Best Distributor and ones to avoid

[Hudson Hawk 97]

New owner of a 1996 Sierra K1500 here! 350 5.7L V8. It’s in excellent shape all things considered, has new shocks, fuel pump and starter. There’s just a few things I have to knock out like ball joints, steering box, distributor and plugs.

They switched over to port injection for some of the 1996 model trucks, which is what mine is so the distributor isn’t the 95 and earlier cap and rotor style, it’s the newer one but it’s in the same spot. What brands have people had good and bad luck with? If I have to pony up $200 for an OEM AC Delco I will because I have had good luck at times with aftermarket and also been burned; I don’t want to do this twice. But if there is a quality aftermarket one people have had luck with I’d appreciate any of that knowledge.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help, and advice on steering box brand and spark plugs is also appreciated!

I’ve had nothing but bad luck with the plastic OEM distributors, mainly because of the humid climate in south Alabama and the gears being trash. I was skeptical about Advance Auto distributors but gave it a shot and haven’t had an issue since and it’s going on 3 years old, they are billet aluminum, comes with cap and rotor ready to drop in for 125$.

 

[alpinecrick]

It pays to change the fluids Often & Frequently on so many levels.........

 

[BhutJolokia]

It pays to change the fluids Often & Frequently on so many levels.........

I plan on it, I am psycho about PMs. If anything I overdo it, especially with the ones lots of people forget like power steering fluid and brake flushes...

 

[alpinecrick]

I plan on it, I am psycho about PMs. If anything I overdo it, especially with the ones lots of people forget like power steering fluid and brake flushes...

If anything I overdo it, especially with the ones lots of people forget like power steering fluid and brake flushes...[/QUOTE]

Me too........

 

[evilunclegrimace]

I have been using United Motor Products In 3 of my trucks for the last couple of years. The '98 Vortec has a Part number of 9362 and available at rock auto. It comes with a cap and rotor with brass contacts and is $93.79 plus shipping. I also have their distributors in my '90 and '92 TBI engines. the part number is 9366 at Rock auto and the cost is $117.79, it also comes with brass contacts. United Motor Products also offers a "tune up kit" that comes with Packard wires, brass contact cap and rotor and it is under $40.00 for the TBI engine and about $ 65.00 for the Vortec engine.

 

[Tim W]

Iv been running a Holley Distributor with no issues at all. Im sure I just Jinxed it

 

[L31MaxExpress]

I have been using United Motor Products In 3 of my trucks for the last couple of years. The '98 Vortec has a Part number of 9362 and available at rock auto. It comes with a cap and rotor with brass contacts and is $93.79 plus shipping. I also have their distributors in my '90 and '92 TBI engines. the part number is 9366 at Rock auto and the cost is $117.79, it also comes with brass contacts. United Motor Products also offers a "tune up kit" that comes with Packard wires, brass contact cap and rotor and it is under $40.00 for the TBI engine and about $ 65.00 for the Vortec engine.

United Motor Products is the one I run as well. I did install the Gm cam sensor back into it. Other than that it went in out of the box. Swapped the cap for the aluminum blockoff when I went 24x. Actually pulling the 24x stuff off and going back with the Vortec ignition for a science experiment.

I had a good cap and rotor, Taylor 8.2mm wires and a Davis Unified Coil and Module on it when it last ran with the distributor. Pulled that stuff out of a box and putting it back on for my 400 rwhp stock Vortec truck top-end attempt. Nothing eats these caps/rotors faster than a crappy set of wires and high humidity. I had to shim the distributor on the intake to get it to sit correctly but the block, heads and intake are all milled on my 383. Was perfect on my old 350. On the 383 the deck was cut 0.025", the heads 0.030" and the intake had to be cut to match. I had to put about 0.040" of shim under the distributor, otherwise it was pushing down on the oil pump and had zero end play.

 

[bobby v]

I have an MSD Street Fire one on my 1998 5.7 Vortec. Aluminum shaft, but they are just south of $300 last time I checked.

Runs great on a stock daily driver.

Thats what I used in my swap to a 502, I was lookin at their top of the line model but it was very pricey at about $575, the only difference I could see was the shaft was billet as I remember.
So far Im happy but only have 200 mi on it

 

[Sideburnz]

The only cap and rotor worth going with that works is the A/C Delco. But please read the following article and upgrade the distributor. I did and it's a world of difference!

https://www.fixmyoldride.com/vortec-engine-distributor-problem.html

 

[alpinecrick]

The only cap and rotor worth going with that works is the A/C Delco. But please read the following article and upgrade the distributor. I did and it's a world of difference!

https://www.fixmyoldride.com/vortec-engine-distributor-problem.html

Replacing a worn out/abused part with a new part usually makes a difference regardless of the new part.

With 850k on my four 1st gen Vortecs, none of them currently need a distributor--they all work fine. I have even swapped out the distributor on my 96 K1500 (259k) with a new billet aluminum distributor to see if there was an "improvement". Didn't change a thing because the original distributor is still in good condition. Even the teeth still look good.

Most factory distributors that fail suffer from poor maintenance--oil not changed or engine running warmer than it should and over time the composite housing cracks or wears prematurely. Lack of maintenance/abuse ain't the fault of the distributor or its design.........