Personally, 95% of all ignition 'Want' to change to HEI distributor stuff is just old, obsolete parts on the distributor.
The distributors do EXACTLY the same thing,
They control CENTRIFUGAL ADVANCE, by advancing the RELUCTOR on the Trigger through weights/springs,
They allow VACUUM ADVANCE into the system, both the same way, by moving advancing the TRIGGER on the Reluctor.
There isn't a dimes difference between the Jeep/Motorcraft distributor and a GM/Delco Remy HEI distributor, you can adjust either to EXACTLY the same timing curves,
You can make either one work where applicable...
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JUST KEEP IN MIND THERE WAS NEVER A GM/Delco Remy HEI built for, or will work in an AMC V-8 engine.
But the GM/Delco Remy I-6 distributors WILL fit into an AMC I-6 engine (with a gear change, they don't use the same gears)
On the other hand, every HEI CLONE made is NOT a GM/Delco Remy or has Delco Remy specifications...
Every single one of those 'Clones' are made in 'China' or someplace else, and quality control suffers GREATLY and vaires WILDLY...
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The 'TeamRush' upgrade is simply using UPGRADED parts that were designed for the '75 to '84 (and beyond, but until '84 every 'Ford' had the upgraded cap and rotor)
AMC decided to use the old small cap and short rotor from BREAKER POINTS ignitions on the much more powerful electronic ignitions, and it's not worked out well for AMC guys...
So, Simply Put, Use the stuff Ford/Motorcraft INTENDED to be on top that ignition,
Taller rotor to get your spark energy up and away from the 'Guts' of the distributor, since that stuff is all 'GROUND PATH' and is trying to attract your spark energy,
And use a cap with wider spaced terminals so your high powered spark energy doesn't go to the wrong terminal.
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The rest of it is common sense, and works no matter what the 'Brand Name' or 'Type' of ignition it is...
1. ROTOR PHASING,
Getting that mass produced, often off specification trigger firing to happen so the rotor nose lines up with the CORRECT cap terminal.
You can't what you don't know about, so here goes...
The RELUCTOR, the gadget with the 'Arms' sticking out from the distributor shaft has to fire the TRIGGER at the correct time so your ROTOR lines up with the CORRECT CAP TERMINAL.
Add in the distributor gear has 13 teeth, and there is no way to divide 13 evenly (prime number),
You can have the distributor gear on the shaft 1/2 tooth off and that screws EVERYTHING up...
So, you have the distributor gear mount on the shaft, hopefully the shaft cross hole got lined up with the rotor correctly,
Then you have centrifugal advance head where the rotor mounts,
You have the 'Tooth' in the rotor that has to be cast in the right place,
You have the Reluctor that has to be on the advance head in the correct position,
And the vacuum advance plate/trigger mount have to be manufactured and assembled correctly,
Then the distributor CAP has to have it's alignment notch/lug cast in the correct place...
Then on top of all that, the vacuum advance makes the rotor 'Sweep' the plug wire terminal as the vacuum advance works!
NOW... That's a mouth full, even more to type!
And it takes the new guys about a month in training to even begin to wrap their heads around all the moving parts that CAN AND DO go wrong,
So if you didn't catch all that the first time... Don't sweat it one bit. No one does...
With all those MASS PRODUCED moving parts, all made by usually the lowest bidder... You can bet SOMETHING isn't right somewhere, and usually more than ONE something...
The good news is, 99/100 you can correct the rotor phasing to SWEEP the correct terminal with nothing more than an extra distributor cap, a timing light and a triangle file...
You simply correct the 'Reluctor' position on the distributor shaft to trigger the ignition at the 'Correct' time.
It make take a few tries to get the hang of, but you get a few tries on every Reluctor, and they are cheap if you get mad and hit it with a hammer!
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2. BRASS TERMINALS IN THE CAP!
Doesn't matter what ignition you have, if it has a distributor & cap, it should have brass terminals.
Brass doesn't have NEARLY the issues aluminum does, and brass transfers the spark energy MUCH better than aluminum does.
3. GOOD PLUG WIRES!
You can pay a LOT for
wires,
You can pay a little for
wires,
And unless you have someone that does this for a living, it's hard to tell WHICH wires work best since they all look about alike from the outside.
Again, it doesn't matter WHAT ignition you have, when the wires can EASILY waste 80% of your spark energy on the way to the plugs, so GOOD WIRES are a must.
4. SPARK PLUGS MUST BE PROPERLY GAPED!
There is nothing worse than the guys telling you to open plug gaps up to 0.050" or 0.060" for your spark energy and damage to your high voltage side of your ignition...
Plug gaps that large drive firing voltage to the moon! Upwards of 75,000 volts, which NO common ignition coil is built to withstand.
You ARE doing damage to the ignition coil because common coils aren't designed with INTERNAL INSULATION to hold back that much voltage!
NOT ONE.
Keep plug gaps reasonable, 0.035" to no more than 0.045"
See what gets you the best mileage and works with your igniton/coil/wires.
You might be supprised how LITTLE of a gap you can get away with.
Spark ENERGY is comprised of three components,
1. Voltage, Voltage is ONLY needed to ionize spark gaps so the actual SPARK CAN START... There isn't a gasoline engine in the world that takes 50,000 or 75,000 volts to do that particular little chore.
2. AMPERAGE, is the 'Heat' in the spark once it starts.
The more voltage you force the coil to make the less Amperage you will have.
You can have lots of Volts, or lots of Amps, not both.
Make reasonable Voltage, and you have power left for a HOT Amperage spark in the plug gap.
3. DURATION, the time the spark lingers in the plug gap.
The more time you force the coil to make VOLTAGE with a huge gap,
The more time you waste the could could be keeping an actual spark in the gap.
Reasonable VOLTAGE will give the TIME necessary for a good, hot, long lasting spark in the gap, which increases your chances of getting that cylinder lit CORRECTLY...
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NOW,
If you have a 28+ year old CJ, and you 'THINK' it needs a 'Tune Up'...
Should you spend $300 to $500 and throw out the ENTIRE ignition system and start over, then spend another $100 on reasonable wires, plugs, brass terminal distributor cap, reasonable rotor, ect.?
Or should you just spend $100 on reasonable wires, distributor cap, rotor and get the factory ignition working correctly, and upgraded to a reasonable standard?
The 'TeamRush' upgrade is common sense and some reasonable parts over hype and glossy advertisements.
