Trojan Boat Forum

I've seen a few posts about the HEI distributors from AAA Marine. Can anyone tell me any downside of using these? I am only hearing good things about HP add and economy...

Are you talking about this style ?

https://aaamarine.com/chevpromarine-650 ... ser-owners

https://aaamarine.com/chevpromarinecomb ... -and-wires


IMO its a great design and if I had a weak moment and went back to gas , I would go that route .

prowlersfish wrote:Are you talking about this style ?

https://aaamarine.com/chevpromarine-650 ... ser-owners

https://aaamarine.com/chevpromarinecomb ... -and-wires


IMO its a great design and if I had a weak moment and went back to gas , I would go that route .

Yes. I just spoke to AAA today. Great guy there who sold me on them. I placed an order for two combo sets today. He said you have to run the plugs at .60 instead of .30 and it increases HP and efficiency.

I'm interested in hearing the before/after comparison. I have the original distributors on mine with the Prestolite electronic modules. I replaced both and carry a spare. Dead reliable but could prob upgrade now.


Bob

BobCT wrote:I'm interested in hearing the before/after comparison. I have the original distributors on mine with the Prestolite electronic modules. I replaced both and carry a spare. Dead reliable but could prob upgrade now.


Bob

I have the same Prestolites now. The new ones should be here this week. Once we're put back together, I will let you know how they perform. I am a little nervous about moving away from "factory", but I have to believe the technology improvements make it ok to do.

Anyone out there who has done this job...can you clarify what wires will be no longer connected to anything? I'm trying to wrap my head around this...

I know the HEI unit only needs tach and 12v...but there are at least three or four wires that will no longer have a home.

Only 2 wires needed . The others can be removed or taped up

As Paul said, two wires only. You'll need the 12 volt ignition-on feed and the tach wire. Tape up and secure remaining wires.
The new coil will sit inside distributor cap (4 screws). The distributor wires plug into the coil leads (12 Volt/ Tach) on top of the distributor cap.

You'll need a coil cover to make it work if it doesn't come with one. (2 screws) Simple install...

I got the unit from AAA and it has the cover.

So to be clear...

Purple coming off the starter solenoid is useless...tape it up or remove it.
Yellow coming off alternator is useless...tape it up.
Grey off the harness is tach
Purple off harness is 12v

Is that right? Or should I be snagging my 12v elsewhere?

Sounds right. As long as you have 12 volts, key on, you should be fine.

zedtwentyate wrote:I got the unit from AAA and it has the cover.

So to be clear...

Purple coming off the starter solenoid is useless...tape it up or remove it.
Yellow coming off alternator is useless...tape it up.
Grey off the harness is tach
Purple off harness is 12v

Is that right? Or should I be snagging my 12v elsewhere?

The yellow wire maybe a exciter wire for the alternator so you may need to hook that to the 12 v (purple wire) I don't have a diagram in front of me did that wire go to the + on the coil ?

Let me back up here , Do you happen to have a ballast resistor on your engine ? If you do that will need to be by passed

The wire coming from the solenoid was for the ignition coil which provided the needed 12 volts while cranking. You won't need it...

Long grey wire on the left is my tach wire. The two together on the right were connected to the + terminal. The yellow cam from distributor and the purple goes into the harness. There was another purple wire from the starter to the positive terminal on the coil too.

hey guys I realize this is an old thread but I am about to swap out
my distributors with HEI's from AAA marine
Looks like zedtwentyate has already done this
if you're still out there the wiring has me a little confused
especially the part about the alternator

so you asked the question
grey off the harness is tach
purple off the harness is 12v

but I didn't see the answer

thx
rr

any other tips much appreciated