Johnny,
I also bought a distributor from Summit. What a piece of crap. I sent it back to them. This is when I bought the MSD. The MSD Pro-Billet HEI is one of the best quality products I have ever bought. It is pricey, as any thing good is. I have not regretted buying it once, would do it again in a minute.
The Jacobs I had (still have laying in a drawer) would get hot and my truck would start skipping and popping like crazy. I would pull to the side of the road and let it cool off. It would be fine for a while, then it would do it again. I got tired of that crap and took it out.
The MSD comes with all the good MSD components. Nothing else to buy. If you can swing it, you would fall in love with it.
I know what you mean about paying $400.00 for something and not like it. Been there, done that.
On the carb, Edelbrock makes a 750 CFM Perfomer square bore carb. Holley also makes them, but I am not a fan of Holleys. My carb of choice is a Q-jet. I bought the Edelbrock 1904 Q-jet (795 CFM) and absolutely love it. Of course it would take some tuning to feed that 383 of yours. Whatever carb you choose, it will usually take some tuning to get it right.
You won't believe how much better it would run with a little more CFM's. You don't want to go overboard though. Then you are just wasting gas. For my use, I would use a good ole' Q-jet, but that's just me.
Let me know what you decide to do. I am really interested to know if you get it to quit pinging.
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Mike
1985 Chevy C-10
Mike's 73-87 Chevy Pickup Site