ace_cobra

Hi all,
I am still, after many years, getting to really know my car. I started looking into a Pertronix or similar conversion as opposed to the points system. However, as I look further into my car, I noticed I do not have any mechanical or vacuum advance system at all. I dont have the vaccum can on my distributor, and I dont have any swing weights, just standard points. Is this weird? I feel like I should have something? The car doesnt hesitate to get to 60 MPH.

C3 Stroker

No weights underneath the points?

ace_cobra

Nothing. Just plain points... I dont even know where to look to see what distributor it is

Antz81

Maybe upload a phot of it

Big2Bird

Sounds like its "pinned."

ace_cobra

Here ya go. It also has 2 wires going to the coil, whereas most I have seen only have 1 wire.

Big2Bird

Looks like an old Mallory dual point. The advance is below the breaker plate.

Garys 68

Looks like a dual point locked distributor, generally used for racing, but can work well on street cars with big cams. You don't get the advantage of vacuum advance at light throttle (hiway cruising) and the high initial timing can cause hard starting.
I've tried them on motors that like high initial timing and limited total advance, like on my supercharged boat motor.
Google it, you'll find pros and cons. Mostly cons on street motors.

lars

It's a Mallory, and Mallory uses an advance system like MotorCraft where the advance system is located below the plate that the points are mounted to. You have to pull the points out and remove the mounting plate to see the springs and weights.

Lars

ace_cobra

Thanks guys!
There is a lot of info there, I will start looking for a replacement come winter time, with a vacuum advance. Has anyone had good luck with pertronix?

lars

Find a stock, rebuildable GM/Delco tach drive distributor and set it up with a good curve, a correctly-match vacuum advance, and a good set of points. It will outperform or match the performance of any aftermarket system on a street driven car. Rebuildable original distributors can be found for about $150.

Lars

ace_cobra

Alright, another question. Billet distributors seem to run about $150/$200, so is there any reason to buy an old gm one when new ones are quite cheap?

lars

My advice on this is always: "Buy and run whatever distributor/ignition system you are comfortable with setting up and tuning." Any system you buy, even the "performance" aftermarket billet systems, will run like crap due to slow, retarded curves, until properly set up and tuned. Once correctly tuned, any system will run as well as any other. So buy what you can work on and set up for best performance. I like the stock Delco distributors because the are very easy to set up and customize, and I like the "stock" appearance with the ability to use the stock ignition shielding. The stock system will perform as well as, or better than, any aftermarket system in a street driven car once correctly set up, but you'll likely have at least $300 wrapped up in it by the time you procure a rebuildable core and have it rebuilt and tuned.

Lars