olds 307 and 403

This has happened twice now, after a couple of 1/8 mile runs and after a little tour this morning. I am hoping Mark will chime in, since I bought this off him a few years back. I have the proper Mallory coil clamped to the firewall, Summit says they are no longer available, was thinking of a different spot in the 70 and have an Accel coil with right resistance, if I can find it, to try. I also may wire in a Mallory multi spark box before they are all gone. I like the very adjustable timing curve but may use the HEI out of the 260 with Accel coil and get a Ignitor 3 ignition module for it, if this isn't something simple.

svnt442

If you are talking about a Unilte then what I have seen is 99.9% of the time they just fail and die, never to fire again. But every once in a while one will die when it gets hot like yours is doing. It sounds like it's time to replace the module.
BTW I used to work for Super Shops (they used to own Mallory Ignition and Erson Cams) and I was VERY familiar with stuff from both companies. I had an Erson JB100 in the 455 that I built in 1994 as well an a Unilite distributor. I had great luck with both.
I had customers that would blow their module in short order by not hooking thing up correctly.
But every once in a while.....we'd get one like yours.

oldcutlass

The module is really easy to change on one.

olds 307 and 403

No, the Mallory Magnetic Breakerless distributor. I do have a spare module and it actually could be this module, I swapped last time recurved it, never had an issue before. I was thinking I want to make sure this module was good, brand new, but you never know, so maybe it is. I do have the proper ballast resistor sitting in my shop, I could run any coil if I want. I will be pulling the motor and trans anyways shortly and recurving it to come in sooner, in around 3500 rpm to prevent pinging. I do like how this looks much more like the stock points set up. I still need to make 3 more payments for a custom cam from Mark so I am in no hurry, especially since I got my POS Dakota running again.

cutlassefi

Hey Christian
I agree with Randy. It's most likely the Unilite unit itself. As he said they do fail from time to time, just like ignition boxes do.

olds 307 and 403

I will swap it out. Mark, is there a good coil to use if I go with the Hyfire box? I know I can't use my current coil.

svnt442

What is wrong with your coil?

olds 307 and 403

The Mallory Breakerless require a coil with a primary resistance around 1500 ohms. The Mallory coils that were recommended but are no longer available had 500 ohms of primary resistance. Mallory said this coil cannot be used with the Hyfire CD box. I figure a CD box with a rev limiter will be a nice upgrade.

svnt442

That's all news to me. I never heard that and I sold the stuff for almost 4 years.

svnt442

Ok so I have a PDF of a Mallory ignition catalog and I don't see any of the information you are talking about in regards to the coil. I never learned about that requirement for the MBI distributors, nor did we ever have any issues with them coming back for not running a specific coil with them.
The Promaster coils are rated for RPM range usage, not OHMS. The coils don't determine that anyway, the power wire will. So if you need to drop the voltage for the module you use a ballast resistor to lower it.

Mallory%20MBI%20information_zpsclmxhiiy.jpg

Mallory%20MBI%20information%202_zpsxnndp13n.jpg

olds 307 and 403

I have the Mallory 29219 coil, says it not compatable with the Mallory Hyfire CD boxes. I think has to do with the high primary resistance built into this coil so a ballast resistor isn't needed.

svnt442

OK, so you need a different coil then. I have a 29440 sitting here that I don't need that I would let go for $40 shipped. It's an older style where the coil wire doesn't have a connector on it. I bought it to use on my 442, but the car got totaled before I could use it.

olds 307 and 403

What do you mean by no connector? I have a female clip on spark plug wire. I may be interested, thanks for the offer.

svnt442

It's a bit different. The older ones there is a retaining cap that is screwed to the coil that you remove and thread the coil wire through and down onto the post. Then slid the retainer down and screw it into place. This provides a positive connection for the wire end and the coil.

olds 307 and 403

Will you ship it up to Saskatchewan? If so I will pay you Friday. Do you take Paypal?

svnt442

That might change the price a bit. I'll have to check on the shipping cost for that.

svnt442

It looks like a flat rate box would be $45.95 USD just for shipping. That might make it not worth it.
I didn't even think about you not being in the states.

distributorguy

A padded envelope should be under $20 to SK, first class mail. Only takes a few days longer, if that.
Personally, I'd install a Pertronix kit - as much as I despise them, they have fewer issues than the Unilite. I've seen this exact failure many, many times. Its brought on by a lot of plug wire noise (RFI), which causes long term random misfires, which damage the module. Both have their issues, but EMI is easier to suppress than RFI, and each kit is affected more by one than the other.

I've never heard of those coil requirements either, but like any company, sales people tell you what they think is right, and each have opinions. Since its not published, I doubt its true. "Mallory said" goes back to a sales guy who guessed.

svnt442

He said he has the magnetic breakerless, not the unilite. And I would never ship a promaster coil in a padded envelope. It is oil filled and if they crack it it's going to make one hell of a mess.

distributorguy

Anything under 4 lbs can be shipped First Class for 60% the cost of Priority. I ship to Canada several times a week.

olds 307 and 403

It is right in Mallory's notes on this coil, not compatible with their Hyfire CD box. What are you looking at total for that coil?

svnt442

That is not the point. This is an oil filled coil and I have seen many a package destroyed by the postal service and other carriers. I will not ship it unless it is completely protected in a box.

svnt442

I had a bit of a hectic day today and I have an interview tomorrow. Let me mull it over and get back to you tomorrow.

olds 307 and 403

Not a problem, no rush, good luck.