No fire

[Ricosan]

Hey Guys,
My engine was running poorly after I rebuilt the carburetors. It idled ok but had no power.
I thought it might be ignition so I pulled the distributor. It’s a Mallory dual point distributor. I found the points had no separation on one side and about 15 degrees on the other. I reset to about 30 degrees each side and reinstalled.
No spark.
I took it back out and reset the points. Still nothing.
I installed a Tubman condenser about 500 miles ago so I’m thinking that’s no the problem.
Ideas?
Richard

[Robert/Texas]

Richard,

I installed a Mallory distributor in my ’34 roadster in 1995 because I couldn’t get the stock distributor to work. About three years ago the points began wandering out of adjustment and I discovered that the bushings had worn badly enough to cause points to wobble. I sent the old helmet distributor to Charlie Schwendler and he rebuilt it and sent it back me promptly and at a reasonable price. I installed it on the car, and it fired right up. I feel that the car runs better now than it did with the Mallory distributor when it was new.

[solidaxle]

Trouble Shooting procedure.

[Ricosan]

Hey Guys,
It just occurred to me I may have screwed up. When I had the distributor out I made a tiny modification I didn’t think would have any effect on the spark. The distributor cap is impossible to reattach once the distributor is bolted in so I made the clamps to have about a 1/16” longer reach.
I guess I need to “unmodify” it.
That’ll be a job for tomorrow as my back can’t take anymore today.
Richard

[slowforty]

Dont forget to check the Ignition resistor

[Bill OH]

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I recall the point gap on a Mallory dual point distributor is written on the data plate on its side. .020”. Bearings okay?

[slowforty]

Nice article Solidaxle