Ok.. I've been thinking about doing a Mallory Unilite coversion to my car. I have a 69 Skylark with a 350-2 in it. Can I do the conversion with the distributor in the engine? And, does the car use a ballast resistor, or a resistance wire? Would it be better if I installed a Pertronix Ignitor? And, can I do that without removing the distributor?
Maybe I can help you. I have a spare brand new Unilite conversion kit sitting on the shelf. I paid 99.00 for it but it could be yours for a lot less. I currently have a Pertronix Ignitor in my system. Works great, and I didn't have to remove the distributor to install it. Your call on the Unilite. Russ Waters 1970 Skylark Convertible 455
JTY: Do not use a Unilite. I have never heard of any thing good from any one that uses one. I have been told that the pick up for the unilite needs to be replace from time to time and a hundred bucks is not what I call a cheep replacement part. I just switched from a pertronix module and I have never been happier with my HEI. Pertronix is a great improvement over points. The major complaint that I have is having to wait for 4 sec. from the time I turn on the key until I can start the car. I have the pertronix II. If you decide to go this route you will most likely need to take the distributor out of the car to make things easier on your self. It just isn't worth the hastle of trying to do it in the car all though Pertronix says it can be done. If you have the money to spend and the time to wait I would have your origional points distributor converted to an HEI with an external coil. The cost is about the same as a Unilite. I will be doing this conversion in the future. I like the HEI I just put in and the price was right for my current budget, but there is hardly any room for a dis. wrench to get around the bigger cap. Some one listed the name and web page of the guy that makes the points to HEI conversion last week on this board. I don't remember what it was so I hope that some one can re-post it here. You might also check under sparky's corner from last week. This is just my experience and I hope can give you some things to think about in making your decision. Good Luck
I was told not to use a Unilite either... I have to recommend the Pertronix Ignitor, but I don't understand the 4 second delay. Jason may have a different set-up than me. Mine is simple. The Ignitor replaced the points, and the two wires go to the + and - coil leads. That's it. With no choke on my Holley 750, the car starts instantly and idles great... Doesn't matter if it is 25 degrees or 95 degrees. It is a very good piece. Russ Waters 1970 Skylark Convertible 455
*The Man* for conversions is Dave @ Dave's Small Body HEI's. www.davessmallbodyheis.com Spend your hard earned dough with him using your current dist, you won't be dissappointed! There's currently 3 threads I believe talking about and with Dave. If it's worth anything to you, Bill, Scott and I have all been to his place and each time talked for hours.
You've "sparked" my curiosity. I've seen a lot of discussion here about Dave's HEI's and now I'm thinking about getting one (or two) as well.:Brow:
Robert, your actually alot closer to Dave then me. Might just ring him up and bring a dist to his place. I'm sure you'd find it worth the drive.. :TU:
Scott, Yep, Whittier isn't that far away at all. Now I'm sorry that I didn't get that distributor we saw at Pomona. Perhaps I will have to go to the next meet in January. Shoot me an e-mail if you want to meet up again. Maybe by then Bill will have his installed on his nailhead and can give us an update. I too have a problem with my engines pinging when I really stomp the go pedal and get all 8 barrels working.
Robert, pinging is bad - very bad. Back your timing off a bit until it goes away. I also seem to remember reading somewhere that not all pinging is audible so even if you adjust it so you can't hear it it may still be occuring. I always back it off a little more than the point where it becomes inaudible just to be safe. As I understand it pinging is an explosion occuring as the piston is coming up which can't be good. I think you'll find Dave very good value and if you look for ignitionman posts on this board you will also see that he knows a thing or two about a thing or two. I will post the results as soon as I can after it is installed. By the way here is a quote from Daves website which I think speaks volumes about the man. That's cool.
Robert, Not only can Dave hook you up with your distributor, he's more than able to hand out pointers on how to setup everything - adj. vacuum advance, timing, carb tuning, etc. I'd say he's quite a knowledgeable source of information!!:TU: For any 'doubting Thomases', Dave's work is second to none!! You can take Scott's, Bill's and my word on it! :Smarty: *BTW Robert - Happy Birthday!!:beer :bglasses:
If you can't trust the opinons of an Aussie, a LA Boy & NY Boy, I just don't know what to think of you.. :gt: Happy B-Day Robert! I won't ask how old.. :TU: That's one question you never ask... LoL ou:
Thanks guys! I appreciate the birthday cards you guys:TU: If you're at a loss for what gift to send me then may I suggest one of those distributors?:laugh: Bill; I am aware of how bad pinging can be. My problem was sort of one of my own creation, when I cruised around like a normal driver all was fine. It was only when I floored it from a dead stop that the knocking would occur. I was just flowing too much bad fuel too fast! I have been using some octane booster to enrich the quality of the gas with mixed results. I've already backed off my timming to eliminate that nasty knocking and now I am careful to ease into the throttles of those secondary carbs, but I sure would like to find a way to be able to romp on it once in a while. I have thougt about rebuilding with some lower compression and I would only consider that as a last resort. I don't want to drift to far off the original topic here so I will be posting this problem in the nailhead section real soon.
