Wondering how do you check & adjust the timing on a 1964 327/365 Stingray.
It seems to have the original Mallory distributor with dual points. Is there a procedure on setting the timing on a dual point distributor? I have adjusted the solid lifter lash according to JohnZ's procedure. Now I would like to set the timing.
Thanks In Advance.


[Modified by 1quik6, 7:02 PM 6/12/2004]


[Modified by 1quik6, 4:53 AM 6/13/2004]

 

A Mallory distributor is not a OEM part, but the timing proceedure is the same. 36-38 total advance at 3000rpms.

 

Ironcross,
Thanks for the information. I guess the easiest way to do this is to set the carb.idle screw to 3000 rpm and check timing and adjust to 36-38 degrees.
Correct? No need to disable either set of points on adjustment?
Thanks

 

What i`m going to tell you is really not book proceedure. Since you have a Mallory distributor and the curve is unknown but you do have a solid lifter engine is to turn the distributor ahead until you get the highest RPM`s at idle and then turn the carb idle screw back down to 800 rpm`s. As long as no vacuum leaks are present to interfer with this, you should be in the ballpark. A timing light may help so as not to get to far advanced that it could cause a hard starting conditiion. If that occures, just turn it back a few degrees.

 

The procedure for setting total timing is the same for your Mallory as it is for a stock distributor. The first thing you want to do is determine where your timing is all in. The stock distributor for your engine reached total by 2350 but most other distributors don't reach max advance until later, some over 5,000 rpm. If you have an adjustable light set it to 36 degrees, rev the engine until the timing marks stop advancing and turn the distributor until the tdc mark on the balancer aligns with the 0 mark on the tab.

If you don't have an adjustable light the procedure is a little different. Measure the circumference of the balancer, divide that figure by 10, and place a new mark on the balancer that distance before the tdc mark. Rev the engine until it reaches max advance and align the new mark on the balancer with the zero mark on the tab. That will give you 36 total. If you want 38 degrees instead, align the new mark with the 2 degree mark.

 

You should set the points with a dwell meter before setting the timing. Put a small piece of cardboard, like a piece of matchbook cover between the contacts on one set of points. Run the engine and set the dwell on the other set of points. Move the cardboard to the points you just set, and repeat the process. Then you can be confident that the point dwell is correct before breaking out the timing light.

 

How is dwell read? I'm assuming it is in degrees. How would you go about setting the dwell (assuming it needs adjustment)? What is the correct setting for the 327/365?

Thanks

 

Dunno about the non-original Mallory, but the pre-'62 Corvette dual-point distributors were set by disabling one set of points (matchbook cover piece) and adjusting the active set of points to 29 degrees dwell, then reversing the process for the other set of points; this results in a final dwell of 34 degrees. You'll need a dwell meter to perform this adjustment. Dwell affects timing, so you need to set the dwell before you set the timing and map the advance curve.

If your Mallory doesn't have vacuum advance, you're giving up a lot of flexibility, throttle response, and idle cooling/stability that was designed into the original 327/365 vacuum advance distributor.

 

Point dwell on any V8, no matter what it is (Chevy, Ford, Dodge, etc.) should be 28-32 degrees. You need to use a dwell meter to set it......kind of an obsolete piece of test equipment since cars have all come with electronic ignition systems for the past umpteen years.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I think that the old Mallory DP distributors used a four lobe cam with two sets of points wired in parallel. This is different than the the GM dual point that has an eight lobe cam with the two sets of points wired in series.

How about counting the cam lobes and telling us what it is?

Get a OE single point tach drive dist. and sell the Mallory. I'm sure there are guys out there building "period" hot rods that would love to have it.

Let then deal with the overheating problems due to no vacuum advance.

For it's day it was a good racing distributor, but it's just as lousy a street distributor today as it was 40 years ago.

I remember another aftermarket ignition system fromhe mid-sixties. I think was called a D&H Ducoil.

John - you or anyone else remember this one?

I recall it had a four lobe cam and two sets of points, but each set of points had its own coil. The dist. cap was wired so that every other cylinder used the other coil. Essentially it was two independent systems, so it was only working as hard at 7000 as the OE system was at 3500.

A lot of guys threw away the OE distributors because they didn't work very well, but careful blueprinting and the high breaker arm tension points that became available in the mid-sixties brought their performance to acceptable levels.

Duke




[Modified by SWCDuke, 8:06 PM 6/16/2004]

 

Does anyone know what other Distributor- is as good as the old Mallory I currently have? With todays technology advances what are some of the users of this board using? How about part numbers? I would like to get a dist. with good street/race manners.

Thanks

 

A blueprinted OE dist. is as good as today's "so-called" advanced technology.

Duke

 

Is there a vendor who sells the "blueprinted OE Distributor"?

 

Dave Fiedler, TI Specialties, is probably a good place to start. Don't have contact info off the top of my head, but I believe he has a web site.

If he can't help you out, he can probably refer you to someone who can.

Duke

 

If you can find any Vette tach drive distruibutor I can rebuild it, set it up and curve it for you to meet the spec of the OE high performance setup. SWD is right - these things run really well when set up right, and no aftermarket "pointless" system will run better.

 

I remember another aftermarket ignition system fromhe mid-sixties. I think was called a D&H Ducoil.

John - you or anyone else remember this one?

Yup, as I recall it was W&H - I'll bet nobody but you and me remember this old ignition stuff; I still had a Kong-Jackson Ford flathead distributor laying around until I sold it about ten years ago to the guy who owns the "Motor City Flatheads" speed shop in Detroit. I had it on my '51 Ford coupe until I pulled the flathead in '58 and replaced it with a '57 Caddy (set back ten inches)

 

The easiest way to set the timing, especially for a non-stock engine or one that has a different cam is to adjust distributor to maximum vacuum and then back it off 1 inch. Another easy way to set timing is to set max rpm as mentioned elsewhere, but this is less precise.

 

Your correct about the W&H, and some of us are not as young as you might think!