which distributor? Wico,Mallory, 4 banger

nostalgicford

nostalgicford

Senior Member
which distributor would you recommend on a 4 banger??? Wico Mag...Mallory dual point or Mallory single point...goina run wieand Alumn head...Holly 94 on donavan down draft....
 
Hello...I have the same head and dist. set ups for my B/c, I'm going to run a Mallory with a Pertronix . I have installed about 30 units, they ALL work good! BTW if your worried about it dieing, carry a set of points an condenser, you don't have to remove the dist.,to change it out. Something to think about, Dudley
 
I'm running a stock distributor with Pertronix ignition on a Thomas Aluminum Head, Dual Stromberg 81s. It works, but you have to ride the timing a lot when accelerating and slowing down. You really get to feel what the engine is doing though, where the sweet spots are, etc. I would like to put my Mallory in and give that a shot thought.
 
I may be wrong on this but my gut feeling on the three offered in your question is the mag would be my last choice in a street car.
The magnetos are best at what they were used for which was racing. They don't have a Timing advance mechanism which we need for our idle to cruise operation.
Aircraft use magnetos because they are self contained and aircraft run in a very narrow rpm band.
The output of a magneto increases with rpm whereas the battery powered distributor output decreases with rpm.
Either of the Mallory distributor's would be my choice for our low rpm engines. The only advantage of the dual point is its ability to control the duration of the open period of the points which increases the maximum usable rpm. The model A engine rpm limit doesn't come close to needing that feature. Jim Brierley could probably use one in one of his Bonneville cars.
I have an old period duel point magneto that I am using on my Riley Two Port But also have a single point that I will use if it doesn't work out.
 
I run a Fairbanks Morse Mag in the A I have. Yes, they have limitations. But if you use the impulse couplers and advance the timing to a place where it will start you will have great luck. Mine can be a little hard to start but it always does. If you are not that mechanical the Mag is not for you as they can be temperimental and need love sometimes. A Mallory is just about as bulletproof and reliable as all get out, but nothing looks like a MAG. One fix is to make a cable or rod advance mechanism to get the mag started and then advance it to run, I know this sounds backwards but if you gotta have the "look".

Tim
 
I run a single point mallory. I had RK Designs ( Ron Kelly) set the advance curve for me. He will set it up for the torque curve and the rpm. I think the max advance is 27 degrees. When you are using a high compression head you don"t want to over advance or you will put too much pressure on the babbit rod bearings Contact Ron he has a web site.
 
Hello..Timing is critical(sp) with the WIEAND and THOMAS heads, could be between 7-8 to 1. With 3-5 degrees BTDS at idle, 10degrees mechanical in the dist.(20 degrees at the crank) and a SLOW advance starting at about 1000 RPM and ending at 3000 RPM (CRANK SPEED) should be safe to start with, that gives you 23-25 total advance. Dudley
PS ...find some one with a dist. machine, degree the pulley and TDC the engine.
 
If I am going to put anywhere from 2 to 8K in an engine I am certainly not going to skimp with an obsolete outmoded distributor and ignition.
I use RotoFaze distributors and Jacobs computer ignitions.
They are both completely programmable to any requirements from parades to Bonneville.
 
i will be running a wico on my riley powered b
i was worried about the advancing and retarding the timing also untill i thought about making it rotate with the stock steering colium adjuster
but also the riley is only 6-1 compression
tk
 
I would recommend a First Street Solid State Ignition. They make both 6 and 12 volt Electronic Ignition Centrifugal Advance Distributor, and other items. They can also install stronger springs to make the advance slower based on the higher compression if you like. Their web-site is: http://www.fsignitions.com/

Bob
 
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