As I was expecting, the Pertronix in my Maverick* took a crap and left me stranded the other night. Funny thing is the car ran fine (I had just kicked a new BMW's ass minutes before), I shut it off, went in to eat somewhere, and when I came back out an hour or so later, it wouldn't start, had no spark. Tried everything, finally just stuck a set of points back in it to get it home. My dad is suggesting I put a Mallory Unilite distributor in the car. I have asked around and looked online. Seems alot of people think they are junk, while many more swear by them. Personally, I was just going to put a Ford Duraspark II distributor in the car with an MSD 6AL box and call it a day. I have ran a Duraspark II distributor, straight out of the junkyard, in the '72 Maverick for over 30,000 miles without a problem, so I know them to be reliable. Those of you that have used the Unilite distributors, what kind of luck have you had with them? They do look nice... *not really
i have one in my 64 fairlane (302). it's not running right now and i think it's because of the mallory. i think i need to replace the module. if i had to start with a new distributor i think it would be a msd. never had a duraspark.
Just dont run alot of voltage to it and you should be fine. Mallory makes a specific ballast resistor. They got a bad rap because of voltage spikes early on. Just follow the instructions to the "t" and you should be good.
I had one when they first came out - thought it was the best idea ever. It quit on a trip to the other side of the state. The LED got dust over it! you can't clean them. The manufacturer said to replace the unilite plate assy and it would be fine - I said no thank you. The Duraspark is as good as you need and better than most. Paul
I have a MAllory Comp SS dist., no problems, just had to adjust the advance cuve and timing, which is pretty easy
I`ve owned two Unilites with no trouble from either of them. The one thats in my car now I got off ebay used 4 years ago...no problems yet.
Duraspark and a stock ford brainbox.Don't spend a bunch on the MSD,it's not worth it for daily driving.
Every old ford I have (2 mavericks, mustang, and truck) has a duraspark, crane adjustable vaccum advance, MSD 6A, and a blaster 2 coil. Very happy
I personally prefer a magnetic pickup to an LED. Mallory's advertisements say "A beam of light never wears out!" Yeah but LEDs do go bad, we replace them all the time at work.
I am leaning towards Tim Keck's comments. I have been on this topic for a while because I was researching the best or the most effective for my combo. The consensus was a Duraspark with the stock blue gromet ignition module. I was told these provide enough spark for an engine up to about 350 hp. My combo will probably be within this range somewhere so it should be efficient. I also asked the advantages of the MSD and my guy told me BUZZWORD, BUZZWORD, BUZWORD, is all MSD is. Here is a comment he made to me. I asked him if he thought this would (duraspark distributor and stock blue gromet module) be a weak point in my build. "As for the duraspark holding you back, I was shifting my previous 11.5:1 460 at 7000 rpm using a stock duraspark module, coil, and distributor". Another comment on the duraspark system: " I think the duraspark will work great for your needs. The hydraulic cam will prevent over-rev in the case of a driveline failure, and the duraspark coil will provide more than enough spark for your needs. In my opinion you will have a nice running engine (pretty stout, too) using the duraspark system". Long story short, I will use this. I know MSD are good, but I am not racing...
I am running the MSD 6 box and MSD Blaster coil regardless of what distributor I run. My brother has a MSD 6 box on the '72 daily driver Maverick and it made a huge diffrence in the way the car runs over the stock Duraspark module or the GM HEI module I had on there for a while. The car idles so much smoother, and has a noticeble improvement in low RPM torque and fuel economy. It accelerates much better then ever before, and that's on a 240,000 mile 250 6 cylinder. This engine in my car is pretty built. The entire top end of the engine is all aluminum Edlebrock components (Performer RPM heads with 2.02/1.60 valves), Holley Demon 750 CFM carb, hooker headers, and I'm not sure about the cam, but it has a lopey cam in it. I have to run 93 octane in the car. I already have an MSD Blaster coil on it. I think I'm just going to go order a rebuilt Duraspark II distributor tonight. The car was sort of detuned when I bought it. I'm just not happy with the fact that I could only put 5 car lengths on a new Mustang GT from redlight to redlight (I couldn't help it, the car was sliver with black stripes and his license plate said "1FASTGT" ). I know theres more then that in it. :evilsmile Thanks for the help.
of all the people i know that have owned mallory, they have mostly said the same thing.. dont buy a mallory.. i bought an MSD.. and i love it.. i guess it gets back the ford v chevy debate.. but im goin off of what i have heard... dont get mallory.
