distributor questions

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PKW181

Member
Hi all,
Questions about a distributor for My 49 ford coupe.
It still has a flathead v8 in it, some where along the line someone installed a duel point Mallory. I want to go back to a stock single point distributor. Any idea of where to buy one and what type is correct for it?




Many thanks in advance for any help.
 
my only question is why? loadomatic distributor's can be a pain, some run perfect. I have a 49 F1 and it runs good, but I have seriously considered changing to a chevy conversion. My 51 Merc engine in my 41 truck has a chevy conversion and it has been problem free for 8 years
 
alanwoodieman said:
my only question is why? loadomatic distributor's can be a pain, some run perfect. I have a 49 F1 and it runs good, but I have seriously considered changing to a chevy conversion. My 51 Merc engine in my 41 truck has a chevy conversion and it has been problem free for 8 years
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Not familiar with the Chevy conversion.
 
Let´s say most of us don´t consider fords loadamatic distributor as one of their best moments...
You really want to go back to stock for factory look i trade you a fully rebuilt loadamatic for that Mallory any day !
 
PKW181 said:
Hi all,
Questions about a distributor for My 49 ford coupe.
It still has a flathead v8 in it, some where along the line someone installed a duel point Mallory. I want to go back to a stock single point distributor. Any idea of where to buy one and what type is correct for it?




Many thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...


I've got a stock distributor complete with cap, rotor, and hold down bracket and bolt you can have for the cost to ship it. PM me if interested. BUT I'd keep the Mallory or go with a Chevy conversion. I'm running a Chevy on the 8ba in my '30 p/u with no issues. JMO.
 
Ol' Ron said:
Actually the stock distributor in proper working order, is better than the Mallory!!
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I can accept this statement if you have a stock engine. If you have modified it, you will need a different distributor, especially if you have changed the carburetion.
 
I'm always interested in these discussions because I want to experiment at some point. When I first came around here, completely new to these flatheads, my reading was beginning to suggest to me that the Loadamatics weren't viable at all. I had to ask that specific question.

Right now I have two stock loadamatic setups on two stock 8BAs. I'm sure they could probably be better some way, but each car starts and runs great by my standards.
 
51504bat said:
I've got a stock distributor complete with cap, rotor, and hold down bracket and bolt you can have for the cost to ship it. PM me if interested. BUT I'd keep the Mallory or go with a Chevy conversion. I'm running a Chevy on the 8ba in my '30 p/u with no issues. JMO.
Click to expand...



PM Sent
 
Yes, there is a better distributor than the load a matic. However, a bone stock 8BA using the stock distributor, can't be improved upon unless you consider the various demands on the engine. like acceleration and cruise. The load a matic does this well. Most replacement distributors don't, unless they can be tuned for both. the NSD and the converted SBC dist are the only ones I can think of right now.
 
I'm with "Bubba" on this. I have a Mallory (mechanical only) on the modified '51 mercury engine in my '51 club coupe. I am running properly clearanced Edmunds heads and a 2GC on a Merc manifold. I originally had a vacuum over mechanical converted SBC distributor. I like the Mallory better. I have absolutely no complaints with it. A 320 mile road trip on mostly interstates at 65 MPH yielded 19 mpg. (The car has 3.55 gears and no overdrive.)
 
I've always been a fan of the older Mallory dual points. Had them in a lot of different vehicles.
 
I had a Mallory on a Hot Rod (53 Merc with 2 2BBls) and it ran very well. I suggest keeping the Mallory unless you are going for Concours judging
 
Ol Ron is into gas mileage and drivability under varying conditions. I'm into a distributor that gets the curve to full advance and not real concerned about the extra couple of mpg. I did however drive a heavy car with a Ford 400 in it with a Mallory dual point and it seemed to like the mechanical only distributor, even pulled a boat in the mountains with it. Put 400,000 miles on that thing.
 
I have to admit, in my old age, I've become more interested in fuel economy and driveability, than performance. Back in the 60's when I first starte converting the SBC dist for the flathead I hustankered the vacuum advance plate to the base and ran just the mechanical advance. I built a 296 for a customer (3/8x3/8) and he sent the dist i made to a fellow in Texas that converted it to electronics and a vacc adv. When The truck went on the road I was impressed with it's preformance as well as it's economy. I began using the vac adv. Then Richard from Fla got his engine running he began a long history of tuning the engine, All his data was published here on the barn and most of his modifications to the distributor he made is provided by those that supply this distributor today. Wather you us this information is up to you. But the Mallory is not the BEST distributor
 
Ol' Ron,

The way you do it is the correct way to calibrate spark advance for all driving conditions. The way it was done originally by calibration engineers at Ford. Yes, you can worry about centrifugal advance only and getting max advance by 2000 RPM or whatever RPM, but why not get the best of both worlds. Just my opinion.

Sal
 
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