Mallory Distributor

[mylesw]

Hello

My 3.8 came with a Mallory unilite distributor although it and the other ignition components had been removed from the car. The car also came with an MSD blaster coil and ballast resistor. Looking at some photos before the PO dismantled it shows that it also had an MSD 6A ignition module although that was missing when I received the car.

I would like to re-use the distributor and coil and having read some previous posts it looks like I have to use the ballast resistor too. If I omit the MSD ignition module am I missing something? Will this setup run ok without it? Grateful for any advice from anyone who has a unilite distributor fitted.

Thanks

Myles

[cactusman]

Not familiar with the Mallory unilite distributor I am afraid. If the coil is intended to be used with a ballast resistor you need to retain it. A conventional ballast resistor system has the resistor in series with the primary side (low tension side) of the coil such that when running, the coil has around 6 volts across it. When you start the car a relay closes and shorts the resistor thus boosting the voltage to the coil....bigger spark....easier start....or that is the idea. So you could run a feed from the wire to the solenoid to operate such a relay so that it only shorts the resistor while you operate the starter motor.

Running a coil that should have a ballast without it will rapidly overheat and cook the coil. Of course you should check the spec of your coil before proceeding. Whether or not it will work without the module I can't really say.

My 3.8 has a dmbz6a distributor, standard coil and a power spark module replacing the points. Works fine.

[Moeregaard]

I ran a Mallory Unilite in conjunction with a Mallory 40KV coil on my '65 FHC. It is a good unit and has always been a popular replacement for cars with knackered distributor bushes. Without a ballast resistor, the optical trigger unit will fail prematurely. The downside to the Mallory is that it does not have the stock appearance of other aftermarket dizzies.