LFZ

The brown wire is ground, Green wire to the Neg. side of the coil, and Red wire to the positive side of the coil. Thats it? My resistor wire from the starter is on the pos. side of the coil, along with an ignition wire..i assume? Do i have a "Loom resistance" wire? On the diagram it shows it hooked to the ignition? Just wanted to make sure, because I do not want to blow this thing up.

lars

That's correct.
However, the wire from your starter is not a resistor wire: It's a resistor by-pass wire that provides 12 volts during cranking. If your car was originally a points-type ignition system, the other wire coming from the ignition switch is a resistor wire ("loom resistance wire"") providing reduced voltage during normal running. This wire is normally a cloth-wrapped wire going to the "+" side of the coil along with the starter wire that goes to the starter "R" terminal.

LFZ

Lars, i am converting from a points type distributor. Yes i have the cloth type wire going to the coil, along with another wire that comes from the "R" side terminal on the starter. Thanks!

Bob in Dallas

The way you are wired will cause a misfire above about 3000 RPM. The Unilite system requires a full 12 Volts for power. Run a minimum 12 Gauge wire from an Ign Switched terminal on the fuse block to the Unilite input. Fold back and tape the resistance wire, and the wire from the starter for future conversion back to original distributor. Since the unit now has a full 12 Volt supply, the starter bypass is no longer needed.

lars

The cloth covered wire is a resistor wire that provides about 7 volts to the coil. This does not work well with the Unilite, and will produce inadequate coil saturation at elevated rpm. You need to bypass the resistor wire with a new wire from your ignition switch providing a full 12 volts. With this in place, you don't need the wire coming from the starter "R" terminal hooked up.

Edit: Just caught Bob's post above - that's correct

LFZ

Really? thanks for the info. The diagram from Mallory doesn't mention this. It actually just states what i stated in my original post. Seemed kinda simple. So basically, I can leave off the resistor by pass wire from the starter, and run a new wire from my ignition switch terminal on the fuse block to the coil? or directly to the wire on the mallory harness? What do i do with the resistance loom wire? sorry about the confusion.

LFZ

Bob and Lars, Instructions from Mallory Unilite states
"NOTE: The purpose of the resistance wire between the ignition switch (12V) and the ignition coil positive terminal is to restrict current flow through the ignition coil. Failure to use resistance wire eventually destroy the ignition module."

http://static.summitracing.com/globa...nilitedist.pdf

toddalin

I've looked at the Mallory wiring diagram and I run a Mallory Hi-Fire in my '64.

If it were me, I would wire it up as shown for the use of a ballast resistor except that the loom resistance wire replaces the ballast resistor in the circuit. That way the ignition module sees its proper reduced voltage, but the Unilite gets the full 12 volts it wants.

LFZ

TTT...anyone running a Mallory Unilite???

LFZ

ttt...Lars??

GasketDude

Go to the Mr Gasket/Mallory site, in search type Unilite. All related info pops up. There's a few tech questions answered there that discuss this. Talks about total ohms required....

Check it out,
Later.

lars

Red -
The Unilite allows you to interface with the stock wiring (resistor wire), and the instructions state to do this. This will result in reduced voltage powering the "lite" part of the system, and you end up with reduced voltage on the primary side of the coil (with a resultant lower-than-optimum voltage on the secondary side).

My experience with this is that the reduced voltage to the UniLite will cause intermittent and erratic timing behavor at elevated rpm and cylinder pressures. If you are not running much compression (below 10:1), this may not be a problem. Try it out and see what happens.

But for this reason, I've been running 12 volts (no resistor wire) to the UniLite systems in the racecars I've been involved with. If you click on "My Corvette Photos" to the left, you'll see the engine compartment in a 406-powered '69 Camaro. This car runs 10s, and I'm running a 12-volt powered UniLite in it even though the instructions stated to run the power through the resistor. The UniLite has worked flawlessly for the past 4 racing seasons running on 12 volts. This car will misfire at the top end (above 7000 rpm) when running through the resistor, but runs clean and strong when running full voltage. My experience has been the same on other UniLite systems I've worked on, although other people have had good luck running the reduced voltage.

So try it out with the lowered voltage first and see how the thing pulls at your upper rpm limit. If it falls on its face, cuts out, or flattens out, switch to 12 volts and see if it cleans up. I have never had a UniLite system damaged by running 12 volts. They will, however, burn up if you hook up the red and green wires backwards using 12 volts.... (the voice of experience...)

Lars

LFZ

Thanks Lars, thats just what I needed to hear!

GasketDude

Here's a link for reference when things go bad. Has quicker links to old data sheets and how-to's on the Unilite.
http://www.centuryperformance.com/mallory/unitest.asp

This one has some of the universal hook ups that show a slightly different wiring.
http://www.centuryperformance.com/mallory/mallorytech.asp

Gage

I had a unilite on my 406 on my boat for 8 years with no resistance wire and it worked fine.

djgrelli

If your using a Mallory Unilite you will need a ballast resistor between the 12 volt ignition wire and the coil. It is part # 700. I burnt out two distributors before I realized I needed it. Check out MrGasket.com and it will give you the diagrams you need. I forgot to mention that this is on my son's Jeep which has a SBC in it. I'm in the process of putting one on in his 23 T-Bucket now. They are very dependable distributors. Much better than the Accel I had. I even went with a HEI Mallory on my 78. Funny thing is they all are made by Mr. Gasket nowadays.

zwede

It's been many years since I ran a unilite, but from what I remember running 12V without a resistor wire is ok IF you replace the stock type coil with a 12V coil. The stock type coil is made to run on about 6-7 volts which is what the resistor wire provides. If you hook it up to 12V the coil resistance is too low which can burn up the unilite as well as the coil.

So I see two solutions:

1. Run 12V and use a 12V coil
2. Retain the stock coil, stock resistor wire and run a new 12V wire that ONLY powers the unilite (NOT the coil).