Looking to decide between a few options on my 303 for ignition vs the OG distributor with Petronix. Magneto, Spaulding Flamethrower, Mallory dual or Ducoil set up? I don’t know a lot on the differences so asking for thoughts on it. Thanks
Factory Dist. works great,if not trying for over high RPM. Dual Point Dist are even a little better. Both have worked really well for me,many years. Petronix are for those who failed " How to clean set points cl*** "if go with that ****,have brand new extra Petronix with you at all times.
Here's a couple. The first one is an original distributor that has a Mallory dual point conversion installed. You can't see them, but the Mallory dual points provide increased dwell which extends coil saturation and produces a hotter spark. The Mallory points are of a higher quality with stronger springs for higher RPM's. Mallory made so many products that new points are surprisingly easy to find (though a little spendy). The external condenser is a tip-off that it is a dual-point, as the second set of points take up the space where the condenser usually lives. The second is a setup I have on a '51 303. It is also from Mallory. It uses a dual point distributor and a special coil with two primary windings and one secondary winding. The points operate independently of each other and activate each primary winding alternately. The one primary fires each time amd works like a "poor man's dual coil". What it all boils down to is what you already have or can find. The stuff is still out there if you look for it. I have gotten stuff very cheaply because most people have no idea what they have. Obviously, those "whiz-bang" condensers add 150 HP each!
Why not use the original points distributor? Easy to set up and runs good for 12 to 15 k miles. People complain about the maintenance on points but a person should be able to change the cap, rotor, points and condenser and set the dwell in about 1/2 to 1 hour. You can keep a spare set of points, condenser, rotor and cap in the glove box. Throw in a long spark plug wire, coil and ballast and you can fix any ignition problem on the road. The stuff is fairly inexpensive to boot. That’s my opinion anyway. Dan
Stock distributor for me: This is a 324 but with a Edmunds 303 2x2 manifold which was made for twin 1949-1950 Olds Rochester AA back draft carbs which use Edmunds special air cleaners made for this setup. The distributor needs to be the shorter 49-50 type to clear the rear air cleaner. The distributor is stock except it was chromed back in the 50s. Totally reliable, and my son used to street race it at crazy rpms and it doesn't need anything better for ignition. It's been on the road since 2016 and as my primary car for 6-7 years including 12 months a year/winter too. I'm not good with maintenance, I have not touched the points or removed the cap in 10 years, haven't adjusted the carbs either. It runs perfect in all seasons so I don't dare touch it. I did find a random nors condenser in the shop one day, and put it in the trunk a few years ago as a spare. Pic is when I took it to the ocean in Rhode Island in 2021, no tools, no cell back then.
@F&J is absolutely correct. However, I can't help myself when working with Hot Rod engines and just have to **** with anything I can, including the ignition system, thus the stuff I have collected. I think the stock distributor with the Mallory conversion would be the ideal solution. It'll run good, look good, and even have an aura of "high Performance" about it with the external "Trash Can" condenser. (And, if you don't tell anybody, you could even get by hanging a dummy Mallory on a stock single point unit.) I also have one of those Edmunds dual carb units. Small base Rochester 2G'g also bolt right on, so that's what I'm using. I wouldn't want to block the view of that Mallory "flattop".
For the street I wouldn't want any car to run without centrifugal and vacuum advance. For budget racing? Whatever, it just needs to run good at high rpm, full throttle, and fuel economy isn't an issue.
I've used the Mr.Gasket dual point conversion on so many cars because they worked so well. Anything that I've owned that was point distributor got the conversion kit. Actually had a actual Mallory dual point distributor and spark box on one engine with mechanical advance, pulled it, rebuilt the stock distributor with the mr.gasket kit and set up for mechanical advance. Left the old vacuum canister on the distributor unhooked and faked and hid the spark box because I liked the looks of it being all stock. Always like that stock sleeper look. Street race and afterwards open the hood and it all looked stock with the factory intake (Pontiacs had a killer factory intake), distributor etc. Only give away was the headers, of course a nice set of quiet mufflers always helped keep that sleeper look going. ...
I'm going to say it depends 75% on how and where you are going to drive it and what you intend to do with it. Mag, do you have the engine built to the point where it actually is involved in the performance equation or is it for Bubba points at show and tell time? Pertronix = The selling point of Pertronix from day one out of improved overall performance is that you can carry points and condenser in your glove box and if the Pertronix ****s out you can change back to points and end up having to because I have never walked into a regular parts house and saw anything Pertronix in the place and when I worked in a parts house that was also the area go to speed shop not even a Pertronix catalog and that was when they were the hot lick. Points, I have filed the points in a guys Dodge pickup at a little dirt rest area 15 miles west of Little America Wyoming with an old emory board his wife's side kick had in her purse and set the points with a match book cover and got them going. No wrecker call, no driving who knows how far to a parts house and only about a half hour of figuring out the problem and fixing it. True you have to change the points every ten or 15K but for most guys on this board that is two or three years if not longer so it is a moot point.
If you look hard, the good pre-'70s points with fiber rubbing block can be found. Keep the cam lubed, & they'll live a long, long life. Niehoff, Echlin, D-R are high quality, many other brands used to be "the only ones I'll use". A dual point plate using Delco style points gets my vote, too.
All Valid points. Except a Mag just isn't for performance. Aircraft use mags, tractors as well because they are dependable, consistent and reliable. Yes they can add performance, but to any engine. Not just full tilt ones which require more consistent hotter spark. I for example have them on bone stock 283's, 327's, and a 350 and also a pretty warmed over 324 Olds currently, Cads and Chryslers have had them as well. But regardless of compression, camshaft, or carb Aration they've always added reliability and consistency. Mags have points and condensers just like a standard ignition system. The difference is they make their own charge from the magnets and field coil independent of the charging or battery systems. Believe it or not those aspects are what primarily causes points wear and condenser/coil burnout due to the inconsistent voltage or surge. The very fact that Pertronix selling point is "you keep the points and condenser in the glove box so you can change them back if anything goes wrong" That should tell you all you need to know. Why change out working stuff if the stuff your changing isn't good enough to throw the old **** away? Just some simple thoughts from a simple guy. A Mag takes one wire to a grounded switch. Doesn't get much simpler or reliable than that. Honestly your engine will also run well with the stock distributor and coil set up. Currently we have many miles on a Mallory Dual set up in my kids F1. It's what he wanted so it's what he got. Also a Mallory Dual point is readily available and parts can be found. Much like the Stock Distributor. Also tuning the Advance Springs will make a significant difference in the power and torque curve. It's all about what you find that is not worn out and you can tune it from there. Best thing is you have an Olds. One of the greatest engines ever made! - Tim
I forgot about that, my last Harley had a Morse (?) magneto. Once I got everything straightened out from the previous owners screwing around it ran great. And best of all, it started with a gentle kick unlike my knucklehead that liked an “energetic” kick. I remember seeing them on all sorts of machinery. One of my old high school friends ran a Vertex in the blown 409 in his street driven Anglia. I thought it was cool but I couldn’t afford one back then.
I run a Pertronix in a stock distributor on a '56 324 in a big Holiday 98 coupe. I ran points in that for a while when I first got it, but I had a distributor on the shelf from a '61 394 that had the Ignitor in it and I decided to swap it out. I can tell you the Pertronix is the single best performance modification I think I could have made. Even on the coldest of days, I get an immediate, hot spark that gives me a smooth steady idle right away, never breaks up even in higher RPMs, and has never given me a hiccup in tens of thousands of miles of driving. I know people say you can fix your points on the side of the road, file points on the side of the road, or replace them, but I would much rather not have to touch the distributor at all. And in the very rare scenario where I need to replace something in the distributor, I'm far more likely to walk into a Pep Boys or Advanced and find an Ignitor on the the shelf than a set of points. Or just carry an extra ignitor, just in case. They're not that expensive to have one on stand-by, and especially in a car that gets driven a lot or driven far. I did that when I was driving into Canada or out to Indiana from NJ, worth the $60 even though I didn't need it. Most of the people who complain about Pertronix reliability didn't read the directions. I'd venture to say that 90+% of problems with the Pertronix can be narrowed down to these issues; 1)They either didn't set the air gap properly (which I had to do when I swapped the drive gear from the 56 Olds to the 61 Olds distributor) 2) They have a bad or insufficient ground 3) They power it from the ballast resistor like a points unit and don't put a full 12v to the distributor 4) The use a coil with the improper internal resistance. 5) For people still running the Ignitor I unit (like I have in my Olds), leaving the key in the "on" position without the engine running.
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