[Skippy597]

What's everyone doing for distributors and ignition systems? Seems like most of the good companies are now made overseas and have quality issues. I have an old mallory unilite 4258001 that is NOS in the box back when they were american made that I'm thinking about using but also like the simplicity of points. Also would like to run a multi spark box but seems like msd units now aren't what they used to be.

[Goatracer1]

What are you building? If you understand points they are very reliable and can be cleaned/changed on the road.

[Skippy597]

I'm building a 400 stroker with 4.25 crank at about 10.2:1 CR. I'm very familiar with points but really only on aircraft. They are extremely reliable, but those guys are turning far lower than we spin our engines.

[Dragncar]

Find yourself a cast iron points unit. Have it curved correctly by a distributor guy. Run the medium 8000 RPM spring Nappa points.
Then find a nice USA made MSD 6AL, Crane HI6 or Mallory Hyfire and be done with it.
All that stuff is out there.
I have been running a 7AL bought in the 80s. Only 2 sets of points in that time and about 4 distributor caps and rotors.
Never had a ignition issue. Simply works, no misses either. 99.9% of Pontiac engines will never see 8000 RPM.
Thats about the only reason to go beyond points IMO unless you want to run a crank trigger.
I have a crank trigger on the self, not much reason to use it.

[PAUL K]

If it's a street car it's worthwhile to use a distributor with a vacuum advance. If it's driven a lot it's worthwhile to use as many factory components as possible for reliability. I'd consider a factory HEI or points distributor depending on the application. If your not into tuning it yourself I'd have it professionally set up. There is a member here that does stellar work. I believe his user name is Sun Tune.

[steve25]

It’s nice that it has vacuum advance, but I notice that it’s been discontinued so I would first check on parts availability before settling on running it.

[Formulajones]

Not a huge mallory unilite fan. Even back in the 80's when those were popular and made here in the US they posed problems for people. A lot of friends jumped on that bandwagon back then and quickly got back off.

Personally, on my daily drivers I run points. I trigger MSD boxes with the stock points distributor and it's pretty much hands down the most reliable setup you can put on a car. If the box dies, I just swap wires at the coil and drive away on points, worry about replacing the box when I get home. No issues with rpm either. I have 2 engines on points here that will spin to 7000 no problem with stock 23 ounce accel points.

Honestly though, after running MSD boxes for more than 35 years and still buying them today, I've only had one failure and that one simply didn't work right out of the box, and they swapped it out no problem. I've never had one leave me stranded somewhere. I don't waste time worrying about it.

[Sun Tuned]

Thanks for the kind words Paul, much appreciated.

Skippy , a couple of observations about this.
Any of the Unilites were good distributors. However, let’s discuss a couple of things you might be interested in.
They were not a true high energy type distributor. By that I mean they were more of an electronic version of a points eliminator. They used the points type voltage supply, not the battery voltage supply of a true high energy design. On the e other hand the points weren’t either so it’s a wash on the voltage supply there. One is mechanical and the other is electrical .

In my opinion they were loads better and more durable than a current Pertronix. That said, a few more things. They absolutely without question, did/do not like voltage spikes/transients. In other words they didn’t care much for untrained battery boosting procedures, and for sure welding on the car without disconnecting if the battery beforehand. This was a big one. And took out lots of unilite modules in the day. So much so they started selling an add on power filter to help out matters.

The little unilite for its time was in fact a very accurate distributor. They flat did a good job of accurately firing the spark at the right moment, and would do it for a long long time if the module didn’t get smoked.

They weren’t real good in the 1986-1988 time frame for arriving with the total mechanical curve being where the little tag in the box said it was set at at the factory. I would check that to be sure for peace of mind.

To recurve it, will require at the least their stepped plastic key to set the total mechanical advance.its not a 100% got to have, but it sure helps so you don’t have to do the adjust and check and repeat song and dance. Their springs are also somewhat special also. A Mallory curve kit would make life 20x easier here for sure.

The vacuum advance units used to be adjustable for a small workable range. Or at least the ones I had messed with years and years ago were.

I would have no issue running one today. However, when stuff starts falling off of it, one might be advised to have some spare parts on hand. I’m sure a replacement vac adv canister would keep you busy for a day or two trying to locate. Not that they are prone to fail, but you cannot call the speed shop or jegs and summit that I’m aware of.

Ultimately as was said earlier, for my money a good old fashioned points distributor tuned up and a cd box is rather damn hard to improve upon.

With the same curve in either, it’s not gonna be a noticeable advantage either way, street or strip, until stuff starts falling off. And then at that point, replacement service items is when or may be when the fight starts…

[Sun Tuned]

Thanks for the kind words Paul, much appreciated.

Skippy , a couple of observations about this.
Any of the Unilites were good distributors. However, let’s discuss a couple of things you might be interested in.
They were not a true high energy type distributor. By that I mean they were more of an electronic version of a points eliminator. They used the points type voltage supply, not the battery voltage supply of a true high energy design. On the e other hand the points weren’t either so it’s a wash on the voltage supply there. One is mechanical and the other is electrical .

In my opinion they were loads better and more durable than a current Pertronix. That said, a few more things. They absolutely without question, did/do not like voltage spikes/transients. In other words they didn’t care much for untrained battery boosting procedures, and for sure welding on the car without disconnecting if the battery beforehand. This was a big one. And took out lots of unilite modules in the day. So much so they started selling an add on power filter to help out matters.

The little unilite for its time was in fact a very accurate distributor. They flat did a good job of accurately firing the spark at the right moment, and would do it for a long long time if the module didn’t get smoked.

They weren’t real good in the 1986-1988 time frame for arriving with the total mechanical curve being where the little tag in the box said it was set at at the factory. I would check that to be sure for peace of mind.

To recurve it, will require at the least their stepped plastic key to set the total mechanical advance.its not a 100% got to have, but it sure helps so you don’t have to do the adjust and check and repeat song and dance. Their springs are also somewhat special also. A Mallory curve kit would make life 20x easier here for sure.

The vacuum advance units used to be adjustable for a small workable range. Or at least the ones I had messed with years and years ago were.

I would have no issue running one today. However, when stuff starts falling off of it, one might be advised to have some spare parts on hand. I’m sure a replacement vac adv canister would keep you busy for a day or two trying to locate. Not that they are prone to fail, but you cannot call the speed shop or jegs and summit that I’m aware of.

Ultimately as was said earlier, for my money a good old fashioned points distributor tuned up and a cd box is rather damn hard to improve upon.

With the same curve in either, it’s not gonna be a noticeable advantage either way, street or strip, until stuff starts falling off. And then at that point, replacement service items is when or may be when the fight starts…

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

Not a huge mallory unilite fan. Even back in the 80's when those were popular and made here in the US they posed problems for people. A lot of friends jumped on that bandwagon back then and quickly got back off.

Personally, on my daily drivers I run points. I trigger MSD boxes with the stock points distributor and it's pretty much hands down the most reliable setup you can put on a car. If the box dies, I just swap wires at the coil and drive away on points, worry about replacing the box when I get home. No issues with rpm either. I have 2 engines on points here that will spin to 7000 no problem with stock 23 ounce accel points.

Honestly though, after running MSD boxes for more than 35 years and still buying them today, I've only had one failure and that one simply didn't work right out of the box, and they swapped it out no problem. I've never had one leave me stranded somewhere. I don't waste time worrying about it.

I agree with this set-up for best reliability. A stock Pontiac distributor, curved properly, with a working vacuum vacuum advance, possibly limited a little based on engine set-up. I do prefer cast iron like mentioned here, but aluminum body is fine also if in good condition. The slight down side to the iron unit is availability of a correct distributor gear. They use the smaller roll pin for retention. So if using a new gear, the shaft will need to be opened up to fit the larger roll pin. I do like using an MSD box for faster starting, keeping plugs cleaner, and just better, sharper driving characteristics at low RPM's, under 3000 RPM's. Above 3000 RPM, an MSD really does nothing. It's a single sharp spark.

[fastekibeast]

I' ve been useing Progression Ignition in my 407ci. street engine.
Highly recomenned!! it is made in U.S like you wish for.
Please take a look
It is best distributor in my opinion.


https://progressionignition.com/#

[Cliff R]

As I've mentioned many times on here and other Forums, most aftermarket distributors work, some are decent, so-so, others are PATHETIC. No matter what you choose in that arena ALL of them will take a dump sooner or later. Problem is that it's highly unlikely you'll be sitting in front of Jegs or Summit when this happens.

I'll add that I only worked on factory distributors here, all types over the years until I retired. Stock points are my personal favorite followed very closely by factory HEI's. It's rare to see a factory points distributor that can't be brought back to life without a lot of effort. HEI's on the contrary are pretty hard on the main shaft and lower bushing. If/when the bushing is trashed the shaft will be as well, so even if you have the means to install a .490" lower bushing you are going to need a replacement shaft as well.

HEI's are also pretty hard on the pins and weights as very few every got any lubricant added to them when they rotor was off. Quite a few will have also had those POS MrGasket or Morroso spring/weight kits installed, which are HOPELESS. So likely you'll need to find OEM parts for that end of it as well.

I'm pretty much out of the game here, still selling some carburetor parts and rebuild kits, but not much else. I highly recommend Sune Tuned for this service as he's still taking them last time we talked........

[Dragncar]

I have a question about the iron units. Why do all the ones I have come across all feel nice and tight ? Are their bushings larger ? Do they oil better than the aluminum units ?
I have one simply because back in 85 I bought a junk yard engine out of a 62 Catalina just for the "steel" rods. Should have bought the whole car. It was a survivor, all there and no rust.
Anyway Dan Whitmore was my mentor and said there were the best ones to use so I sent him mine. Set it up on his Sun machine . Vacuum bulb is still there but it mech advance only.
Given me decades of trouble free service.
I did not know about them having a smaller roll pin. Dan must have drilled mine out. I bought a nice 65 GTO iron unit from Paul Carter a while back and I noticed the smaller pin.

Tell you what, this is how good my ignition system works. I have been working on my race cars gas pedal. Seems it was bent after years of drag racing and I was not getting full throttle. While having the wife stomp the pedal we dumped 2-3 squirts from the duel 50cc accelerator pumps down the intake. Did not like that so I emptied the fuel bowls by pulling a screw out then put some paper towels under the squirters and emptied them. So carb was DRY. But there was still some fuel sitting on the Victors waffle area so I opened the butterflies with some zip ties hoping it would evaporate over 3 days.
Well some was still there after I got done with the pedal work, you could see it. I filled up the bowls with electric pump, did not touch the pedal so the accelerator pumps were dry. As soon as hit the starter it immediately fired up and wanted to idle. points triggered MSD ignition rocks !

[PontiacHO]

The one negative I have with my GM HEI is the blunderbust size. Seems to make the rear of the engine cramped with kick down linkage, throttle linkage, ignition wires, and wiper motor all jammed in next to the power brake booster. I’m old and less nimble so it takes more swearing etc. to work around.

[Sun Tuned]

The bushings are exactly the same size od,id, and length.

The main reason they stay together better is the iron units at the bottom of the housing fully support and I mean fully surround the bottom bushing….tightly. This keeps any movement outside normal expansion rates to zero.
The fact that the iron housing was poured from the same exact iron formulation as the engine blocks, as they were poured in the same plant, keeps the expansion rates of both exactly the same rate.

The second and likely of equal importance here is the oiling for the iron distributors was much different than the later lighter aluminum units. As long as one used hood oil and changed it on a regular basis, you were pretty much gold.

[Skippy597]

Thank you everyone. It seems that a points distributor and msd are the way to go. Now where can one find a rebuilt or excellent condition iron points distributor?

Sun tuned, do you rebuild the units or.just tune them for advance?

[Sun Tuned]

Both.

I’ve even started fixing the worn bottom shafts of the original GM stuff.

If you had an msd box you wanted to run, you can trigger it with the unilite.

I’d have no issue running the unilite if you have it handy. Some people will tell you it’s only worth say 5$, if it’s new, I’d get it curved and put it in the car and send it.

However, as Cliff alluded to… eventually it will croak. I believe a couple others mentioned this also. It’ll last a good long while unless you send it to an early grave .

You may find you could sell it in the box for a decent amount of money on eBay, fund a different deal.

The thing to remember is that no matter what you decide to do, the advance curve that’s in whatever you use, matched to the combo you have , is going to be the biggest increase in power you notice much more so than what type of distributor it is. This is assuming they all are healthy to begin with.

But, when the module in any of this stuff croaks, you have to replace that with a new one…period. End of story. If you run a points distributor and use it to trigger an msd, when it croaks, you swap coil wires and still go home. That is one extra option you have at your disposal, that you don’t have with some of the boutique distributors.

[i82much]

I would use a ready to run to trigger an MSD box. If the MSD box fails on the road, you can rewire to run the ignition using the internal module. Keep two extra coils, an extra MSD box, a points distributor with three sets of points, two alternators, and a spare starter in the trunk and you've got at least a 30% chance of making it wherever you are going assuming the weather holds up.

[b-man]

They’re good….

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...d.php?t=749108

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

I agree with this set-up for best reliability. A stock Pontiac distributor, curved properly, with a working vacuum vacuum advance, possibly limited a little based on engine set-up. I do prefer cast iron like mentioned here, but aluminum body is fine also if in good condition. The slight down side to the iron unit is availability of a correct distributor gear. They use the smaller roll pin for retention. So if using a new gear, the shaft will need to be opened up to fit the larger roll pin. I do like using an MSD box for faster starting, keeping plugs cleaner, and just better, sharper driving characteristics at low RPM's, under 3000 RPM's. Above 3000 RPM, an MSD really does nothing. It's a single sharp spark.

Yes, that last sentence is exactly why I'll use them.