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DUI distributor questions

CJ who???

Full Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2011
Messages
173
Loc.
Banning, Ca...
Hello All, I just purchased the $139.00 dui distributor from JBG. I do have a 2" bodylift on my bronco so it should fit with no issues. I see that BCB also have a dui dist. ($368.00) that looks pretty much the same, but made by another vendor. Before I install it, does anybody have anything bad or good to say about either one? If the one that I bought is a peice of crap, I'd rather send it back before I install it and get the one from BCB, or learn of another option. Any help would be gratly appreciated...
 

JIMS74

Sr. Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
412
Loc.
PORTSMOUTH, VA.
There both GM HEI dist. the one from jeffs is made by proform, I think, and I have heard good and bad reveiws. The one from BCB is a DUI "davis unified ignition" dist. very nice dist. great reviews. there is alot of great info them just look up "davis unified ignition". there can be other fitment issues with both dist. at the intake and heater hose return and some air cleaner bases. welcome to the site.
Jim
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
51,618
x2
There are several people here who are having good luck with the HEI you bought CJ, but I'd say a sizable group of users have had multiple failures. Some catastrophically, and some almost immediately.
Never heard a bad thing about a real DUI though, other than it's initial price. I guess you get what you pay for is true enough here. I can't speak from experience, but it sounds an awful lot like the DUI is made in the USA. That would at least explain the price, if not the quality too.
Davis is the originator, while Proform and ProComp are the copies. I think there's one more too, but it's hard to say since there are a lot of people selling the inexpensive ones nowadays. Even Mr Gasket/Accel/Mallory makes some now too. Don't know if they suit our applications too, but I've seen them. Don't know anyone who's used one though, so can't say for their quality. Love the rest of the items in Accel's and Mallory's lineups though, so there's that.

I hate to say anything about Tom's products though. I like them and they have a well deserved reputation as honest folks selling good products. And any of the vendors will be looking for good deals on Bronco products to sell to their customers to gain some advantage in a sale. So maybe give them a call to see if they've had any more than the usual troubles with a product, and ask what their warranty and/or return policy is regarding this product specifically.
I bet they'll tell you the honest skinny about it, and you can make a better informed decision as to using it.
After all, the people that are having good luck with them, absolutely love them!

Let us know what you decide to do too, so we can add it to the "official casual early bronco database of handy dandy information for future reference" we keep compiling. ;D

And x2 on the welcome too!

Paul
 

NY-Bronco

Resident Dipstick
Joined
Aug 4, 2010
Messages
2,336
Loc.
Weehawken, NJ
I used the BCB DUi prior to going EFI and tje thing performed quite nicely! That being said there are a few things to consider. Since you have a 2" bodylift you will have no issues height wise but you have to take into consideration the size of your aircleaner. The manifold was also somewhat of an issue. I had to shave off a small portion of it. I used the Edelbrock performer manifold and it had a nub on it which I had to shave off. That was a replacement for an old Weiand intake which did not work at all. But once you have all that worked out it was great.
Here is a pic so you get an idea of the size of this thing:

photo-38.JPG


Here is a pic of the manifold. Ill try to find the pic with the shaved off portion. The round piece right before the Edelbrock writing had to be taken down.

photo-9.JPG
 

NY-Bronco

Resident Dipstick
Joined
Aug 4, 2010
Messages
2,336
Loc.
Weehawken, NJ
Found the pics. Sorry about the quality. Phone pics in a dark garage. While the DUI fits in there nicely the problem I had was wherever I had to open the DUI the latch would hit the manifold and also timing was an issue because yo cant turn it without shaving the manifold. Taking the manifold down a bit was quick and easy.
 

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Desert Dweller

Sr. Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2011
Messages
381
Loc.
Central WA
I bought a GM style HEI with a 60,000 volt coil for my 351W out of TN for $49.90 laid in. (prob a Chinese copy) Ran it all winter- no problems. Bronco starts the best it has in 25 years. Unless the casting breaks, what I like about it ,it it should fail for some reason, is that I can walk into any parts supplier and get replacement components for it.
Since I don't have a body lift and a W engine, I had to trim the hood brace a little.. And use a 45 degree brass fitting for the heater hose on the intake.:cool:
 

lilthom

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 29, 2005
Messages
1,714
I have run the true DUI for about 6 years now with no issues at all. If nothing else they look pretty cool under the hood.
 

markperry

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 8, 2009
Messages
4,175
Hello All, I just purchased the $139.00 dui distributor from JBG. I do have a 2" bodylift on my bronco so it should fit with no issues. I see that BCB also have a dui dist. ($368.00) that looks pretty much the same, but made by another vendor. Before I install it, does anybody have anything bad or good to say about either one? If the one that I bought is a peice of crap, I'd rather send it back before I install it and get the one from BCB, or learn of another option. Any help would be gratly appreciated...

Well, I went through three of those JBG dizzy's before they finally refunded my money.....They claimed I was doing something wrong when I installed it? I purchased a 55.00 HEI from ebay and it fired right up!

The only thing I was doing wrong was trying to use the JBG dizzy!
picture-277.jpg
 
Last edited:

bad 68

Sr. Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2010
Messages
930
Loc.
Northest Washington
I have been running the original Davis Unified Ignition for about 12 years now with no issues. No distributor gear wear. I had to clean up the Edlebrock performer intake like others on here have said. Also have an offset air filter housing, availible form Jegs or Summitt.
 

alstick

New Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2010
Messages
25
I've had two Proform HEIs one in a AMC 401 one in a 545 Ford (big block stroker) and both worked flawlessly. I have another I'll be using in the 302.
 

bax

Contributor
Old Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2005
Messages
14,549
Buy a real DUI from DUI. They will custom set it up for your vehicle / motor options. Davis Unified Ignition make a very good distributor. Lots of cheap crap out there that claim to be a DUI. Big difference.
 
OP
OP
C

CJ who???

Full Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2011
Messages
173
Loc.
Banning, Ca...
Thanks everybody for the helpful comments. Instead of sending it back ($$$ for shipping) and a taking a 15% restocking fee hit. I think I'll just give it a shot. If it turns out that I have problems, I'll buy the Davis Unified Ignition and write it off as experience learned the hard way. It sounds like a good idea to have a spare parts kit for it in the glove box though. I'm waiting for some 10mm sparkplug wires that I ordered to show up before I install it. I'll let ya know how it goes. Again thanks for all your comments
 

SC74

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
3,467
My DUI from BC's has been in 5+ years and one of the best motor improvements I've done to it.
 
OP
OP
C

CJ who???

Full Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2011
Messages
173
Loc.
Banning, Ca...
Well after thinking about it more, I just couldn't get myself to install something on my Bronc that I might regret just to save a couple bucks.... I shipped back the DUI copycat, and used it as a store credit for some good headers that I just finished installing, then purchased the Davis Unified Ignition HEI. distributor. I also installed the 10 mm "Livewires" and sparkplugs to go along. A 13" air filter will clear the DUI dizzy without any mods.
 

nutter3

Full Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2005
Messages
325
CJ,

I tried using a small air cleaner to clear my DUI on my 351W. I just didn't like the small air cleaner. I tried the Edelbrock 1222 triangle air cleaner. It fit very nice with no spacers.
 

mikeginn

Jr. Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
82
Just got a summit hei dist in the mail. Haven't hooked it up yet but man it looks really nice lol.
 
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