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Technical SBC Mallory Dual Point Tach Drive Distributor

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by 51504bat, Oct 27, 2024.

  1. 51504bat
    Joined: May 22, 2010
    Posts: 5,486

    51504bat
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Bought this dual point tach drive Mallory at yesterday's swap meet. Thinking about having Charlie NY convert it for my 8ba. Charlie quoted me a fair price range for the conversion. It's complete and looks good inside but if it needs new internals and I have to factor in 2 sets of new points and all the other internal parts I'm not sure if it's worth the cost just because I don't like how the window cap Chevy distributor looks. Also, since it's a tach drive and I already have an electronic tach. I hate to modify it when it might be better off going to someone who needs the drive. Would I piss off the hot rod gods if I had it converted? Just asking. 1000001451.jpg 1000001452.jpg 1000001453.jpg
     
  2. If it was mine I would run it as is keep an eye on the points once per year and find a Moroso cable driven tach to use with it.
     
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  3. 19Eddy30
    Joined: Mar 27, 2011
    Posts: 3,474

    19Eddy30
    Member
    from VA

    Why not go with a Unlight , or swap some parts around , or look for non tac drive
    The Mallorys all $75- $150 ish
    Not rare
     
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  4. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 59,295

    squirrel
    Member

    Nice distributor, but no vacuum advance on them. I'd clean up the points and run it, and connect it to an old cable drive distributor. I ran one in Plan II for a long time, never did buy any points for it.
     
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  5. 51504bat
    Joined: May 22, 2010
    Posts: 5,486

    51504bat
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    The current Bubba converted Chevy unit in my 8ba is centrifugal advance only and it runs fine so not concerned about the Mallory being centrifugal advance only. And since I already have an electric tach I can't seen going with a new cable drive tach. I guess it being a tach drive unit isn't all that rare so not a big deal to convert it if I do decide to go that route. I guess the only question is how much do I hate the looks of the current Chevy distributor on the flathead in terms of the cost to get the Mallory ready to run? Thanks for all the insight.
     
  6. tubman
    Joined: May 16, 2007
    Posts: 7,970

    tubman
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I'm doing the same thing, but I am using an older Mallory "flattop". While all of the Mallory's are good distributors, you do it for "the look", which the newer units just don't have. I personally would not spend the money on one of the newer units. I bought an SBC "flattop" Double Life off of eBay for $65 bucks that had a new cap, rotor, and points that someone who didn't know how a Double Life works had miswired. It's going to Charlie tomorrow. I got it specifically for the tach drive, as I found a NOS SW mechanical drive tach on eBay for $69!

    Bottom line, unless you specifically want the tach drive, don't bother with that distributor. My personal opinion is to not mess with any of the "modern" Mallory distributors (especially a "UniLite").
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2024
    51504bat likes this.
  7. 427 sleeper
    Joined: Mar 8, 2017
    Posts: 3,319

    427 sleeper
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Just because it has a tach drive, doesn't mean you have to use it. You can still run the electric tach off of the coil. I'd run it.
     
    19Eddy30, 51504bat and seb fontana like this.
  8. 19Eddy30
    Joined: Mar 27, 2011
    Posts: 3,474

    19Eddy30
    Member
    from VA

    ^^^^
    Like @427 sleeper said , Run the way it is,
    Maybe later you will find a mechanical tac
     
  9. tubman
    Joined: May 16, 2007
    Posts: 7,970

    tubman
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

  10. 19Eddy30
    Joined: Mar 27, 2011
    Posts: 3,474

    19Eddy30
    Member
    from VA

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