Frustrated



I cleaned up all those wires. Car was running great on the highway, about 60 mph...got about 8 miles from home, and then a miss...then another....no backfiring this time..just several misses..then I could feel like there was no ignition what so ever...everything else was working great, just no power from the motor. I pulled off, put in park, and waited a minute. Restarted car, and away we went. Made it home with just 1 miss.



So, I let the car sit for about 40 minutes. Then, I drove it thru town. I was only going about 30mph...and got about 3 miles from home, in town...water temp was only about 180. Car started missing again. Turned right around...and made it home with an occassional miss. No backfire. Also, the temp stayed at 180...at the light, it crept up to about 190...but it was not like it was the other day. I'm thinking the tuning/timing fixed that.



I'm guessing it's either a faulty Crane Cams Fireball coil, or the MSD 6A box is going kaput. I'm guessing that the cheapest would be to replace the coil first and see what happens. Crane does not make Fireball coils anymore..at least not sold in Summit Racing. So, let's rehash...



Mallory distributor with electronic ignition.

MSD 6A box

Crane Cams Fireball coil with HEI terminal on top.



I'd like to replace the coil first. Suggestions on which coil?

Like my best friend who owns several old Pontiac always says, go back to a stock dist and points and all your problems will go away. The man has been right every time! When I had my 68 Firebird 400 I had my motor built like crazy, bought the MSD plug and play dist ($549), high end wires $99 (Taylor). Car ran great no issues. Point is, we dynoed the car before and after and ZERO difference after spending almost $700. Ever since, I listen to my Pontiac friend who has been playing with Pontiacs now for almost 50 years and now owns 8 of them, stock dist w/ points is just as good as anything else on the market today, all you do is keep an extra set of $8 points with you at all times just in case...

So, other than the Mallory distributor saying "Mallory Unilite", there are no series numbers, etc. on the outside. I looked on the sticker..nope. Didn't look like anything was stamped on the body as well.

I pulled off the cover and rotor. The module says "Mallory Unilite". It has 4-90 stamped on one side, and an "H" on the other. Nothing else.

Is the 4-90 the date of manufacture? If so, I'd say it's about time for a new one I did notice that the wires inside seemed odd colored. The label was on correctly. Plus, someone took gasket goop and filled the hole that the wires came out of...instead of the nice rubber boot.

I went to O'Reilly Auto. They felt it was the module. I'm thinking it's the module. But see, here's the dilema. No one carries it Sure, I can order it from Summit, but it won't be here until Wednesday earliest. And, I can order it from O'Reilly...same thing. O'Reilly told me that the Mallory parts are getting harder to come by; seems MSD is the choice and that's what is usually stocked. They didn't have MSD on hand, but they could get it Tuesday (from closer warehouse).

There is a speed shop that seems to have a lot of stuff according to O'Reilly guy. They are in Granite City, IL. I'll give him a call first thing in the am.

But let's say I'm on a road trip...and something goes bad. I can't just go to O'Reilly, NAPA, etc, and get MSD stuff either. Hence why I'm liking the HEI. Funny, the O'Reilly guy said he tends to get away from HEI if he can.



Let's say that they don't have the module tomorrow morning. What do I do to order or get an HEI unit for my car? Obviously, a 68 Firebird didn't come with one. I can order a Summit Racing brand "blueprinted" HEI distributor/kit for $159.00. Again, won't have it until Wednesday. But then again, I'm stuck anyway.



Sigh



In other news, at least the wires are all cleaned up. I forgot we have another graduation to attend this afternoon. So, I need to get cleaned up. I've got some honey-do's, and need to finish my garage redo/reorganization. I'll do that tonight. I might also mess with the seats I bought and see what it will take to get one of them in to replace my racing seats. Like I said, I've got a 92 Fbird seat, and a 2000 Grand Am seat. I'd like to use the Grand Am seat..it feels a lot more comfy...

I am on my 3rd Mallory Unilite. Unilites have their data plates afixed to the side of the main body and it usually ends up on the back side after you install it.

I have found that they either work great or they don't work at all. There is no "in between" when they are missing or something. How do I know? Because I have fried 2 modules before. The very 1st one I accidently grounded the distributor when I pulled it out to shift it 1 tooth to get it in properly.

The 2nd one died in the middle of a road trip. Just quit. I talked to Mallory and they said these modules are sensitive to voltage fluctuations. So now I always put in their recommended in-line voltage filter and these systems run fantastically.

Another thing - Mallory Unilites like about 6 volts to them. The factory resistor wire is perfect. Otherwise you need a ballast resistor. They will not live long with a full 12 volts to them. And yes, the Mallory modules are pricey (about $90).

So I had my chats with the Mallory tech guys and then just followed all their advice to the letter. I swear by them now cause I never have to deal with points and their slow performance degredations.

Have you looked at any of the spark plugs? They could be old, wrong temp range, bad gaps...

The auto parts guys completely contradicted themselves there. So I would not trust their advice on the module too much

There is a brand new HEI conversion coming out soon. The company is also brand new and based right here in Daytona. My friend with all the Pontiacs has been their "tester" for two years now. They installed their prototypes on his 68 ALL ORIGINAL 22k mile GTO. To date, they have developed and redeveloped this thing countless times with THOUSANDS of dollars, computer techs & engineers dyno test upon dyno tests. Bottom line, and I probably shouldn't even be saying this but here is goes. Thus far, absolutely no advantage and nothing but problem after problem. These things will last for days, weeks maybe a month. Then, bang, burn out, quit, die etc. They have been to the drawing board (computer) countless times and have had to delay their launch for almost two years now. They were suppose to launch at the PRI show here in Orlando last Winter, didn't happen. Bottom line, from what I have seen myself as well as my friends experience, these things are all pretty much a waste of money.

In my 68 Bird I tried the first Pertronix conv. Lasted 6 months and several issues. Then tried the Pertronix Ignitor II with their coil. Lasted a year and went bad. Then tried an experimental version for them that lasted 14 months and left me on the side of the road 125 miles from home (yeah we used to drive our bird, 405 rear wheel HP and all each and every day). Then we went with the Malory conversion, sent it back as I am all about a stock look and wasn't going to have one ugly [censored] box screwed to my firewall. However, we did try it while we had it and there were inconsistent voltage issues.

So all in all, it seems we always end up right back to square one, stock dist & points. Oh yeah, my friends bone stock 68 GTO with 22k ORIG miles still to this day runs in the low 12's and once in awhile gets her into the high 11's with a tire change all the while running points. It blows the guys at the track away every time we go! The kids stand there and shake their heads in disbelief. It's a riot!

The use of a Mallory Unilite does NOT mandate the complicated multi or adjustable spark box that has to be mounted someplace. Look at their instructions.

I don't have one. Just a regular OEM shaped cylindrical coil mounted to the back of the intake manifold.

Runs like a champ. Like I said - 2nd modified vehicle with one on. Been a steady customer since 1993.

Correct, they do not mandate. However, never admit to not having one if you try to replace a unit under their warranty (read their fine print)...

I just had a similar situation. I think mine was caused by not having enough voltage to the coil. Here's a great write up for testing the module.

http://www.centuryperformance.com/mallory-unilite-and-e-spark-testing-spg-150.html

For an HEI, I was contemplating this, while troubleshooting my unilite. Looks like it's about the same price as the module.

http://www.bopengineering.com/beltdrive_acc_topend6.shtml

Good info. Backs up a lot of what I either got 1st hand from the Mallory Tech Reps or through trial and error.