Olds442redberet

I am looking for a quality Distributor for my 1969 HO 350 motor.

I'd like to keep the original air breather.

I currently have a Pertronix Ignition in a stock distributor.

Any Suggestions?

redoldsman

a 69 Hurst with a 350? Really.

deadeyejedi

was wondering about changing to a petronix in my 72 .did you have issues with yours or are you just wanting something better?

joe_padavano

And I thought I had the only one...

Seriously. I dropped the spare 350 into my H/O back in 1981 when the #5 rod cap exited the 455 while driving it on the 405 freeway.

oldcutlass

Whats wrong with your current setup?

Fun71

Yeah, what he said.

If there isn't anything significantly wrong with your distributor, installing a different one won't give you any increased performance.

oddball

I'm a big fan of Ignitor I. Unfortunately I had an Ignitor III with erratic miss out of the box. Small cap dizzys are either stock, or expensive. MSD and Accel make them (well, does Accel still make theirs?), but there's little reason to run those instead of an Ignitor unless you're looking for something specific (integration with an ignition box, just really like billet ....). Make sure your housing is in good shape - shaft spins smoothly, no wobble, advance plate is smooth and tight - and cruise on. I just buy cheap remans if the housing is worn out and swap over all the guts.

The Stickman

There is also the Mallory Unilite which we have been using for years. It is quite nice.

Olds64

I put the Summit distributor in my 455:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/s...ake/oldsmobile

It works well and will at least allow you to ditch your external coil. As the others said though, you probably won't see much benefit going to an aftermarket distributor over your stock setup since you've already eliminated the points.

oddball

That's an offshore HEI knock-off. Some work great! Some not so much. OP said he's looking to keep a small cap.
Sometimes the stock air cleaner will work with an HEI though.

Olds442redberet

I thought HO was High Output. Oh well, I learned something else today. LOL

The car is dying after warming up. replaced the coil with no luck. Still dies after warming up and driving around for a short while. I was using an Master Blaster coil. I replaced it with an accel coil. I will be replacing the current distributor with a stock one out of my parts car to see if that corrects the problem. I was just seeing who was using hwat and what kind of success they were having with it. The feedback on Pertronix distributors isn't so great. And I read a few bad reviews on Mallory distributors as well.

oldcutlass

Which pertronix do you have?

Olds442redberet

I don't recall. It's a kit that was installed in the original distributor after the motor was rebuilt. The builder had timing issues and pinging under load. In the end I put 93 octane in the tank and that seemed to solve the issue. Now three years later I have this issue with the car dying after warming up. There's a lot of play in the old distributor as well.

What do you think of an old Mallory Unilite.

oldcutlass

I've used Unilites on sbc's, they worked well. Follow the wiring instructions. Is your play up and sown or side to side? The up and down play isn't an issue as the shaft is pulled down due to its rotation. Before you jump in there and change your distributor, make sure all your connections are good.

mrolds69

I'm running Ignitor I's in most of my cars, no problems. But...there is a black ring under the weights that has 8 magnets underneath. There were no problems with early ones, but I've heard of later ones falling out. It wouldn't make the car die, though. Misfire...but not die. Fuel issue maybe?

Olds442redberet

Stickman,
Does the unilite you're using have a vacuum advance. The ones I am looking at do not have the vacuum advance and I was wondering how well they work for a street application.

The Stickman

Yes it does. We have been using it for years and is now on a daily driver. And was used when I bought it. So pretty happy with it.

olds 307 and 403

The Mallory Breaker less is another direct points replacement, mine has been decent. Since the MSD buy out Mallory and some Accel stuff, distributors, ignition boxes, efi etc are pretty much no longer available new. Once the supply is gone, there will be no replacements. Same with a lot of Mr Gasket stuff as well.

Olds442redberet

Yeah, I noticed this too. As a result I am starting to hoard a small amount of tune-up stuff for each of my cars. I am looking for two rotors and two caps for the after market distributor I just bought.

oddball

Ignitor I has been available as a Lobe Sensing unit for over 15 years. No need for the magnet ring.

OP:
My advice is to remember "95% of all ignition problems are carb problems". HEIs *could* have that kind of problem if the module is marginal and the heat sink compound has dried out, but dying once warm isn't typically an ignition problem.

steverw

If you have an extra points distributor, you could send it to Dave Ray. He converted mine to HEI for $204 and so far it works great and looks like a points type dist. It took approx one month to get it back, therefore why i say an extra dist, if your driving your cal alot.
His number is 775-722-3294, hes a very interesting guy and alot of fun to talk to.
I think his web site was down, his new email is
info.davessmallbodyheis@gmail.com

1970-W30

Olds442redberet, don't be just a parts replacer, become a troubleshooter, it's a lot easier on the wallet and a lot more satisfying when you isolate and repair the problem. I know guys that have run Pertonics for almost 20 with no problems.......

Olds442redberet

I agree. And I am working on improving my skills. I have isolated the problem to either the Pertronics or the Coil. I replaced the coil so I believe it's in the Pertronics ignition. And they can fail. I've had other performance ignitions fail in which case I was forced to replace them. I will also check the wiring at the starter just to cover all my bases before I replace the starter.

I am doing the following upgrades.
Hotter plugs- The ones I am running now show signs of being to cold
Most likely because I drive the car fairly easy and I am not on
the highway enough.
High torque Starter- Because I have a new one from one of the project cars I
bought.
Older Mallory- Because I want to have the day two appearance under the
hood. I also have some Hardin Marine valve covers for the
engine.

oldman8187

I know guys that have had good luck with Pertronics but not me I have used two and the last one let me down over two hundred miles from home. Had to go to parts store and and purchase points and condensor to put in distributor to get me home. I have been running MSD for the last two years without a problem.