Vintage Ignitions Specialists???

Does any one know of someone dealing in vintage Mallory, W &amp; H, Grant/Spalding distributors? There are a bunch of people specializing in early carbs, intakes, adapters, etc. Have yet to find a ignition source. I am <font color="red"> STILL TRYING TO FIND</font> a Mallory for my '58 Cadillac motor, #ZC303 or #YC303, or something from any of the above. Anybody have any ideas???? Or better yet a distributor to sell!!!

 

I'm kinda intersted in this too. I picked up an NOS Mallory for a Cad a few years back but don't really want to use it until I know it can be serviced/repaired. This thing is absolutely cherry too, so it's almost too scary to think of using!
I'll check it out tonight. Can't remember the code number...

There must be someone out there that used to sevice Mallory's that would have an inventory of old condensers, points, rotors, caps, etc.

 

Peddro,
There were several different versions of Cad Mallorys, let me know what the code on yours is, should be one of the following:
Mallory #'s
49-51 = ZC248
52-53 = ZC283
54-62 = ZC303
These are all cent. and vacuum advance, the prefix "YC" for cent. advance only

I also found that W&amp;H DuCoil made distributors for Cads also, I believe that theirs were only cent. advance.
49-53 = D21D
54-62 = D22D
I'd love to see a picture of it, I am trying to build a reference folder of all the Caddy speed equipment. That way when I see something for sale I can be positive it is for a Caddy.
Brock

 

Try Dave, my neighbor accross the street. If he doesn't have it, he can usually find it. He's not cheap, since he mostly deals with restorers, but it might help if you told him Dan Watson sent ya. Anyone that needs NOS stuff, especially for GM, should check with him.

http://www.car-nection.com/yesteryear/

Dan

 

There is a Cali HAMBer that deals with Spaldings. I forget his name. He has a blown coupe.

 

Thanks for the info Mutt, I will try to give Dave a call, looks like I could have used his stuff when I was doing my Panhead as well. Live and learn.

Tman, did you remember yet????

 

did you try www.vintagespeed.com

 

I did check on that website about a week ago and they are pretty much carb guys. Even if they had one I'd be very leery of sending them $$$ or parts, have only heard a few good things, and MANY bad. Thanks for the tip though!

 

before ebay I used to find stuff in Hemmings pretty regular,

still worth looking at,

there is usualy a copy at most good magazine racks,

flip through the race parts section, you might find sumthin.

I found a couple Olds W&amp;H DuCoils one was mech only and the other had vac.

also found a W&amp;H for the Chev. still have it..

Paul

 

I was at the YNOT magazine store in Federal Way just yesterday doing that very thing! Great minds think alike huh Paul?!?!
Didn't find a damn thing for about the last 3-4 issues. For as many Caddy powered rods as there were in the 1950s and early 60s these are tough to find, that is why I am calling on the powers of the HAMB!

Brock

 

Glenn at the Salem Oregon Speed Shop works on that kind of stuff all the time. he is the only one i trust to do my dist. work. he has been at it for over 40 yrs and he knows his stuff. you can call him tue. thru fri between 2:30 to 5:30 pm pacific time. if you call other than those hours, he will not answer the phone, as he is busy doing dist. work and other stuff. his # is 503-364-4832
p.s if you have him work on it, don't expect a fast turnaround. usually takes 3-6 mo's, so plan accordingly.

 

Performance Automotive. ignition parts and distributor service. 1-800-556-1365
239-728-2810. They carry old Mallory parts.

 

Glen is a great guy, I have bought stuff from him for a few years. He is actually how I verified the Mallory numbers that I had were correct, alas he has no Caddy Mallorys either. Lots of people have rebuild stuff, I need the whole shooting match. Thanks again....

 

My mallory (marked ZC303C...but has a "Y" stamped over the "Z"...??????):

 

ID Plate (apologies for the **** focus):

 

Again:

 

Instructions (I can scan these if you want Brock):

 

And another.....by the way, I was also building up a lot of reference material for Cad &amp; LaSalle speed parts (manufacturers, parts, numbers, etc.) but I think I lost a lot of stuff when I walked out of my old job. Will have to take a look. Was going to build a website on the stuff, but only got a small start on the planing stages.

 

Billy Belmont at Belmont's Rod &amp; Custom in Dedham M*** has a good supply of parts for vintage Mallory distributors. His tel no. is 781-326-9599.
Mallory stuff does show up on ebay but the prices have been rising the last couple of years.

 

Peddro,
YOU ARE KILLING ME!!!!! ABSOLUTELY KILLING ME!!!! In the original box no less. You my friend have what I am trying to find. I would love it if you could scan the directions for me! I may end up needing so more photos and measurements from you as I may end up "making" one out of a Chev or Mopar Mallory. The Z being stamped over with a Y means that is was probably built as a vacuum and cent. advance, but sold as a cent. only so they stripped it and restamped. KILLING ME!!!!! I have been trying to save images and info as well when I run across it, Let me know if you do your site or if you want to trade info. Oh and by the way.....YOU ARE KILLING ME!!!!!
On the off chance, you don't want to sell it do you?!?!?
Thank, Brock

 

Brock,
Keep an eye on Ebay. I did see a few pop up when I was looking for a dizzy, but kept finding incomplete ones (thought I bought one, but I can't seem to find it..??). If there's a good source for caps and stuff, then I'd jump on them. I wouldn't mind getting one rebuilt as the one I have is ALMOST too good to use. It's more of a museum piece, but then I can't let it go to waste either.

Email me if you need any measurements (they'll be in millimetres! ). I'll scan the instructions as soon as possible. Will have a better look tonight or tomorrow for any Caddy literature I gathered.

It would be interesting if an existing (vintage) Mallory could be machined to fit. I saw a few old unused Y block Mallory's here at a swap about a year back that I scratched my head over.

 

Brock49Ford:
I have a page from a 1962 era speed catalog that listed 4 W&amp;H distributors for the Cad engines:

D21C = DuCoil for 49-53 models
D22C = DuCoil for 54-62 models
Both were centrifugal advance models set up with a 20 degree "superstock" advance, with an optional 30 degree setting available at no extra cost.

D21S = DuPoint for 49-53 models
D22S = DuPoint for 54-62 models
The W&amp;H DuPoint is less well known than their DuCoil distribs but do exist (I have a NOS one for the Olds engine), and they could be ordered with a clear plastic cap (although mine has a black cap on it that I believe is some type of Detroit OEM cap.
W&amp;H even made a kit so you could convert a DuPoint to a DuCoil. They were just a nice centrifugal advance dual point, aluminum bodied high performance distributor.
When W&amp;H went under Mr. Gasket bought them out and you can sometimes find the W&amp;H DuPoint distribs re-badged as Mr Gasket distribs on ebay.

I have never heard of anyone who specializes in servicing the W&amp;H distribs. If you have one and know a good parts guy I have heard that some late 50's-early 60's Ford points are a match for the ones W&amp;H used. I have been told that Accel points fit them too and the parts numbers that fit are: 110224 and 110218.

Caps and rotors are VERY hard to find and sellers often ask over $100 for nice caps in Hemmings and I have seen nice Cap and Rotor sets go for over $100 on ebay.
By the way, the REAL early DuCoil distribs when they were just starting out were based on stock cast iron OEM distributors. I have only seen photos of them in mags and have never seen one in person.

 

I have a mint Magspark with the marking Model YCM, Type 303D
There is no vac. advance. The Screw connection in the picture is empty and the connection is on the opposite side withe the condencer attached. Do you have connections on both sides?

 

Good info Jim thank you very much. I did try Billy here last week, he said that he has not had any in a long while, lots of caps and tune up stuff though. He said that there are a few meets in a couple of weeks and he would keep an eye out. I will definitely save all that W&amp;H info.

Skip, the YC are cent advance only, ZC had vacuum advance as well, basically race (YC) and street (ZC) I don't know if they were run with 2 condencers or may a provision so that it could be mover from side to side if there were firewall clearence issues. Got any pictures that you can post?? What are you running it in??
PS - Better post a proper intro before you get "beat in" to the gang!!! You OK with me though as you are a Caddy guy it sounds like.

Brock

 

Brock: The thing about Billy Belmont is that if you tell him you are looking for something and he finds one, he'll usually call you to see if you want it, so desireable parts like rare intakes and distribs/magnetos often get shipped out to buyers as soon as he finds them. Lots of the cool stuff he comes up with never makes it into his Hemmings ads.

Keep searching ebay, and in addition to searches for: Mallory, W H Ducoil, Grant Spaulding, etc.....also just search for "Cadillac Distributor" as I have seen some nice HP Cad distribs listed just as a "Cadillac Distributor" in the ebay ***le or as "Cadillac Ignition", and you had to read the description to find out that it was a HP aftermarket model.

 

Aren't some Stude distributors the same as Cad? I bought a WH Ducoil advertised as Stude. If it may fit yours I would consider selling it. I'll look for numbers on it later today.

alchemy

 

Alchemy,
I have not heard that about the dist. being interchangable, I know that a Cad intake can be modified to fit the Stude. Take a look at the numbers and see if they match any of the above. I would most definatily be interested if so. Thanks for checking!

Brock

 

Here's one link...
http://www.collectorsautosupply.com/

 

Brock:
My chart shows that the D21C Ducoil and D21S Dupoint fit the 51-52 Studes and 49-53 Cads.
None of the later listed W&amp;H distribs for the Stude (or any other W&amp;H distribs for that matter) have the same parts numbers as the ones listed for Cads.

 

curious as to why no one has bid on the one on ebay, I've been watching for a couple three days now, not a Caddy unit but it still might have parts you could swap..

it looks like it has a busted plug tower..

so uh,

how do ya "snipe" anyway?