Mallory Unilite vs Petronix


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By 2DRHRDTP57 - 17 Years Ago
Gents,

Rebuilding my Y at the moment with a Y block in a Box kit from John M and have a nice 1963 NOS distributor that I was going to fit a Petronix ignition to, How would this compare to a Mallory unilite, what is the advantage or disadvantage of each or would both give a similar result with performance.

All comments welcomed.

By pegleg - 17 Years Ago
My own preference would be a Duraspark with an MSD 6al multi spark box. Use the MSD coil and 8 mm wires. The pertronix will also work fine, but you'll want to find or modify the distributor advance to 10 or 12 degrees and run 12 to 14 degrees initial. I would recommend using the vacuum advance on the street, gets better mileage and improved throttle response at cruising speed. Has absolutely no detremental affects at full throttle.
By Unibodyguy - 17 Years Ago
I've had great luck with the Petronix, and very bad luck with Mallory's. I replaced a Mallory Unilight in a friends 57 Ford Wagon I think 4 or 5 times. Finally took it out and put in a NAPA rebuilt 57-64 distributor with a Petronix 5 years ago, haven't had a problem since. Mallory wasn't too good on their "tech support" or giving the money back niether. I think it took him 3 months to finally get a refund after the last episode. Had a simular problem with a friends 63 Chevy pickup using a Mallory.

                                                          Michael

By 52MERCURY - 17 Years Ago
I have had a Mallory Unilite in my car for around 15 years,never any problems.A friend that owns a tune up shop has quit using Pertronix because of too many failures.I guess you can have trouble with anything.He is now using Crane electronic retro-fit kits.
By Daniel Jessup - 17 Years Ago
I run an ACCEL #2020 in my stock distributor (57 and up), and it works great.

Dan

By Ted - 17 Years Ago
Have had a Mallory Unilite conversion in my ’55 Customline since 1990 and it’s still going strong.  Also have the Mallory Unilite distributors in both my Thunderbolt (FE powered) and my Roadster (Y powered) without any issues.  From experience I can say that the Unilites are sensitive to voltage spikes so it’s important that grounding is adequate and all connections are tight.  Like others, I’ve seen some Pertronix failures but have also seen a similar number of Mallory failures but most could be attributed back to wiring or charging issues.  Some of the Pertronix issues have been related back to the wrong coil being used and suspect that some of the Mallory issues could have been for the same reason.  Be sure to get the recommended coil for whatever system you go with.