electronic distributor

Ok What year of electronic distributor can I order that does not have to have a computer to make it work ... ?? I have an 82 GMC 305 do I need to get one from a 76 model I dont think they had a computer did they ?? or will the one from an 82 work ?? one has 5 pins the other has 4 pins in the cap.. thanks for any help

75 to 81 chevrolet not sure after 81 on them.

thanks I finally found a parts man that told me they didnt have the computers in them till 89 so I got one ordered for an 82 .. maybe this will solve my problems

Your parts guy is only partially correct. They had electronic spark control starting around 1982 but you can convert those distributors to the earlier HEI by just changing the module and wire pigtail.

My engine is a 75 from a pickup, has a HEI, looks like it's never been in to.

75 was the first year for HEI across the board. The ESC came 81 or 82 and is basically an HEI but the module has more pins and the dist has another pigtail coming out of it going to the Electronic Spark Control box. You can just change the module to the earlier 4 pin and rewire the ends on the pickup coil or just change it out for one with the right connector to plug into the ignition module.

all im going to do is put a hot wire to it and the tach I got a 5 pin is this going to work ? I havnt even took it out of the box yet

Cap is the same on esc and non. I think the 4 pin cap is earlier before they realized they needed a ground but I'm reaching into a dark place in the brain storage. Can you show a picture of the connector area of the cap?

I got it Willow .. It started up ... ran fair, the used starter is grinding a lot ,,, battery needed charged ,,, so I couldnt get it fine tuned just yet ,, but I think this fixed the sudden loosing fire problem ... Im getting closer to running down the road with it ... Im not worth a flip at fine tuning but Ill stick a new starter on it and hook up the alternator . so I can shut it down and start it up without having to charge the battery between times . . It reached 76* today it felt great working out side ,, I did back it up on the lift before I shut it down tonight ,, so with any luck maybe by the week end I;ll get all the bugs out of it .. .

Why are you talking about a GMC and you post a Ford???
I confused which isn't hard for someone to do

I havea 5 pint HEI and have used them on many applications as long as it has power they have always worked fine for my with no computer...

Old Iron said:

Why are you talking about a GMC and you post a Ford???
I confused which isn't hard for someone to do

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sorry for the confusion old Iron , I traded for this ford which had a skip on #8 cylinder ...and the man pulled the engine and took off the intake and that was where I bought it .. I thought it shouldn't be that bad of a fix ... so .............. I determined it was a bent or burn valve... I took the head off and sho-nuff the valve was bent just enough that it wouldnt seal.. I priced a valve under $20 or so .. I thought hey I got this motor tour down this far .. (double timing chain and gears) with dual over head cams ... I'll just take it down and refresh it so I;ll have an almost new engine ,, right ??? I should have priced a rebuild kit before I dug into it ... $1800 for a minimal rebuild kit and they did not include a plenum gasket ... I think a reman engine was $2800... well ...... ... This engine had 128000 on it it was a 4.8 hurcules
engine a used engine around here was $800 to a $1000 with no warranty ..soooo this complete $350 rebuild kit for my 305 chevy was calling my name .. so I answered it ... Have welder ???? it will work [[[[[

And I know there are some die hard ford people out there , that are shaking there heads ,,,, but if you got no $$$$$$$$$ you do what you can , with what ya got .. I do like a chevy engine though because they are cheap and built simple and able to switch parts if need be ... I think they said ford made 4 different 4.8 engines between 97 and 2004 (I think) and these parts dont enter-change with each other .. ,, and I like this ford body .. so Im happy

Keeping up with the what fits what on Fords is not for the feint hearted. You can never take anything for granted. That's why I like 'em, way easier to find Ford stuff that ain't been messed with.

Willow I have a 4.8 just for you then ,,, only 128000 miles on the engine Originally only thing wrong with it was a bent or warped valve..
I did find a cracked lobe on one of the cams but if your going to put it together your going to want to put a set of $600 heads on it anyway ,, they dont have bearings for the cam to ride on its just aluminum heads its cheaper to buy the heads and cam already together than it is to buy a cam and lifters for them ... oh, and the water pump had nubs on it instead of fins but other than that its ready to rebuild Its CHEEEEEEP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! come get it

Had a long reply typed out and internet dropped off.

Got any pics of the Chevy in there? Ought to have plenty of room since the 4.6 is almost as big as a 460. Did you get the dash gauges to work with the Chevy? Speedo?

I am thinking about a 351W or 460 to go into mine when the 4.6 finally dies. It's got 225,000 on it now, still runs good just doesn't pull a load as good as it used to.

bama mine was a 4.6 not and 8 I dont know why I said 8 but no didnt chit work but I expected that ,,, had to get a chevy gas gauge and still had trouble with that,, the sender unit went the wrong direction for a ford gauge to work ( thats a long story ) but after resetting the needle on a chevy gauge, it works now ... the speedo was an electric deal that hooked to the computer and trans so that went out the window too .. it has a tach ,,, thats why I was interested i the rear gears and rpms a while back ... I should be doing about 2400 at 65mph or close to if I remember right .. Id have to look again ..



it dont look to bad in the truck and I havnt took any pictures of the engine now that its all ready but I will in the next day or two ..My plan was to put a 5.0 out of a 88 van but that didnt work either .(Thats another long story ) the intake was to tall .. and other problems ,,, but you know what ,,, that 305 sit right down in the I only done one mod to a cross member. the rest fit like it was supposed to be there

YT, they sell a GPS speedo now that all you have to do is hook up 12 volts and put the GPS antenna where it can pick up a sat signal. I use my GPS for my speedo in the Linc, it needs a cable and I just haven't bought one yet.

Hard to believe a 5.0 Ford was too tall. Was it a fuel injected motor? I think they are taller. I know the 4.6 truck motor uses a taller manifold than a car version does.

Bama it come out of a van and it had a tall manifold on it and it was injected... the pan was on the front axle, and oil filter was hitting the chunk too. , and it wouldnt fit under the cow to pick it up off the axle... I had hoped I could have gotten it to fit but , it would have been more work to get it to fit and $$$ to swap out for a shorter manifold if I could have found one ,, so the 305 was the easiest and cheaper way out .. I looked for the speedo that worked off of 3 magnets you hook to the drive shaft , but didnt have no luck the tach works so I ll go by it for the time being ..