The V8 Owners Forum -

HI MANAGED TO LIMP CAR HOMEafter cutting out at every junction, messed about with points and started running ok but soon started cutting out, MY question is do I replace points with a electronic IGNITION CONVERSION or junk the Mallory and fit a lucas distributor complete with coil a company called powerspark can supply either , would I be taking a step backwards ignition wise by fitting a lucas or would I be better sticking with the Mallory its a twin point Mallory without vacuum any help appreciated getting a bit fed up now tryin to sort this out THANKS IN ADVANCE ROOB

To be honest, people swear by both! I personally swear by the factory system. Never had any problems.

But other people swear by Mallory kit.

I also swear by distributorless ignition!!

No reason your kit can't work - maybe best to fix it rather than fork out for something else.

Chris.

HI CHRIS THANKS FOR REPLY TO FIX MALLORY £75 ,A WHOLE NEW LUCAS SYSTEM INC NEW COIL £110

Mallory dual-point dizzys have a well known appetite for condensors, so that should be the first thing to replace and if you intend to keep it - always carry one with you.

I was out green-laning in the middle of nowhere and one of our group started having problems - looked under the bonnet he had a dual-point. Luckily for him, I had my trusty spare still in the glovebox despite ditching my one years earlier.

staffpop wrote:HI CHRIS THANKS FOR REPLY TO FIX MALLORY £75 ,A WHOLE NEW LUCAS SYSTEM INC NEW COIL £110

Note that is probably not a Lucas system made to the original specification but a modern copy made down to a price. I dunno who now owns the Lucas brand - but it's not the original company.

I've no personal experience of these, but there have been several uncomplimentary posts about them on the SD1 forum. It's said if you take the dizzy apart you'll discover it is very badly made. Which really isn't much of a surprise considering the very low cost.

I had years of odd troubles with my twin-spark but then put in the Mallory electronic conversion and had no problems since. In fact it is so good I have a Mallory programmable distributor sat in the original box waiting for it to go wrong.

I bought a new Mallory Unilite electronic at vast cost. In two years it burnt out the cap and rotor arm twice - not covered by warranty. Hence my now using EDIS.

Never been very impressed with Mallory dizzys.

I replaced my old Lucas electronic dizzy with a Scorcher Electronic Dizzy made up by Performance Ignitions in Melbourne This company specialises in building high output racing ignition systems for the past 30 years and have contributed to some of Australia’s fastest cars.

It's a very nice piece of kit - extremely well machined and looks very well put together. They use all Bosch based components and are virtually bulletproof - they make them using new Ford V8 Dizzy bodies machined down to fit the Rover/P76 block and Bosch HEI amp modules with a standard Ford rotor button and Ford/Holden V8 cap. You send them your drive gear which they fit onto the shaft.

You can either specify the advance curve, or they can do a recommended one for you based on your engine specs.

It starts much better and has more torque, more acceleration, better economy than it had before with the Lucas. The dizzy is slightly higher when fitted then the Lucas unit so allows easier access to the retaining bolt.

I've never had to repair/replace anything on it in 15 years.

http://www.performanceignition.com.au/

The original DLM Lucas unit is also pretty well made. I've looked at several over the years and have yet to find a badly worn or broken one. Although the springs may weaken with age. The problem with it is the amp - I've had several fail. Including genuine ones. Probably through overheating. IIRC, later Range Rovers had the amp moved from on the dizzy to a cooler place.

However, I'd not spend a lot of money on any dizzy these days. Better to get a programmable system driven from a crank trigger.

There seems to be mixed experience with Mallory distributors.
Can someone advise which Mallory distributor part number works best with a Rover 4.6 serpentine motor running an Eddy carb and 6AL ignition controller?
Optical or magnetic?
Thanks.