Thursday, June 19, 2014

Adjusting the Mallory Model A Distributor YL11A2

this is part of a conversation i followed over at the Fordbarn.com regarding Mallory YL11A2 Distributors...


Setting the timing with a Mallory distributor is fairly easy.. The easiest way is when the timing pin drops in place, where ever the rotor tip is pointing will be number one time. The distributor can easily be rotated as in modern cars and set the plug wires as needed. The firing order is 1243 . I tune mine by ear, some buy a kit and use a timing light . I set mine as advanced as I can without starter kickback when cranking and no timing knocks. A little tweaking or rotating as needed with the timing will get er done, works for me. Usually the rotor tip ends up pointing where number 4 would normally be. If you want number one timing to be where it would be with the model A distributor , it will be more complicated. You will need to remove the valve cover and the oil pump and distributor drive assembly. With the drive assembly removed, you can stick a long straight blade screwdriver down through the head and down to the oil pump and turn the pump as needed for the drive assembly to align as necessary for the rotor to align as wanted. The points cam isn't adjustable on the Mallory distributors.

The only part that I have ever needed with my Mallory distributors was the condenser. I am using Ford V8 condensers with mine., the same condenser used with the so called modern points that the model A venders sell.. Bubbas ignition has Mallory parts but I don't have an address or phone number.

I got my first Mallory distributor from Harrys model A parts in Oregon in the early 90s . Harry told me that They had run these distributors for over 30.000 miles without having to do anything. Mine have been trouble free. This is the distributor that was used in the dyno tests with the Brumfield heads back in the ninties. The dual point Mallory was shown to give horsepower increases at low to mid RPM range. I had installed float-A-motor mounts in the coupe and there was quiet a bit of cl;utch chatter when taking off. After installing the Mallory distributor, the chatter went away completely. I was talking to Ken Miller and he felt that the Mallory distributor advanced so smoothly that it removed the chatter. Just an example of the smoothness of the advance. 







 

Mallory 24895 Condenser for YL 11A2 Distributor