I am running a Mallory dual pt. dizzy,and am sick and tired of changing out the dang condenser on the side of the road. I am gonna go to electronic ign..Any input on a Mallory vs. Pertronic unit? i only wanna do this conversion once.(Famous last words ) Chuck Fish
I've run a Mallory Uni-Lite for about 20 years on my F E motor. Only had a problem once, seems its not good to spin them over without power. Had to replace the brain. Never tried the other.....OLDBEET
Most people like 'em and I understand they've made changes since but I got stranded FAAAAAAAAAAR from home by Pertronix and will not use them without a good set of points in the glovebox. Chris
Well, Chuck, if you DO buy the Pertronix, keep the points in the car and SAVE YOUR RECEIPT. I bought the Ignitor II back in March. I put it in my 55 Ford and I loved it. I went out about a month ago, after the car had sat for a bit, and it wouldn't start. I called pertronix and did their test that they recommend. It is trash now, it failed the test. The guy at Pertronix said they need the receipt to take it back. So, I'll probably try to call them again and see what happens, but I sure as **** don't have that receipt anymore, so I may be out $100. I am probably in the minority here, as most people swear by the Pertronix, but I just don't trust ANY electronic **** anymore. My HEI went out at about a month earlier. I'm sticking with points.
I put a Pertronix "Flamethrower" kit in my HEI about two years ago and have had no problems at all. (knock on wood )
Been there..., done that..., with all the above mentioned ..., Answer..., MSD! Great to hear that the unilight works for you oldbeet..., I tossed a coin 20 years ago and MSD won and I never had a failure. (maybe I'm Lucky!) Mark
Get the best of both systems. Keep the distributor you have now. Keep the points. Use a Capacitive Discharge ignition. They're simple, cheap and offer great improvements over a normal points ignition without the MSD cost. And when-if it ever goes out, then just move the wires back over to the condensor and coil and byp*** the electrics to use the existing ignition. I've heard many bad stories about Uni-Lites and have had bad luck with Pertronix. I wouldn't recommend either.
I run a pertronix in my '32, so far no problem. I've got to agree also on MSD, IMO the best ignition stuff made. Frank
On the same note, has anyone tried the New "pertronix" looking unit Crane has? It come with a built in pot to set the rev limit even.
Well, I got what I asked for. Lots of good in-put. I guess I'll do some in depth research. I have no other complaint on the dual pt. dizzy,other than the fact it eats condensers. I have tried all brands and have not found one that will last more than a couple a hunnert miles.I have changed out numerous ballast resistors as well(none were bad). The capicator discharge system sounds like it might be up my alley. I'm kinda "old school" and don't really think electronic ignition parts belong on a flathead,but at this point(no pun intended )I have a perfectly good 36 Ford truck,I have lost faith in,and am afraid to drive it any distance from home. It was my intention to make this truck my daily driver,but it has spent more time on a rollback than on the road.Everything else works great,except the dang ignition system. Of course it's nothing a good "SBC" could'nt fix,lol. Chuck Fish
I run a pertronix in my stude and have had NO problems at all (been about 3 years) my dad's been running a unilite on his 270 jimmy for 7 years with no problems, just a matter of opinion I guess.
if you run the mallory get the magnetic trigger version, the led version burns out pretty easy. the pertronix is nice, but after 2 years i had one burn out, my dad had one burn out, and a friend had one die too, all after about 2 years. the new ignitor II seems to be pretty good so far.
Man how ironic...I posted a bit of a rant on this very topic not too long ago...Boy do I feel for ya man...I WAS runnin a Mallory Unilite on my 69 350...had it just shy of 10 years...finally started leavin me stranded. I did research on top of research to figure out what the hell was goin on...just about drove me nuts. Turns out the unilite's life span is roughly about 5-10 years (on average) and then...you better have a spare handy. Most average auto shops don't have them in stock. I ended up goin with a GM Hei dizzy on the 350. I just got it in this weekend...so we'll see what happends. So far so good. I 'm a bit more at ease knowing the popularity of HEI's so replacement parts shouldn't be a big deal. However I also have a 58 pontiac I'm workin on and thought about goin with one of the Crane hei deals w/ the rev limiter on that...not too sure yet. I'd say stay somewhat practicle if the ride's a daily driver. Or at least have a bone yard Hei or points dizzy as a spare with you. Good luck man.
ok... here is what i gots. First off.. the info i express here is what happened to me and to be taken for about how much you paid for it. The crane xri ignition is a peice of ****. I decided to buy one because it was 10 dollars less then the pertronix that i had because i killed it... or maybe just the coil i had when i switched it off the ballast resistor( stupid mistake). it is hard to start. it seems like it dosent want to fire the plugs. i don't like it and it is a pain in the *** to install.. it takes about 4 times longer to install than the pertronix. The pertronix ignitor was in my truck and worked great til i changed something and ****ed it up. i am currently getting ready to buy another pertronix and hopefully get my truck running reliably again. The reason i am going back to pertronix instead of back to points is that my truck started like a new car w/ the pertronix and i could never get it to do the same w/ the points. Thanks for listening to the rant. Garth
i havent had any problems wit the pentx.for about 2 summers.i think the rev limiter would be a cool thing though.on the ballest resister i was thinking of pulling mine too. thanks for mentioning that.i had read that you souldnt in there manual,but i talked to others with cars from the early 70's,and they say they work fine without you just need the right ressistance in the coil.that may have been the reason yours went ca put. eric
56 Erdy, when I got my Pertronix and had questions, their tech guy told me not to run my ballast resistor with the Ignitor II, maybe the Ignitor is different.
I am sure that that was the reason... but in the long run... until i get a multimeter and have a chance to go through every thing again.. then i'll know for sure. Garth
On the condenser: First, get one from Standard or Echlin, not Mallory. Then try it with a really solid ground--run wire from mount screw out to engine, then from same engine bolt to where bat ground bolts on. Use star washers too. You likely just have something along the way that is too well painted to ground properly.
Very, very, very soon, maybe within a month, I am going to get a custom setup from Dave's Small-body Hei's. I hear his health may be declining... but I know a couple guys that are using his custom jobs and they have nothing but good words. One is a modified Vertex mag that is now an electronic distributor in his blown SBC engine in his Willys g***er. He runs an MSD 6ALBTM unit to it. The other is a 324 Olds engine a friend has. But if not Dave's (great custom work), or Pertronix (easily ordered over phone), then what other choices does a guy have for an electronic setup for an odd-ball engine?
I sell Pertronix through the shop and have a Unilite conversion in my 428SCJ powered '69 Mach I. The Pertonix gets the nod if your going for the stealth look as it only uses two wires for a hook up whereas the Mallory uses four. We've sold/installed many Pertronix units without any problems. The Unilite conversion in my Mustang has been in the car almost 10 years and has been flawless. I use an adjustable Mallory rev limiter and a MSD Blaster 2 coil with it. -Mike.
I haven't had any Mallory products, but love-hate thing going with the Ignitor 2 in my truck's 390 FE. When it's working well, it runs tops and you do notice improved perfomance, compared to points. I did have to get mine replaced, the microcontroller bought the farm. Eventually I'd love to get MSD, the Ignitor 2's working well. The customer service was great.
I had the same problem on my Flathead with Mallory condensers. Problem is heat. I took the condenser off the Dissy and put it under the dash. Easier on a chev as the dissy is at the back. Worked 100% for the last 12 Months before condensers only lasted a couple of months. Rich
One of my vehicles has a MSD Pro-Billet Ready to Run distributor. Best distributor I have ever used. Period. A high tech MSD billet distributor would look out of place on a hot rod. For this reason, I'll be using a Dave's Small Body HEI unit on my 283. I've heard nothing but good things about them, whereas I've heard a LOT of horror stories about the Pertronix/Unilite conversion modules. I'm pretty sure Dave does a Flathead conversion. Here's another option that I was considering.. on eBay, there's a guy who sells factory remanufactured Mallory MBI (magnetic breakerless) distributors for about $140. They look about the same as a Unilite. I don't know if Mallory make these for a Flatmotor though. Ed
the thing i dont like about my petrix one is i have to wait like 5 seconds to start it.with the ign. on.it seems like i read something about this before.wasnt there another part # that didnt do this?maybe i put the wrong one in.its kind of anouning. eric
MSD people they are fool proof and go forever, sure ya gotta buy the box to go with them but the pro-billets are the ****,, aside from the housings are billet,,, but a old beater socket style cap on and your good to go of course i might have been influenced by years of drag racing!!!!
Some food for thought on the subject: Discussion A Discussion B Discussion C One More Ok, last one And finally a link to Dave's Small-Body HEIs, Dave is a super cool guy, who even though dislikes and dosen't sell Pertronix products has taken the time to help myself and countless others get our Pertronix units running properly. If I was doing it all again, I would have gone with Dave in the first place.
Haven't used pertronix, but have had a Unilite in an engine since '87. It died at about the 9-year point, but I replaced the module & still going strong. I have fried one module that was my own fault - they can be a bit sensitive. I've heard good & bad about both Unilite & Pertronix. Have heard nothing but good for MSD - next time, I may go that route.
I'm running the Mallory UniLite with no problems so far, but I've only had the car on the road for 1/2 year. A few people told me the power module is prone to fry, so I bought a spare module and keep it in the car. I figured the chances of finding one at a local Autoparts somewhere in the middle of BFE was slim, so I play it safe and bring one with me.
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