This is an area that I admit I'm not very well informed in. I'm going to throw a big-block into my Malibu, which currently has a running 350. The 350 has an HEI on it. Can/Should I reuse the HEI? It's in real good shape. Does that mean I don't have to change wiring harnesses? Would I have to change the harness if I use a points distributor that's on the big block right now? Or is there a way to adapt it to my current harness? I'm sorry if this is a real amateurish question, I have no idea when it comes to electrical. The car's a 70 Malibu.

First off, if you already have an HEI setup, just swap it to the big block it will work fine and is much better than the stock points system. If you want to use the points system, you need to measure the voltage at the wire going to the + side of the HEI coil with the key on. If it is 12v, then you would need to put a ballast resistor inline to drop the voltage to 9v to run points. If it already reads 9v then the resistor wire is still in place and should be removed and replaced with a piece of 12 guage wire for the HEI to work at 100% output. (basically points systems need 9v and HEI should have 12v but will run at a lower output with 9v)I dont want to confuse you, you can do a search of the archives on this subject for more info. For now if you are learning and your HEI works ok, just put it in the big block and run it, check out the wiring and
voltage info after you read through the archives and maybe grab a friend who knows about this.

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70 chevelle ss396 conv
66 chevelle ss396 hdp/conv
55 chevy prostreet

The harness as is can be used on the BB
if you use the HEI dist. The orginal Harness was a point type dist and if the wires were not removed I (ASSUME) You can change it back to the orginal point/type dist.
IMHO the HEI is a bettter dist and unless
you a orginial/only type reinstall the HEI
Wayne Kline
ACES TC

Yes use the HEI, and the distributor is one of the few parts that interchange between the big and small blocks

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Frank W
Arlington MA
Gen X R&C Member
74 Laguna S3 !! ( No motor yet)
73 Malibu Coupe Mighty 305 Power
hometown.aol.com/folingo/folingo.html (http://hometown.aol.com/folingo/folingo.html)

Thanks, everybody. I really wanted to use the HEI, and this is going to make my life a lot easier.