Very well said, Jim, and my feelings exactly. Mallory is one of those
well-respected old speed equipment names, and a Mallory decal looks cool on
the firewall, but getting rid of a non-vacuum Unilite was the single best
thing I ever did in getting my GMC 6 to run properly.
Every engine is a little different, but vacuum advance will provide
additional "burn time" under any light load condition - idle and cruising
specifically. It's like a free lunch. Better fuel economy is the most
obvious improvement, but it also provides improvements in idle quality,
cooling, throttle response and driveability. Sometimes the results are
subtle but often they are very noticeable. Of course if you run at WOFT all
the time, it's a different story.
I am especially leery of Mallory (and aftermarket ignitions in general)
after a module failure stranded me 600 miles from home. The "good ole boy"
who lent me a 216 points distributor from his junkyard on a Saturday
afternoon said " Y'know, if that'd been an HEI, we could just pick up a
module at the K-mart". HEI distributors may be too "modern-looking" for
some, but they get the job done.
Jack / Winter Park FL
> I would sooner have a stock point distributor than a Mallory
> anything...sorry, just my personal experience speaking. Others have
> excellent luck with Mallory stuff, but not me!
>
> Vacuum advance is there for fuel mileage...it advances the timing when
> the engine is not under load, which improves efficiency and reduces
> running temperature. In other words, it is a good thing, which you
> ought to have. Racers generally don't want vacuum advance, because
> racecars are designed to operate under wide open throttle, and what
> happens under any other operating condition is unimportant. And, lots
> of folks think that whatever is good for a race car must be even better
> for their street car :) so the uninformed just do what the racers
> do, and run mechanical advance only distributors.
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