I've found much info with regards to these things but would appriciate some further discussion.

As my truck sits now, I have a Mallory dizzy with points, Mallory coil. fresh 390, C6 stock 2bbl. I am getting a lot (so I'm told) of mechanical advance and part throttle detonation.

I'm not tired of points, but they are now worn to the point of no adjustment. I assume I need to rebuild the dizzy, or replace it.

If I go with petronics/crane do those systems replace the mechanical advance or am I still going to need to address that issue? I assume with either style of elec. ign. I'd have to purchase the recommended coil to handle heat and whatnot.

Where would a replacemant dizzy be found/how much?

I hear of guys going to duraspark, but I read I'd need to purchase an ignition box as well.

What is the easiest way to ecconomiclly(sp?) get decent ignition?
Remeber, I'm not against points, just I'm at a point where something has to be purchased/fixed/alter'd whatever...

TIA.
Mike

 

I'll give this a go, so I may be corrected if necessary...

It sounds like you are comparing apples and oranges here. If your Mallory dizz has pionts, you can just replace the points and adjust the new ones accordingly, as well as adjusting the advance curve with a spring set. The Petronic and Crane units are installed in place of the points, essentially upgrading your dizz to an electronic spark module, similar to the Duraspark unit factory produced by Ford.

--Mike

 

The Pertronics or crane electronic ignitions are an easy and cheap upgrade. It's worth it to most folks just to get rid of the points. I don't see how this would change your advance curve. You'll have to locate a recurve kit for your dizzy.

That being said, I think you can get a reman Duraspark for less than the Pertronics.

Disclaimer: this all coming from somebody that runs neither Duraspark, Mallory or a points setup. I'm running the MSD Billet FE dizzy. It's pricey and I have mixed feelings about it at this point. If I was going to spend the money again, I'd probably go with the DUI setup you may have seen in some of the other threads.

 

Ok, we need to address each problem seperately.

Timing/advance is controlled by the vacuum canister on the side of the dizzy. This controls the pinging/knocking. If you can not get it to stop pinging then an adjustable vacuum advance is needed. I've never owned a Mallory with vacuum advance so I'm not sure how adjustable they are. I would think they would be. Maybe not. There is also mechanical advance that could be causing you problems also. If you have too light of springs, then it may be advancing too much even without vacuum helping.

Seems you need to spend some time tinkering with it to get it set just right. I would disconnect the vacumm and work with just the mechanical part till you get rid of pinging. Then move on to vacumm and see if you can get anymore improvements.
The points have no real connection with this segment. Mallory makes a kit for adjusting machanical timing advance. It come with alot of springs and instructions on how to do it.

For the points issue and adjusting them or changing them constantly it's a big can-o-worms. With your Mallory dizzy, you can get a Unilite conversion for it (like $100) that will rid you of points and give you an "electronic" type ignition. I assume you have a "YL" model dizzy? Or some close version. My mechanical advance models were this type. Maybe the vacuum models had a slightly different model number. Anyhow, you can get a conversion for these thru someone like Jegs or Summit.

Putting in a Duraspark would be doing just like putting in a Unilite conversion. Same principle. If you can get a complete Duraspark set up(dizzy and box) real cheap then maybe do it. I dont think I would in this instance.

Your Mallory coil should be fine for ANY version that you choose. Remember, the dizzy just tells the coil to FIRE. Very low voltage, so there is no real issue with what you are using now.

FWIW, I would stick with the points and just work on getting the advance issue cleared up. The points do not control this, so I would work on what the real problem is then maybe put in a conversion.

Larry

 

WOW, we must have all been typing on this one at about the same time :-)

Just out of slightly off-topic curiousity, where is everybody?

Greg in Austin, Texas

 

Scary-isn't it

Mike in Littleton, Colorado

 

Mike in Phoenix Az.

Not sure which modle Mallory it is... I'll have a gander for some id info.
There is a little canistor on the side of the dizzy where the vacuum hooks on, doesn't appear to have any adjustment to it... will check.
Now, where would I look for new points and mech. advance adjustment kit?
I will check out the Unilite conversions... wish the $60 crane one would work...

/EDIT
Seems our pals at Summit have spring kits($30), points to elec. conversion kits($90), and adjustable vacuum canisters($30)...

$$$ ouch...

 

Canton, Ohio check'n in

Ya, it ain't cheap no matter what you try to do. That is why I say keep what you have. Try to get the timing issue fixed so it doesn't ping anymore.

Most factory vacuum advances are not adjustable. If you look in the little hole where the hose goes, the adj. ones have an allen screw that you can adjust. What this does is limit the travel, meaning total advance. If you have initial set at 8 degrees at idle and the vacuum can pull 30 degrees then you will have 38 total timing. This is good. If the vacuum can pull 50 degrees then you have 58 degrees this is NOT good.

I think the spring kit would be the first place I would start. As I mentioned leave the vacuum unhooked and work with mechanical advance. Unless the vacuum IS adjustable I would leave it alone for now.

With vacuum unhooked rev motor and see what your total timing is. It should not be much over 36-38 degrees. You will need to mark your damper using a tape measure to mark off higher than the 20 degree marks that are already there. Or if you have a timing light with adjustable **** on back that you can set and then read damper at 0 mark.

Mallory dizzy's have adjustments for total inside. There are two adj. stops and you can "tighten" up to remove total timing. Using the "tool" they offer you can adjust the stops. This will keep it from going to infinity. If no one has messed with it much, then it should be pretty close. Then you need to look at the springs. If they are too light, then it lets it advance too quick. Stiffer springs will slow it down. That is why I usually stick with only mechanical advance. I'm not sure if the vacuum will help you much. I have it disconnected on my stock 352 in my '67. It works/runs great. It pinged terrible when I bought it.

I know this is a lot to look at and do, but it is really simple actually.

Larry

 

Hey Mike! I found a cheap alternative for a points ignition that you might want to try. I didnt just dream this up myself, I found it on the CarbdFord site under "Dirt cheap ignition". I built my own HEI ignition for my Dodge 360 in my 1964 D200 Powerwagen, and thought I would try to build an HEI for the Ford 360 engine. It didnt work because I would have to machine a new shaft due to the oil pump drive socket required to drive the Ford oil pump. Sooooo, I was looking on the internet for a different solution. I currently have a 1970 F-350 1-ton with a hydraulic dump flatbed, duallies and four speed trans. It has a 360 engine with a Ford point distributor. My advance was messed up so I decided it was time for a different setup and time to dump the points!!!!! This setup uses a Ford Duraspark distributer from a 1975 F-250 or thereabouts with a 360 engine. I looked around and couldn't put my hands on a used one, ('cause were about four feet deep in snow right now!) so I bought a rebuilt distributer for $43.00. I also bought a new cap, rotor, and ignition wires. You will also need a GM HEI control module(I bought an Accell HEI module), a square coil from a 1993 Ford EFI car, and a coil wire that has a female end for the coil, and a female end for the distributer cap. The article said not to use an aftermarket coil. I just completely rebuilt my 360 and installed this ignition on February 9, 2004. I welded a piece of 2inch by 3inch angle iron right onto my power steering bracket to support the module and coil. This puts the coil and control module right next to the distributer. You mount the HEI control module to the bracket by drilling the appropriate holes and use dialectric lube on the back of the module where it mounts flat on the bracket. There are two small round tabs on the back of the module that you will need to cut off so that the module will fit flat. Mount the coil on the other end of the bracket, drill and bolt it, too. The wiring is easy!!!!!! There are three wires coming fron the distributer, black, orange and purple. There are four terminals sticking out of the GM control module, each labeled with a different letter, W and G on one side, B and C on the other. There are two terminals on the coil, positive and negative. You have the original positive wire coming from your key switch circuit. You do not use your original coil at all. Now let's see.... you connect the orange wire from the distibuter to the W terminal on the module. Connect the purple wire on distributer to the G terminal on the module. Connect the black wire from the distributer to one of the mounting bolts on the module for a ground. Now the other end of the module.... connect the B terminal AND the positive wire from the key switch to the positive terminal on the coil. Then connect a wire from the B terminal on the module to the negative side of the coil. Pull yer plugs and regap them to .045. Set the timing! Yer done! Since I installed this system in my truck it starts on about a crank and a half, where with points it was about five cranks. I notice that I do not have to push as hard on the accellerator anymore, more power! And I drive 100 miles roundtrip to work and have noticed a huge gain in fuel economy! I now have about 800 miles on this rebuilt engine. I salute the crazed individual who sparked this idea by daring to mount a GM part on a Ford, it works real good! If anyone would like a picture, I can send you one. Just e-mail me at Alaskamarkw@yahoo.com so I can send one! Anyone want a picture of a GM HEI distibuter converted to fit a Dodge 360? Catchem' later! AlaskaMark

 

Yikees!
I feel compelled to go that route solely based on the amount of time it must have taken to type that out! .

Is that the typical way to convert to duraspark?

I can get a '93 coil free... any chance you have the part number on the hei unit?

I checked out points sets on summit as well... the pictures don't look anything like what is inside my dizzy...

A friend of mine is trying to talk me into running pre-tfi 5.0 mustang stuff... anyone heard of doing this?

 

ok,
so, even if I go to electronic style in the Mallory, I still need to grab some springs and address the mechanical advance right?
So, I may as well grab a spring kit regardless of what I do.
Assuming the answer is yes, I think I'll just grab new points and continue running ala Freightrain...

Is swapping springs and points relitively simple? Any on-line how-to's?

 

oh boy...
so, non of the Mallory points sets (in Summit) look like what is in my dizzy.
Accel's standard replacement points look very much like what is in my dizzy.
I do not see any Mallory ID stuff on the dizzy housing.
My guess is I have a stock dizzy, with a Mallory cap... ?

Any where i can look online at a stock dizzy to help identify mine?

 

If it is a stock Ford dizzy it will have a casting number on the housing just under the cap mounting area- on the outside. Does the cap clip on or screw down?

 

clips on...

 

How about the casting number#? Anything?