hey guys, I went and bought a HEI tach drive dist now my question is this....

Fold them back onto the harness, and tape them up. They will no longer be needed with the HEI.
All the HEI needs to operate is the 12+ at the "Batt" terminal.
I would recommend a new 12v source for the distributor tho. The wire that was used on the point system for 12v will be a resistor type wire. Once the engine is running, the voltage there drops down to around 6-9v.
There is, however, another wire that comes directly off of the starter "S" terminal, that supplies a full 12v when starting. This is where the dist. gets it's full 12v to start, and then when the key is released to the "run" position, the voltage comes from the resistor wire.
You can still use the same circuit from the key-switch, and just change the resistor wire to a regular, copper wire.
You can tell the resistor wire by the cloth-like covering on it.

so you're saying to change the cloth (+) wire that runs from the old (+) side of the coil termainal to the S terminal of the starter? tape up the (-) ones.. got it....

Nono...replace the cloth covered wire with a regular, copper style wire. This is a black wire w/pink stripe, that runs from the coil to the firewall "bulkhead" connector. From there, it changes to a pink wire on the inside of the corkpit. The pink wire is just regular, non-resistor wire. What I was saying is, you should change the black/pink stripe wire from the bulkhead connector to the HEI to a regular non-resistor wire. It would be easiest to just tie into the wire at the connector, and run a new wire to the HEI from there, leaving the resistor wire in the harness.
If you run the HEI 12v power to the "S" terminal of the starter solenoid, you'll only get 12v when cranking the engine...I'm sorry I made it sound like I was suggesting you do that. I was just giving more info on how the system was designed.
You can run the 12v to the "Bat" terminal of the HEI to any place that has 12v with the key on, if it's easier. There are a couple of terminals in the fuse box marked "IGN", that are hot with the key on.
Sorry to get so confusing... My 'splaining skills ain't all that great at times!

It should have one...may not be the right one, but it definitely needs one. You can use the old one off of the original dist if needed.
Good question there, Micki!

you mean, the vac advance pot that is attached to the HEI right?

Does your new HEI have the vac. can already on it? If so, you're good to go. Some do, some don't. It's something I didn't even think to ask before. Good thing Micki's up on this tech stuff, eh?

Yeah, if you're referring to the vac advance unit attached to the dist... it came complete with all the stuff... coil, cap and rotor... vac advance, everything....

[QUOTE=74stingray454]Adam, I do believe i understand what you're saying, instead of using the blk/pnk fabric covered coil wire, run a whole new copper wire from (+) terminal all way back to the firewall connection block on the engine firewall side...

thanks, Jim[/QUOTE]

That's IT!!! Whew...
Use the same gauge wire that's there now, or a bit larger. Don't know the numbering system. The factory wire on the HEI systems is quite large, compared to what is on your car now.

As for the fan, you may want to search the "Cooling/Heating" forums for this...there have been several members do the electrical fan install, and had good results.