Last fall I rebuilt an older Carter AFB for my 67 318 with OE electronic upgrade. Shortly after I put her away for the winter and focused on other projects. Finally got around to setting idle mix and checking timing. Timing seemed to be jumping around a little. So, pulled the distributor cap and noticed a fine white powder that turned out to be the plastic of the pickup coil. Pulled the distributor to find shaft kinda loose, top plate kinda sloppy and when applying vacuum the pickup coil pulled into the stator. Pickup coil pivot did not appear to be concentric with the main shaft. I'm pretty sure this was a reman distributor I got back in 2006 when I had the original 318 and went electronic.

Rather than fix this, I'd rather just buy a new distributor. I was thinking either a Mopar performance or Summit. However, though I've not had an issue, I always hear how unreliable factory Mopar ignition boxes can be. So, was thinking maybe I should step up to HEI or some derivative. I've had several GM's and always had good luck with original or upgraded HEI. I'm just not positive how that works on a Mopar. If the ignition box and resistor are not needed what happens to the wiring? I'm running a Year One electronic harness.

Or should I just forget HEI and stick with what I have and do the MP or Summit distributor. Car is strictly a street cruiser. Engine is a '76 318 with Hughes Whiplash cam, Edelbrock Performer intake and Carter AFB.

For what you have and are doing, I'd just replace the distributor with a quality rebuilt unit or a new one. See if the local AutoZone has one with a lifetime warranty.
There was a run of boxes many years ago that would leak out the potting material, but there are thousands of the things still working perfectly.
I think the best box replacements are supposed to be Echlin or Standard brands; haven't had to replace one in many years.

i have picked up a few new O.E style distributors over the years Summit, ones are ok i like the last couple i got from Richard Ehrenberg and in all my years other than a couple of ballast resistors i have really never had any issues with OE electronic ignition. i just make sure i match my parts and run good caps rotors and wires and ground the control box properly.

Not FACTORY boxes.

MP orange and aftermarket though...

As for the distributor, you can buy a brand new Spectre Premium unit from Rock Auto for $51.

Or you can rebuild your old one.

Thanks, guys. That helps. I would rather just buy a new one. Not sure what's wrong with this one. Sounds like I really just need a new factory style distributor.

I saw the Spectra. I just wasn't sure about quality. Figured it was probably Chinese. Saw the MP at Mancini and have always had good luck with Summit brand.

https://www.manciniracing.com/mpnew5.html

Hope you don’t think the Mancini part isn’t Chinese.
I’d bet you can’t find something that isn’t.

Yes. I know almost everything is these days. I shouldn't have said just Chinese. I used to work for a tier one supplier. Most of our aluminum castings came out of China and were often better than the domestic sourced parts.

I would just like to think Summit and MP hold their supplier to a decent standard. I don't anything about Spectra. Anyone here used one?

I had a Summit Brand distributor fail after two passes. Its replacement lasted me a full year before something else broke. At the time they were made by Mallory and had the screw on caps vs the clip ons. Regardless, never again will I buy store brand if I can help it. My MSD billet unit hasn't skipped a beat in three seasons.

radial or axial play (on the shaft). axial can be fixed/corrected to .005" with the speedway mtrs $10 shim kit (radial needs new bushings). pickup coil pivot not being concentric is normal. I'm thinking the holdown screw for the pickup assy was loose causing this. "Joesixpack" on here has (or did have) pickup coil assys for sale. I would stay with an OE electronic dist (not a newer MP Mallory version) & we can walk you thru blueprinting it. www.designed2drive.com has a plate that lets you mount an HEI module under the dist ($$$) but makeing one is a piece of cake out of a piece of aluminum. (dont forget the heat sink paste). I'd get an OE HEI module from a yard or an aftermarket version & consider the furd TBI coil (cheap at rockauto) & no ballast but it is unsightly but it does work real well OR if you go with an OE Mopar ECU be sure to carry a spare & I would go with at least 1.5 ohms of ballast on the OE boxes, depending on your coil.

I have being dealing with the play of stock kind vacuum advance plate and non concentric advance circunference with the reluctor since ever, because I have found my reluctor bite by the pickup coil in the past.

I solved ( somehow ) the advance plate play with teflon tape to the pivot shaft between pickup bracket and plate hole. This saved a bit this play for a more consistent gap when advance plate moves.

About the non concentric advance movement must say, sorry, but is IMPOSIBLE to draw two circunferences with a diff center ratio. The advance plate pivot is way out of the dist center shaft, hence distributor/rotor, so the pick up coil will NEVER be parallel to the reluctor allong his travel. What I did is bend here and there the pickup coil bracket to get at least .002 to .004 variation with and without advance. I could get .007 on rest position and .010 with vacuum applied tweaking the coil bracket at dif points. The rivet to the coil bracket plays a lot on this, but once adjustment screw is tight is not a problem anymore, but while getting the gap it could become on a headache. You could remove the existant rivet and install one tighter.

About distributor. MP/Mallory piece is quite good with the adjustable mech advance and diff springs options, but with same stock dist issues. Rotor is also indexed around 90 degrees off, so will need to set it off the same the oil pump shaft if you still want to meet the #1 on cap just like factory did.

Firecore distributor has get good comments, but as far I have seen is more of the same. The only diff is really the bushing is serviceable with a removable assembly cover, but, how many times on your life will need to really replace the bushing? Even less on a Small block! Big block units require more attention on this. I can't tell if the advance plate and coil bracket play has being corrected thought with more precission cuts and assembly. But still if this has been corrected on dist plate, when times come to replace the pickup coil, pivot shaft thickness will be ANYTHING manufacturer made, getting back the plate play... unless you replace JUST the coil and magnet bracket assembly reusing the gap adjustng plate where it mounts

Oh! And reluctor points must be checked. THEY ARE NOT at same height! Once installed check the gap with every reluctor point and will notice some of them could be higher than others. The indexing of the rotation pin also gets the reluctor off centered a bit. File each one of them to the same height with pickup coil end.

Again, thanks for the info. I've never done more than cap\rotor replacement on a Mopar distributor.

Sounds like I may be just as well off to rebuild this one. Looking at my distributor a little closer I found about .015" play axially, so definitely need shims if .005" is the spec. I also see where the pivot for the top plate is and yes, it's not concentric. Looks like the geometry could still have been set up a little better.

The other slop I was referring to is the engagement of the distributor shaft into the oil pump drive. Not sure what might be considered excessive, but seems like this could cause issue as well.

So, guess I'll just get a new pickup coil and some shims. I will also look into the GM HEI module, but just want to get her back on the road asap. If I do the GM module, what becomes of all the extra wiring for the resistor and box?

So, to recap here... I need a .010" shim, new pickup coil (any particular supplier or brand?), and file. Having to file seems like a really bad QA\design problem, but I'll check. And I may start gathering parts for an HEI conversion later.

Oh, and would definitely be interested in blue printing.

PM me your address & I will send you a .010" shim (if metal is allowed in a regular envelope).

double R, metal should be ok. i have sent thin stuff before. but i always tape what i'm sending to some thin card stock [like a 3x5 index card] or similar thickness. that way, it doesn't get bent. you shouldn't have any trouble sending the shim that way. well, providing the letter is not over one ounce in weight.

I appreciate the offer and I might take you up on it, but for now I've decided not to use this distributor. The lower shaft collar is plastic. So, when I got it, the axial play may have been in spec, but I don't trust it in my crank case any longer. Looks like a few of the cheaper distributors use plastic. I've also been looking the housing over and it looks pretty beat up with a few chunks missing here and there. I think someone used this one as a hammer before turning it in as a core.

I will still do all the checks you guys have recommended, but I would just feel better starting over with a new housing and one that uses a metal collar. The Spectra would probably do the job, but considering the MP. I see if you search right and hold your tongue just right you can find one on Summit for $117. I'm going to assume it's a better starting point than the Spectra or reman one I have.

I ain't never dealt with the new(er) MP Mallory based MP dizzys but I had read something bad about it (that sounded credible at the time/stuck with me). A guy on FABO is selling metal collars ($18 to your door iirc). When you get another one (new or used): set the axial to .005. check/correct top plate pivot pin slop. Get with Nacho on equalizing the teeth protrusions/minimizing reluctor gap change from vac adv operation. check/confirm rotor phasing. reduce rotor blade to cap terminal gap to .015 (drill out the rivet & sub in a slightly longer piece of brass or the NAPA Echlin MO3000 rotor has a .060" longer blade). get a cap with brass terminals. Check/correct lower dist tang to intergear notch rotational slop (peen or weld). dial in initial/springs/total/can tip in: those (4) IN ORDER. Holler if you need a shim (I ain't going anywhere (for now). EDIT meant to say initial/total/springs/can tip in

Just wanted to update. I managed to find a nice even flat washer and flipped the collar over. Roll pin hole wasn't centered. Had to sand a little on the collar, but finally got to about .007" Set gap on the pickup coil as best I could and put it back in. Timing is much better. Not jumping around like before. I still don't like the slop in the pick up coil pivot, so I'll still look for a new distributor, but at least I can drive her for now.

I'm almost tempted to get a GM HEI style. I'm not worried about the look and have always liked the all in one and robustness of GM HEI. If not, I'll do the HEI module mounted to the bottom of the distributor.

You could drill out/make a new pin for the top plate pivot. The HEI wiring is in the archives here, it is real easy (the early 4 terminal), no exp with the later multi terminal one. My TBI coil pic is buried but it would be on rockauto I would think (where I got mine for cheap). this would elim the ballast.

Figured I'd bring this thread back to life. I just ordered the module bracket from designed2drive. Now researching modules and coils. I'm not extremely concerned with it looking original or even period correct. I made a plate that bolts on my firewall years ago using existing holes and my electronic ignition is mounted there. I'll probably make a new plate for the voltage regulator and new e-coil. I would also prefer to use the connectors designed for each whenever possible vs crimp on spades.

See several guys using the Ford coil, but not a lot of info on mounting. Found the Holley Sniper coil. A little more $, but looks nice, has a nice bracket and I hope to add Holley Sniper EFI whenever I have the money and can decide on an acceptable fuel delivery.

Found a Delco 4-pin module on Amazon.

I also see several recommendations of a Bosch relay.. I have the H&R(?) electronic ignition conversion harness. I hate to tear it up, but will probably pull out what I don't need and make a new stand alone harness.

You were warned!