Are the ebay electronic distributors for corvairs any good?

[belaraphon]

Hi all,
At some point I was thinking about upgrading my points distributor to electronic. I found a direct drop in HEI distributor on ebay. I has a small cap, option for a stock type coil and comes with advance springs. So it would eliminate points and provide a higher voltage spark to the plugs. You can find the distributors by searching for Corvair electronic distributor on ebay.com.

I have looked at the Stinger distributor but it requires an add on controller like a mallory or holley and I don't want an external box in the car. I am also not sure if the pertronix is reliable yet. The distributor listed above looks nearly stock but is it any good?
Thanks,
Matt

[CACorvairs]

https://californiacorvairparts.com/elec ... d-cap.html

[66vairguy]

This is a minefield. I've a number of "stories", but apparently Seth Emerson originally worked with an "offshore" company to get a HEI type Corvair distributor made. Unfortunately the company wanted a hefty "exclusive rights fee" that Seth didn't pay. So after Seth started selling the "Stinger" the manufacturer sold the same unit, but with NO support, or you buy it and it's YOUR problem.

Meanwhile Seth offered great support on units he sold and suddenly folks who DID NOT BUY units from Seth were calling him to fix problems. So Seth just backed away from the whole mess and only supports folks who bought from him.

The other issue, and it is a COMMON issue is the HEI electronic modules that copied the GM design are often inferior. A buddy with a Chevy SBC V8 had me over because after swapping HEI parts and coil packs the engine would not start. I found he had a POS (pile of $h!!t) mess of parts from online and auto parts stores. I had him go buy new parts from a company that made quality HEI parts and that solved his problem. Point is -- the "Stinger" type distributor electronics could not drive the low impedance coil packs reliably. Seth's solution was to have folks use a higher impedance ignition coil.

As I said THIS IS WHAT I'VE HEARD and others are free to correct this.

[belaraphon]

Thanks for the good info. I am leery about a lot of these Chinese parts. Supporting a Corvair enthusiast is always a good idea. I might just have to live with an add on box then. But, I am also concerned about an HEI style distributor working with my AC compressor. I have not added it to the car yet and will get a Clark's 140 bracket and compressor set up. It might be best to consult with Seth Emerson about his HEI working with AC.

[66vairguy]

Thanks for the good info. I am leery about a lot of these Chinese parts. Supporting a Corvair enthusiast is always a good idea. I might just have to live with an add on box then. But, I am also concerned about an HEI style distributor working with my AC compressor. I have not added it to the car yet and will get a Clark's 140 bracket and compressor set up. It might be best to consult with Seth Emerson about his HEI working with AC.

Seth is a great guy and helpful. I've got a 1966 140HP with A/C (Sanden compressor). I have the Roger Parent carburetor linkage and the distributor spark plug wires can interfere with the passenger side secondary linkage if you don't keep them organized with separators. Seth makes great spark plug wires, but tends to add an inch or two in length that is fine, but a little shorter is easier to keep a lower profile above the distributor cap. DO USE RIGHT ANGLE SPARK PLUG BOOTS ON ALL THE 140HP SPARK PLUGS!! Seth has these, although he says they are no fun to install on the spark plug wires he makes.

BTW -- ONLY INSTALL A/C ON THE 1966 - 69 140HP heads as they were revised with extra metal and bigger bolt holes to support the compressor. Just me, but I would NOT install an A/C compressor on the 1965 140HP heads!

For ignition I use a stock (rebuilt) 140HP distributor with the stock ballast resistive wire and stock coil and JUST the Pertronix Ignitor (no flamethrower coil!!!!!, no Ignitor II). Runs great.

[isucorvair]

I have several - all bought from Seth, or from owners who bought them from Seth, and "gave up" before installing them.

I had one issue with the first one I bought, right when Seth offered them. - Seth was able to repair it. I have had no other issues with them, in several different cars.


Eric

[Wittsend]

I have several - all bought from Seth, or from owners who bought them from Seth, and "gave up" before installing them. ...
Eric

There was a person on the other forum about 4 years ago that "gave up." He was so frustrated that he offered it free to the first person to contact him - and he paid shipping (it was nearly $34)! I was the lucky recipient (I think). Now that I have a running Corvair, and have acquired a scope, one of these days I'll chuck it in the lathe and see what kind signal it puts out. My guess is that it is good but I want to know for sure. It's on my list of 101 things to do in 2025. Although the way life goes it will probably wind up being #102.

[sethracer]

All right folks. Seth here. Although it is interesting to be talked about, I guess I should try to straighten out things. (from my point of view) First, I support all of the TSP distributors sold, whether I sold them or someone else. They do have a warrantee and TSP has reimbursed me (with a replacement piece) for a few units replaced within the warrantee. Indeed, these units are made in China, and are subject to the whims of the producer. Believe me, I exhausted every possible US supplier, before going to TSP, since I knew the part origin. One of the issues I faced was the TSP suggestion of "their own" coil for use with the dist. A retired GM engineer walked me through the electronics calculations. For many years now, I have suggested a 3.0 Ohm coil with a 12 Volt feed. TSP is not a bunch of engineers, they are marketers. That said, they have been pretty good about supporting me and the Corvair units. Their Corvair distributor uses the same module that their GM/Ford/Chrysler distributors use. At SEMA this year, I picked up a prototype of a new replacement module from TSP. That new module was installed in a Corvair distributor and is being tested in a car. If/when it passes all tests, I hope to offer it as a replacement for the older units. Now, about the units I still sell, yhey are a "pro-billet" unit. In the industry, that means they put out a magnetic pulse operating as basically a crank position indicator, with the pulse telling something else when to fire. (Usually an external box, like an MSD multi-spark unit, or one of a dozen other brands) These distributors have no electronics inside, and must be used to drive another ignition box. The only failure I have seen is when something came loose inside a race-car unit, and bounced around inside the cap until it was caught in the wrong place and tore up the pick-up magnet. This is the only failure I have ever had in a TSP Pro-billet unit. I am the only seller of these distributors. Like my Ignition wires, these units have a lifetime warrantee. (my lifetime, not yours). If you have specific questions, I am always available for answers.

[rcavictor]

And THAT folks, is how awesome Customer Service is done!

Thank you Seth for your great products and amazing support, you are a true gift to the Corvair Community.

[belaraphon]

As far as AC goes, I think I have a 1965 140 but I will check. My car is a factory AC car with a 110 originally. I can't see changing to 1966 or newer heads if I have the 1965 heads. I guess I will just have to see how it goes when the time comes to finish up the AC install.
At that time once I have the AC compressor in place I can figure out if I want to change the ignition at all. I don't run the car that much but I still like the idea of no fuss electronic ignition at least. I don't know if I need high voltage coil functionality though. Oh, yeah, I have the 110 distributor so I still have to correct the advance curve on it. Thanks for the information everyone!
PS, I wasn't disparaging Seth's distributors, I was speaking about the no name stuff on eBay when talking about Chinese parts. I am sure they will build in as much quality as the customer requests. The trick is to know which ones are the quality ones.

[66vairguy]

As far as AC goes, I think I have a 1965 140 but I will check. My car is a factory AC car with a 110 originally. I can't see changing to 1966 or newer heads if I have the 1965 heads. I guess I will just have to see how it goes when the time comes to finish up the AC install.

The 1965 model year did NOT offer A/C on the 140HP engine. Different reasons as why it was offered in 1966 are given, but no doubt the marketing folks were behind it. It was a common (and successful) tactic by salesmen to talk the new car buyer who wanted A/C into ordering the optional "more powerful" engine by saying "You know A/C uses a lot of engine power". Considering A/C was relatively expensive in the mid 1960's the cost of the "optional" engine was minor. Also since 140HP was standard on the CORSA you could not order A/C on the top of the line model!!!! So the engineers got the orders to "Put A/C on the 140HP engine". This resulted in mounting the evaporator on the bulkhead (would not fit on top of the four carburetor engine) and the head casting was revised to put more material under the A/C support bracket and the shroud bolt holes were increased in size for bigger A/C bracket bolts. As I like to remind folks, GM did not pay to change things if it costs more unless required. The parts books show many 140HP head numbers, but the only numbers ON the head are casting numbers. Per my notes: 1965 140HP head is #3856728, 1966-69 140HP head is #3878570.

[66vairguy]

All right folks. Seth here. Although it is interesting to be talked about, I guess I should try to straighten out things. (from my point of view) Their Corvair distributor uses the same module that their GM/Ford/Chrysler distributors use. At SEMA this year, I picked up a prototype of a new replacement module from TSP. That new module was installed in a Corvair distributor and is being tested in a car. If/when it passes all tests, I hope to offer it as a replacement for the older units. Now, about the units I still sell, they are a "pro-billet" unit. In the industry, that means they put out a magnetic pulse operating as basically a crank position indicator, with the pulse telling something else when to fire. (Usually an external box, like an MSD multi-spark unit, or one of a dozen other brands) These distributors have no electronics inside, and must be used to drive another ignition box. am the only seller of these distributors. Like my Ignition wires, these units have a lifetime warrantee. (my lifetime, not yours). If you have specific questions, I am always available for answers.

Seth - Thanks for the reply. Correct me if wrong, the older units you sold were based on HEI and drove a coil without external electronics. You offered parts to adjust the mechanical timing. The units you now sell ONLY contain a trigger module to drive an external electronic ignition control box that is programmed to control timing (like MSD Ultra 6AL).

Concerning HEI. You could literally write a book! Early GM HEI tended to run out of energy at about 5,000 RPM. Keep in mind this was on emissions control engines that rarely reached 5,000 RPM. The original goal was to improve spark energy for NORMAL driving to improve fuel mileage and reduce emissions AND INCREASE IGNITION RELIABILITY. It worked!!! Soon demand for higher RPM performance resulted in an improved GM HEI. There was one "problem" when creative engineers at Oldsmobile increased spark plug gap to improve mileage, power, and reduce emissions that worked, EXCEPT it resulted in overheated HEI components that failed. Dealers were told to regap spark plugs and install new parts - that ended that problem. When GM moved on from HEI it was copied by many and was not always done well !!! The later GM HEI design typically drives a 0.6 ohm coil without issue using variable dwell control. Aftermarket HEI versions used different coil impedance values and module designs. Mixing and matching brands often lead to complaints of poor performance or parts failures. Sadly this has soured folks on HEI. Fact is the GM HEI was a reliable and effective ignition system.

[Wagon Master]

No A/C on the 1965 140 had to do with it requiring the high mount compressor to clear the right hand secondary carburetor. I've had luck mounting the high mount compressor on 65 140 heads by drilling out the two 1/4- 20 holes to 5/16-18 and installing studs.Not ideal but my failure rate is zero out of 5.

[66vairguy]

No A/C on the 1965 140 had to do with it requiring the high mount compressor to clear the right hand secondary carburetor. I've had luck mounting the high mount compressor on 65 140 heads by drilling out the two 1/4- 20 holes to 5/16-18 and installing studs.Not ideal but my failure rate is zero out of 5.

GM could have made a high mount bracket for the compressor in 65, not that complicated. So there were other considerations.

Just guessing, but when the 140HP engine was designed there was no consideration to offer it with A/C or the heads would have been designed to support the bracket. If GM could have mounted the A/C high mount bracket on the 65 head design they would not have spent the money to change the casting. Changes were more than making the bolt holes bigger.

I'm glad things worked for you, but hobby cars don't see a lot of mileage whereas GM had to design the head casting to go much longer in time and mileage. If you have 140HP 65 heads you have nothing to loose by mounting the high mount bracket since if the head fails you can install 66 heads.

[sethracer]

HEI was never a GM trademark (unfortunately). The first universal GM electronic distributors - 1973 - were the large-cap V8 units that mounted the coil on top and used an internal magnetic pick-up to drive an internally mounted 4-pin module and feed the coil. A very simple unit, the two pins of the mag pick-up connected to one end, on the other was a power feed and a lead up to the coil. It is what most people in the industry called the "HEI" distributor. They are also called the "Ready to Run" units. GM went on to several other designs, some with an external coil and some with a smaller cap. (The S10 V6s, as an example). They also added features, both internal and external, over the years. Ironically, Top Street Performance (TSP) was making new, large-cap GM clones, to fit the Mopar and Ford V8's in street rods, when I contacted them about the Corvair dist. There are a bunch of distributor installations where the large size of the original GM Distributor will not fit. As an example, to fit one onto a Corvair, means raising it up high enough to clear the top shroud. It can be done and a few Corvair race cars have been running that set-up for years. It means modifying the shaft and the housing to raise up the dist. When GM brought out the smaller cap units in the V6, it made it easier to drop a GM dist into the Vair. It still needed both the shaft and the housing adapted to fit. When I worked with TSP to get the Corvair dist built, they were already working on a 6-cylinder dist for the Ford in-line six. In the 60's GM built the new Buick V6 motor as an off-shoot of the GM 215 aluminum V8. To save costs, GM just adapted the V8 distributor to run the V6, changing to a 6-cylinder rotor and cap. That V8 distributor design was used (with points) on millions of GM V8s from 1957 through 1972. It is slightly larger than either of the Corvair caps (either the 60-61 or the 62-69). That design (like the V8, but only 6 cylinders) was what TSP used for all their 6-cylinder, ready to run distributors - including the Corvair. (And the Ford). It does not use the same electronics as the "in-the-cap" large-cap distributors, and they are not interchangeable. The first distributors I built - for the racers - were modified MSD units, the ones originally designed to fit the 6-cylinber GM in-line 6. They were mag-pulse out units, the same ones that I sell today. (They are not MSD built, however.) Most of the racers I sold the first units to were already running MSD ignitions, triggered either by the Corvair points, or Chrysler magnetic pulse conversions, inside the Corvair cap. I did about a half-dozen of these conversions in the late 70s. The new distributor was a natural replacement for these. Ironically, several folks used the magnetic-pulse out distributor to drive an externally mounted 4-pin GM HEI module. It worked fine and was easily the cheapest way to go. The aftermarket industry built dozens of different 4-pin modules as GM replacements. The last race car motor I built used this set-up. I am sorry for the long post, but it is a long and complex story. I would be happy to answer any questions you have.

[Wagon Master]

Seth, who now makes a drop dead reliable 4-pin GM control module and magnetic pickup?