gotta' jump in here... the timing is adjustable
on the stock units as well. Most people don't even
adjust this correctly, let alone adding a second
variable to their procedure. No.. it's not
externally adjustable, but the stock unit can have
its adv changed by switching the merry-go-round
that supports the weights One screw under the
rotor and its off. Springs are cheap as well which
makes the stock unit more adjustable More readily
than the Mallory
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Allen +ADw-boballen+AEA-sky.net+AD4-
To: WSpohn4+AEA-aol.com +ADw-WSpohn4+AEA-aol.com+AD4-
Cc: MG List +ADw-mgs+AEA-autox.team.net+AD4-
Date: Tuesday, September 22, 1998 1:22 AM
Subject: Re: Distributors
+AD4-From: WSpohn4+AEA-aol.com +ADw-WSpohn4+AEA-aol.com+AD4-
+AD4-
+AD4-
+AD4APg-In a message dated 21/09/98 3:28:03 PM EST,
boballen+AEA-sky.net writes:
+AD4APg-
+AD4APgA8ADw- If you only want a single answer, join a
religon.
+AD4APg-
+AD4APgAqACo-A gratuitous and irrelevant comment.
+AD4-
+AD4-Bill, it's good to see we're both being
consistent.
+AD4-
+AD4-
+AD4APgA+AD4- I said:
+AD4APg- Here is another vote for the Mallory Dual
Point. Mine is running just
+AD4-great on my 3-liter C motor and I wouldn't trade
it for a Lucas or one of
+AD4-the electronic gizmos. I find the distributor
well made, easily adjustable,
+AD4-easy parts availablility, and a great period
performance accessory. +ADwAPAA8-
+AD4-
+AD4-
+AD4APgA+AD4-You said:
+AD4APgAqACo-I never said that they didn't work adequately,
but it is by no means a
+AD4-performance accessory in the sense that it
improves performance over the
+AD4-stock distributor. It is more along the lines of
the ersatz performance
+AD4-image given by an alloy valve cover - it
impresses those that don't know any
+AD4-better. +ADwAPAA8-
+AD4-
+AD4-Oooh yes. An alloy valve cover. That's another
one of my favorites. Besides
+AD4-the obvious babe appeal, it also provides a good
machined surface to glue on
+AD4-the cork gasket. The stiff sides provide a good
place to clonk it with a
+AD4-rawhide hammer to remove for the next valve
adjustment. The stiff top means
+AD4-that you don't have to worry about flattening the
cover if you put more than
+AD4-a few pounds on the hold down bolts. The flat top
provides a nice place to
+AD4-lay the spark plugs when your doing a carb check.
And the casting tends to
+AD4-absorb some of the tappet racket.
+AD4-
+AD4-But, yes, some know better. If the original tin
covers were stamped out for
+AD4-a shilling a wagon load 40 years ago, then that's
the only intelligent thing
+AD4-to have on your car.
+AD4-
+AD4-
+AD4APgA+AD4- Bill said:
+AD4APg-You seemed to have posted your response wanting
to make some point about
+AD4-the Mallory distributor, but aside from a
statement that said that you
+AD4-haven't had any trouble with your distributor, a
claim completely consistent
+AD4-with my original post, you don't seem to have
added a thing to the
+AD4-discussion. I assume that if you had any
concrete evidence that the Mallory
+AD4-was in any way superior to the Lucas part, you
would have had no difficulty
+AD4-articulating that opinion. +ADwAPAA8-
+AD4-
+AD4-Are we having a discussion Bill? Okay, the
Mallory has this big red cap that
+AD4-coordinates with my spark plug wires and also
comes with this cool decal for
+AD4-the side window of the GT. Hows that for
gratuitous?
+AD4-
+AD4-Take a couple of deep breaths and re-read the
original post. Yep, I had the
+AD4-adacity to suggest that I thought it was well
made. Purely subjective and I
+AD4-should have backed that up with technical
drawings and a metalurgical
+AD4-report. OTOH, towards the end of my note, I may
have mentioned the
+AD4-adjustability of the timing for both static and
total mechanical advance. I
+AD4-think that is a pretty cool feature, Bill, and
suggest it adds to the
+AD4-discussion.
+AD4-
+AD4-
+AD4APgA+AD4- Bill said:
+AD4APg-As for parts availability, my friend with a race
car would disagree - when
+AD4-he had the Mallory foul up at the track, there
were no available parts at
+AD4-any nearby store, and of the dozen or so BMC cars
running that weekend, none
+AD4-of them had a Mallory to offer spares. +ADwAPAA8-
+AD4-
+AD4-So how did that conversation go, Bill? Perhaps:
+AD4-
+AD4AIg-Say, my Mallory is giving me trouble today do
you have any spares?+ACI-
+AD4-
+AD4AIg-Absolutly not+ACE- That is not the orignal design.+ACI-
+AD4-
+AD4AIg-Oh, okay, sorry to bother you.+ACI-
+AD4-
+AD4AIg-Well, you may borrow my spare Lucas if you
like.+ACI-
+AD4-
+AD4AIg-You mean that wobbly peice crap in the spares
box? No thanks, I'd rather
+AD4-trailer my car and drink a cool one.+ACI-
+AD4-
+AD4-
+AD4APgA+AD4- Bill said:
+AD4APg-I guess they had all found a source of parts for
the Lucas to allow them to
+AD4-rebuild them to new spec, and didn't feel the
need to re-invent the
+AD4-figurative wheel. +ADwAPAA8-
+AD4-
+AD4-Yeah, I guess so. I imagine a lot of racers are
on a first name basis with a
+AD4-machinist since their choosen hobby is to take a
perfectly servicveable
+AD4-motor, cram as much horesepower into it as they
can, and then detonate it
+AD4-with their right foot. Makes the purist in me
shudder.
+AD4-
+AD4-But, say Bill, as you seem to have been the
appointed relevancy expert, how
+AD4-is your racer story relevant to just about all
the people on this list,
+AD4-anyway? I mean, what does a racer care about
distributors? His only concern
+AD4-is that, at wide open throttle, a spark happens
at the right time. So what?
+AD4-
+AD4-We plebians who drive our cars on the street have
a few other requirements.
+AD4-We expect the car to have the right spark at the
right time at idle. We
+AD4-sorta hope that vacuum advance will give us a
smoother motor and a little
+AD4-better econonmy. We often expect our cars to run
1,000s of miles without
+AD4-mechnical problems while racers measure longevity
in laps. Some of the
+AD4-performance folk may actually care about total
advance to get long term
+AD4-performance without putting skylights in our
pistons. And we actually spend
+AD4-very little of our time with the throttle to the
floor. Midrange performance
+AD4-is paramont.
+AD4-
+AD4-So, Bill, what might be the relevancy of your
turgid racer clique stories?
+AD4---
+AD4-Bob Allen, Kansas City, '69CGT, '75TR6
+AD4-
+AD4-
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