It certainly has had it's ups and downs over the years. I ran a Unilite for many years with no issues, then got three in a row that failed in short order. Then had another one that was fine - go figure. They have gone through so many ownership changes that I think quality gets set aside once in a while. Not too long ago MSD bought them out only and they killed the Mallory Brand, Then alongs comes Holley who buys MSD and decided to bring Mallory back but apparently all the old stuff had been sold off and it doesn't look like Holley wants to resurrect it.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming. lol I installed the coil and coil wire that I had bought and fired the car up. It runs, so it was time to start doing some more dismantling. It looks so much better with the excess wiring gone and the MSD box removed. While I was at it I removed the dash mounted tach and ***ociated wiring. The tach needed to be gone from the day I got the car. I have a little bit of body work to do to the dash but I think it looks so much better. Allan
I'm in St. Louis monthly.......... I could bring it with me and send it from there. PM me if you're serious. ........ the distributor should probably go with it though.
Quick question. With the Mallory coil, I'm ***uming wire from condensor goes to the negative post on the coil and the switched power from the ignition goes to the positive post on the coil? Do I need a ballast resistor on the positive side with this set up?
You would have ditched it off the dash............. or you'd be interested in it? lol If it's the latter, send me a PM.
Actually, aluminum is a much better conductor compared to br***. Aluminum comes in at 61% of copper conductivity, while br*** only manages 28%, or less than half that of aluminum. The problem is aluminum is soft, and erodes/corrodes easily so the service life isn't as long. But given the spark energies involved and the relative resistances of the two type of cap contacts, any difference is far too small to measure. The HEI ignition strikes me as one of those 'lowest common denominator' parts like M2 suspensions that's been embraced by the parts suppliers more for cost/familiarity reasons than because it's actually a superior product. It was designed as a low-cost, reliable OEM ignition; no matter what 'high performance' upgrades are done to it, it's design flaws still remain in whole or part. You rarely see them on 'serious' motors, and there's a reason for that. Personally, I've had nothing but good luck with MSD boxes. I've had failures with virtually every other brand I've tried (anything Mallory electronic was terrible...), and will never buy another ignition that requires proprietary parts like special cap/rotors. Being a Ford guy, using Duraspark distributors as triggers has worked flawlessly with the boxes. And the MSD isn't picky about what coil is being used, unlike many others. The box isn't that hard to hide.... LOL I have seen 'MSD' box failures, but those have been offshore copies (found at swap meets and eBay) that look like the real deal but if you open the box it will be quickly apparent that they're bootleg. http://www.hotrod.com/articles/counterfeit-automotive-products/
One more quick question. Checking the casting numbers on the engine it has a 75-87 454 Truck block (with 396 closed chamber heads). Before I pull the MSD distributor, the #1 wire looks to be in the wrong spot by about 1 plug wire. I'm ***uming the previous owner ran the wires based on where he stabbed the distributor when it was on TDC. Would it cause me any issues installing the Mallory in the same position and reinstalling the plug wires as they are, or should I find TDC and install the distributor with the rotor at the conventional #1 spot for this engine? Thanks in advance. Allan
It makes no difference. As long as you get the rotor pointing towards the #1 wire slot that you are going to use AND there is no interference with adjusting the dist. body for timing it doesn't matter. And with no vac can that should be easy.
I would put the distributor where it belongs, you might as well, since you're fixing so many other things that were iffy on the car. Yes, the condensor wire terminal is what you connect to negative terminal on the coil. Make sure you have a ballast resistor for the + terminal, unless you got a coil that does not require an external ballast resistor (they usually say on them if so). I meant I'd be interested in the tach, if it's not too expensive. for my new 70s luxury car...to make it feel more like a hot rod Lincoln
What should the points gap be set st on the Mallory dual point? Would like to get them set before I install the distributor. Thanks in advance.
If you end up installing a ballast resistor and the car runs for a while and then dies, like it's vapor locking, or is hard to start when warm, byp*** the ballast resistor and test drive. Ask me how I know. As mentioned, the coil instructions should tell you whether or not to use one. General rule is ballast resistor protects from too much voltage at points. Sound right? Non points distributors do not require resistor and may show above problem if you have one installed. Sound right?
If someone plays musical chairs with the distributor wires it will run fine, though won't that throw the timing marks on the damper?
the timing mark must always "align" with number number one spark plug wire on compression stroke. it won't run fine any other way. the distributor rotor can be clocked in any direction but when the timing mark is on number one compression stroke the plug wire it "aligns" to must go to number one.
? People do it all the time, for example stab the distributor 180° out. Just reinstall the wires at the cap, the distributor doesn't care a whit. The #1 tower designation on the cap itself, is just arbitrary. Now that will throw the timing marks off, because the #1 spark plug wire ain't #1 no more. But it will run fine, ***uming it's timed correctly. What I'm getting at, even stabbing a distributor "one tooth off" is enough to ****** the timimg marks. I think.
Interesting read of a pretty common problem with hot rods today. Some good stuff. AND there is only one true HEI and thats the orginal Delco 1974 to 1978 etc. Every body else is just a electronic ignition !!!
Helped buddy swap a 318 poly mopar in his 64 fury and he needed new cap and rotor for dist and found cheap dist [read of shore] for less than the cost of the cap and rotor for the good stuff so he bought two in case they were junk they had the internal modual no points,had the same problem, fire start warm and pop fire quit so we eliminated ballast resistor ran sweet after that not sayin its the way to go but it worked. FOR NOW.
So you're saying if the distributor is moved around 180° the timing marks won't move but also, it won't run correctly? edit: The distributor doesn't care where it gets dropped. If the wires are in proper firing order and lined up with the "new" #1 on the cap it will run fine. See where I'm goin' with that? People do it all the time. Confusing at first.
i am not confused, well maybe by your original statement that the timing marks move. if you loosened the distributor clamp bolt and rotated it 180 degrees it will not run. it will puff and weeze and back fire. yes with the timing mark on top dead center and on compression stroke you can drop a distributor in with the rotor pointing in any direction and align number one wire with the rotor it will run. what's your point?
No, I just wondered if it would affect the timing marks and you said something about "it won't run fine", etc though people do it all the time. Sorry for the confusion.
Lots of very interesting reading that's for sure. My YBlock runs a pertronix 1 with ballast resister and I'm very happy with it. Our 1/2 mile dirt Super stock runs a MSD w/6AL box, and my GMC 6 racing engine has just about everything from a stock dist with dual point plate to 3 different electronic. It currently and for the last 15 yrs has had a HEI from Performance Distrbutors in Memphis Tn. It has never ever failed to perform up to 6500 rpm my max. I run it on 18 volts and to give an idea on what it can fire, the stock jetting on the carb I run are 60-62 and currently I have 76-79 jets and .047" spark gap. Gasoline is power, the more you can fire clean the more power you make period. Air-fuel ratio be damned. I will richen it again before my next run since I set a record at El Mirage in November 2016. PD wants me to put in more fuel and get the gap up to .075" but I have never tried it. I have drilled five 1/8" holes inline with the rotor in the cap between each contact and never find any tracking in the cap. All this weird but it's taken many years to make this work and granted its not a street car and it gets a lot tlc eyeballing. JD
I remember reading something about 5000 RPM in that earlier epic about HEI which caused some long lost thoughts about same to come back. Rooting through the dusty caverns of the school shop one time what did I find but an old Sun Synchrograph. Naturally I wanted to play with it but first it needed a lot of love. Anyway at one point I got it working and grabbed all the distribulators I could find including some HEI stuff. The one thing I remember from this effort was that some [maybe all? it's been years] of the HEI stuff started showing serious spark ****ter over 5000 RPM. Now none of these were virgins, but surely they weren't all trashed in the same way. FWIW.
Waiting for replacement plug wires to arrive for the Mallory distributor and then I can get this thing running again.
I've been giving a lot of thought to the distributor options and ended up picking up a Mallory dual point with vacuum advance that had been "lightly used". I got the engine to TDC and dropped in the distributor. Just need to make up the spark plug wires (which finally showed up) and then I should be able to fire the engine. I'm ***uming with the coil I bought (internally resisted) that I don't need a ballast resistor? I also wasn't happy with the Rochester Q-Jet so picked up a Holley 750 and replaced it. Could somebody advise which port the vacuum hose from the distributor should go to? Thanks in advance. Allan
"in advance"...I get it Looks like it should work, I suppose. Try the vacuum advance on the hose that pokes out the bottom front of the carb (that is full vacuum). If it has trouble with idle, try the one poking out the side of the fuel block (the one in the center of your lower picture), that is ported vacuum. Make sure to set the timing with the vacuum disconnected from the distributor. And also check what the advance is at higher rpm, such as 3000 or so (using a dial or digital timing light). You want around 40 degrees total (initial plus mechanical), and the vac*** advance will make it go even higher. If it pings or surges with that much advance, bring it back a few degrees.
The Jalopy Journal
