Does it matter if the coil is mounted in the dizzy or outside of it? I swapped an 88 355 (remote mounted coil) into my 86 which stock had an "in cap coil". Does it matter where its located? Can they be interchanged freely? I know the 86 works well and it plugs right in so I'm tempted to just swap it over if it works like that. I'm obviously new to the concept of a distributor.

 

It doesnt matter as long as you have all the components to drop in a non HEI dizzy.

 

Do you know what years had HEI distributors? I hear the term alot and I'm not quite sure if its just a generic GM thing or if its specific for certain years/cars.

 

All thirdgens had HEIs. I think GM started with HEIs around 1975.

 

yes it was in the early 70s that GM had switched to HEI dizzys, im not to sure when and which models came with cc HEI dizzys though.

 

1981 was the first year for computer controlled HEIs in GM passenger cars (in the US). Everything 3rd gen was computer controlled. The only difference was that in about 1986 they started using "divorced coil" computer controlled HEI setups. They were still basically the same electronically speaking, but the coil became remote-mounted and the distributor cap got smaller.

I'm not sure, however, if the wiring/electronics between the ECM and the distributor is compatible between in-cap computer controlled HEIs and divorce-coil computer controlled HEIs. I know the plugs themselves are different but I don't know if the electronics are still compatible. I suspect not, but I've never tried it. You need the ECM to "talk to" the distributor correctly or you get no timing advance.

 

Correction:
The early (82-85) Canadian and export F-bodies (except the L-69) were non-CC.

 

1987, actually, although I don't know what the '85 & '86 TPI set-ups had - probably the small cap.