Aftermarket Coils, Distributors and Ignition Aplifiers

Hi,
As a followup to an earlier thread, I now have some new questions. Previously I had Distributor problems. I fixed it, sort of but the advance mechanism may not be perfect and the vacuum advance is totally gone. Instead of going with a Re-Built unit from Will Tillery or RoverGuru I decided to go with a Mallory Uni-Lite. This is the same unit that RPI uses on their High Performance Rover V8's. So far, the mounting is cake. The shaft on the unit I bought "MAA-4768901" is identical and the only thing you have to do is drill the hole for the wrist pin / Spring pin. Here are the issues.

1) Mallory recommends using a higher output coil. I opted for the cheaper unit that is the same size as stock.

2) The Rover coil recieves 12v. The High output coil can not take 12v so you need a Ballast Resistor. Fine,t hats easy enough.

3) The Rover has an Ignition Amplifier. What the Heck does this due. Rangi.com article says it boost the signal from the Dist to the coil. HOW, I dont even see a power wire going to the Ignition Amplifier.

Does anyone have a diagram of this Amplifier. Can someone tell me if I'll bypass this with the Mallory Distributor? The Mallory Dist. Diagram Shows a direct connection to the coil.

Thanks

Todd

Thanks.
Sven, your correct. I had read on the Rangie.com Articles section that the Ignition Amplifier also fired a signal to the Fuel Injection. On investigation I see no wires that would do this.

FYI - UPDATE! I had the machine shop drill the hole for the gear. Went well but he forgot to put the Thrust Washer in there when he measured it. Dumbass. I think it will be OK without it though. Toughts? The other option is to machine down the gear a little to allow the space for the thrust Washer.

I dropped in the Dist. Before I pulled it I set the engine at TDC. I put it all in. Bypassed the Amplifier. Seems to work like a CHAMP! It litterally took me 20 minutes total once I got back from the Machine Shop. The shop charged me $30 for the job.

I selected the Dist. with the 24deg advance curve as opposed to the 18degree. This is what RPI recommends but its a little much. I get a slight ping on 87octane between 3k & 4k RPM at 80% Throttle and up. I'll try adjusting the vacuum advance down a little and see if that helps. IF it doesnt I'll have to order the adjustable piece to allow me to adjust the mechanical curve. I think once I get it set to where I like it and it wont ping on 87 Octane, I'll then run 89 as a preventative. I may try 91-Octane just to see if that makes it go away though.

PERFORMANCE? YES! Its hard to do a comparison as my old Vacuum Advance was not working but the car Idles smoother, sounds better, and has more power. I also notice the Transmision seems to kick down earlier and faster. Not sure why that is unless its responding to the extra load. I cant claim its faster than stock, but it does seem to idle better that it EVER did even before my Distributor died and when I did have a new Cap / Rotor / Etc.

I have not put the High Output Coil in there yet as I need to pick up the Ballast Resistor for it. I'll do that as well and see if that changes anything in the Detonation "Pinging" Department.

Thanks for the help guys.

Todd

Oh, and I have 2-close frineds wiht RRC's. So I'll probably keep my Ignition Amplifier in case theirs dies and they can figure a way to bypass it on theirs and use mine remote mounted.

Thanks