doing this change ? i know this question has been on here before but i forgot what the article said .
one resown why i am thinking of changing my distributor is , hard starting , engine just doesnt sound like its running right , vaccum advance and it is useing alot of gas . it is not leaking any where , checked carb and the truck is getting about 5 miles per gallon , yes 5 ( five ) miles per gallon is what i said and its not leaking gave it a tune up and it still seems like its running flat no pep and the speedo says 17 890 miles on the truck . any ideals out thier . also what is the best repair manual out their and who has the best price for it , for m 715 jeep truck ?

I know it has been done by mating the top of the ei unit to the stock distributor shaft...I heard about it from a member back in the 90's and got this pic...sorry I dont have more:
http://www.m715zone.com/jonmisc/230hei.jpg

Randall
Not sure how your going to get a v8 distributor to work with a 6. May work. Just doesn't seem worth it. M-Series rebuilders advertise a Hei kit to change the points setup out for a Electronic setup. I believe he has it listed for $150 plus shipping. Are you sure your timing is right? Check here for the manuals
http://www.m715zone.com/vb/view.php?pg=manuals

I should have mentioned...you do need a 6 cylinder hei unit to do the swap...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by brute4c

I should have mentioned...you do need a 6 cylinder hei unit to do the swap...

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Yep, you'd need one from a 6 cylinder like a V-6 buick, or an inline Chevy 250 or 292 L6.

Is your truck still 24 volts though? If so, you'd have to use a 24-12V converter.

Get back to basics - with 7.5:1 compression it should start right up. Why isn't it?
Going with the Pertronics ingition is a great thing, but the motor should be running right first. And 5mpg? While the M715 is never going to qualify as a "Green" vehicle (camo joke) you should definately be doing better than that. Heck, my 514ci Ford does better than that :)

I have pics of how to adapt a 6 cyl GM HEI to a 230. I don't know how to post, but could email them.
Nick

e-mail them if you want. To me and I will post them. Cliff_morriss@hotmail.com that way it is for us all. If you wouldn't mind.

put a underscore between cliff and morriss

Send them to me and I will post them for you!! Would love to see this!

The pics are not in order, but you get the idea. First determine were the HEI shaft needs to be cut to mate up with the joint on the original distributor. The length is important, you don't want it too long it will bind, and too short it may pop out or wear on the end of the shaft. Cut the HEI and drill a hole for the roll pin and put it back together. Unfortunatly the pickup coil was shot when I got it back together(had lent it to a friend to try few years ago), and due to 3rd cutting of hay and a lot of grain to haul I bought an HEI that was advertised on the site, my father wanted it out of the shop, anyway. Otherwise the fuel/vacum pump most be removed, and you cann't use the original timing. It starts right up and idles great, I have a 2 barrel on it and I have no complaints.

I hope this helps.
Nick

http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/v.../untitled2.jpg

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In my Jeep CJ7 I have the original 258 straight six and I used a GM 250 straight six HEI in it. The only mod that has to be done is use a distributor gear from a 360 AMC V8 since the gear on the chevy is reverse cut.

If you look for a 1977-1978 truck with the six in it, you may find that the distributor cap does not have the coil on it. This may be better or worse, depending on if you want a separate coil. These are still HEI. I have not seen any of these, but they are out there.

For a 258...or a 232 I would assume...that may be true...the 230 is different...just so no one confuese your tech with something for the 230...the 230 has a flat blade screwdriver type tip instead of a gear...

Thanks everyone for all the help you guys are great for taking the time to answer my questions and to send the photos !!!!!!!!!!
Randall

5 mpg? are you sure your fuel pump is not leaking into the crackcase? i second the other member go with the pertronix ignitor it replaces the points and condenser and fits under the stock cap, easy starting and no hesitation through the power range and does not require new plug wires. I have one on my M37 and it starts no matter what the weather is cold, hot, dry, wet even if the truck is hot or stone cold she fires right off every time I believe it was a part # MV161 or 151 I can't remember but it's easy to find.

no there is know gas in the oil i can not find any leaks any where . where can i get the pertronics sey up this sounds like a good ideal and about how much is it

I dont see the xact one needed on the pertronix website...the civvy distributor is a Prestolite IAT4416 and the military one is a Prestolite IAT4411 4AT.

I am unsure if the civvy unit fits the mil housing...but I know the converson has been done on the civvy types...

Price looks to be around $200...little less maybe..

Heres a thread with a little more info:

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=12829

hey randall- i have at home what you need- it is a dui [ davis unified ignition ] distributor for your 230. i came with the 715 i have. it has standard hei components in it. im i afghanistan now but i think i know where it is & maybe my wife could find it & send it. how bout $50 + ship if your interested. later!
andy

I bought a 67 M725 in 2008, previous owner had installed a HEI distributor.... didn't really do a great job about it. It's functional. Oh yeah, my M725 gets 6.3 miles to a gallon with no leaks.... and a strong tail wind!

I've never heard anyone really talk about fuel mileage on a stock 230 tornado. My truck is pretty close to being stock, exception being the 1100x16 Michelins. When i checked gas mileage last summer it was 5 and 1/2 mpg! Alittle disappointing, but I wasn't expecting a whole lot more than that. I've since changed out the plugs and wires and went to about 6 mpg. A 6k truck with tall gears and the aerodynamics of a barn door just isn't going to do much better. When fuel got low in the Army, we just drove them to the nearest fuel truck and filled them up. I'd love to do better, but I do not use mine as a daily driver, so it's not to much of a concern for me. With the price of gas going up daily it will be alittle more disappointing, but I figure it's a small price to pay to own a piece of military history.

Can't remember where I saw the new electronic guts that fit in the 230 ignitor. It seemed rather simple and neatly done. Cutting a few wires, and reconnecting them was the main issue. Most of it seemed to be a new electronic board that fits right in. Please correct me if I'm dreaming.

I think your talking about a petronix kit.

That must be it. Is their a big advantage to this? I haven't any trouble with starting or idle at all. Thought about changing it out, but why fix something that isn't broke.

Does away with points and condenser. I have their kit on my ford 300 as it's one less thing to mess with ( it was about 50-60$ on sale which was cheaper than a new distributor setup). Supposed to provide more efficient spark.

Here is their website:

http://www.pertronix.com/default.aspx

If you look in the catalog, you can find more information. Mine has a civilian distributor and they make a 12v kit for it. According to their literature, they can adapt to almost any distributor. There is a 24v kit for the military stock distributor, but I'm not sure yet about a 24v kit for my civilian distributor.

Quadratec in PA can sell you the kit for a good price, but you have to get Tech Support from Pertronix.

Hope this helps,

While 5 mpg sounds terrible, my stock 230ci Tornado gets 6 at best on a good day. Gear ratio, 6,000lbs, and the areodynamics of a barn door don't help. I believe the pertronics electronic ignition will definitely help your starting, and your running, not much in the way of fuel economy tho.

i have a petronix ignition, does absolutely wonderful, starting, running, and driving. i had lack of power and poor gas mileage when i first got my truck. and my truck had it when i got it, come to find out, had nothing to do with the ignition, i had to spark plugs that would not fire no matter what you did, so i replaced them and alls good now. i would check condition of them. as for gas mileage with 2 dead holes i was getting around 4.5 mpg, firing on all cylinders and running as well as it is ever going to i am getting 5.5 to 6. so your gas mileage is not all that far off from what it should be. and as Don Carvey always told me," your truck should have no problem keeping up with everyday traffic", and darn it he was right!!! check out my thread, "am i expecting to much" hope it helps and good luck

I am looking at upgrading my ignition. Would this HEI conversion be better than the pertronix kit?

Seems like a Dodge distributor would make a better fit

my opinion is petronics ignition, simple install, i haven't one issue with it. my truck doesn't turn over a full revalution before it running.

Summit Racing MV-161A 128.00 with shipping.

I used a Chevy 6 cylinder HEI distributor. Took the shaft off the original tornado and mated it to the Chevy HE I. It's been going good for about a year or so with no problems. I got the distributor from a guy on this site.

I'm for petronic ignitions. Works quite well. Has not nagged me.