mallory twin points dizzy

Simon Isaacs has got one... :(

When it was mine, google and the like didn't turn up a whole lot. in the end Warren worked it out the hard way I think - trial, error and common-sense.

IMO, the only thing it really has going for it is the ability to adjust the total mechanical advance, other than that my experiences suggest it is a relatively troublesome piece of kit with high maintenance issues. An acquaintance of mine had one on his hillrally racer - and went out at the first service on the Scottish Hillrally a few years back due to it's failure. I believe he kicked it mercilessly around his workshop on the following Monday morning....!!! Needless to say he now runs the dizzy that is my personal favourite choice, the standard Lucas DLM8 with the amp module on the side of the dizzy body. I have found these dizzy's to be very reliable over the years and fit them to all my engines wherever possible. RPI will no doubt help if you open your wallet, I believe they hold stocks of spares for them, but I'd personally fit a DLM8 and forget it. Badger.

On Wed, 1 Mar 2006 17:27:02 +0000 (UTC), "Badger" scribbled the following nonsense:

gives a really strong spark though, much stronger than most other dizzys I have seen.

Yebbut the spark intensity is down to the coil's output voltage and the dwell period, not just the points that are switching it. In the case of the mallory, the twin points are definitely an advantage over a single-points rover dizzy, by allowing a longer dwell period for the coil to "charge up" and the elimination of high-rpm points bounce. However, both these points (no pun intended!) are made obsolete with an electronic dizzy, which has a longer dwell time and higher rpm (switching) limit than any points dizzy. A Lucas DLM8 dizzy, correctly set up with sound condition cap, rotor arm, leads, plugs and coil is as good as any mallory in my opinion, notwithstanding the mallory's ability to alter the total advance. The lucas unit can have the total advance altered as well, just not as simply as turning a screw, and both types need to come apart to replace springs if altering the advance rates. Added bonus of the lucas one is the ability to obtain spares easily, very handy if you suffer a breakdown somewhere. Just my personal thoughts. Badger.

Strange that there isn't any set up info readily available. I don't want to have to buy a new dizzy simply because it's generally running OK and the thing only gets used the last Sunday of every month.

I think it just needs setting up. It's not had a service in the

12months I;ve had it except for oil and filter so I'm guessing that it could do with some TLC.

I'm also wondering whether the Gunson Colortune kit that I have seen actually works, I can't help thinking that the spluttering under acceleration is just fuel / carb set up.

Any recommended reading on V8's?

Mallory twin-point setting procedure on the link below