Along with my 312 Y block came an old non vacuum Holley Dual point distributor. I didn't even know Holley had distributors Anyone know anything about these ? Are they any good, and is it possible to fit an electronic system into them ? Any other info ?
I'm a big Y block fan, and have sen a few aftermarket dist's, but never seen or heard of a holley. Can you post a pic?
It was called a Holley "rotovance", and was a good alternative to the factory all vacuum piece of scrap. One of my friends put one in his '56 292, and loves it.
I don't remember seeing Holley enther. 1957 and up Y-blocks came stock with a very good dist. , but before 57 they were vac only.
So what would be involved in rebuilding it ?? And could it be fitted with a Petronix electronic system, or possibly a Mallory Unilite conversion ??
Galaxy is the name of a business I see at swap meets in Ca. He takes aftermarket SBF distributors (289 - 302 etc) and converts them to work in Y blocks. If anyone is interested I'll dig up his business card. Information added below: www.galaxyhighperformance.com [email protected] 626962 0407 Linda 626 945 0095 Robert 800 735 4593 Tech support Baldwin Park, Calif
I don't know anything about the Holley, but I do know that I wasted money on Pertronix on my '54 y-block. Never again. I am sure others have had good luck with the conversion though.
Apparently the new version 3 of their product has corrected previous deficiencies. I converted a dual point distributor years ago with a Mallory Unilite system and it was really good.
You should be able to convert it to either. I would lean towards the Mallory Uni-Lite. If the bushings aren't bad then all this is involved in rebuilding it is taking the advance mechanism apart and deburing and polishing. Make sure the springs aren't shot. Then points and condensor, rotor etc. If the bushings are bad it may involve making some bushings I doubt that you can buy them, you might find something that will work. Or you could just ship it off to GMC Bubba and let him convert it to Petronix and take care of the rest of the freshening.
Im currently running one in my pickup,i called holley they dont have any info on this dist.,its been outdated for 30 years ore more.they did tell me it was not aftermarket,it was factory replacement for international,which i dont think is true because i dont know ao them engines interchanging.run mine on stock 54 y-block points and so far works fine.
As a point of interest, my 1967 Honest Charley catalog lists Holley Rotovance dual point distributors for both Y blocks and FE engines. If it were mine, I'd just run it with the points--if you're worried about being stranded somewhere someday, keep extra points in the glovebox. I've been running the vintage Mallory distributor in my '53 Chevy for years with the same point sets in it with no problem whatsoever. Petronix? I guess it's fine as long as it works, but the day it doesn't, you sure won't be filing it clean and getting home with it, like you could with points. If it were something like an H.E.I., you could figure on most any parts store having pieces for it.
They aren't interchangeable, no. I think the Holley tech might have gotten confused. Holley did make some OE distributors, for International and others, but they weren't performance oriented. The IH units are the infamous "gold box" electronic units that are prone to dying when the key is left in the wrong position too long. I believe HEATHEN's info about it being a Rotovance is correct. So far as converting it to electronics, anything is possible...with a bit of effort, you could use one of the conversion kits, probably. A common conversion from the late '80s/'90s is to use Duraspark components, or a Duraspark wheel with a Mopar module. Or, send it to Bubba and let him figure out how to do it.
As a side note to my post above, Galaxy uses the GM module in his conversions. If you are worried about electronic failure, you can tote an easy to find spare module.
rebuild it, set the points and hook an msd box to it. points see no load and will live forever, and msd failures are vary rare.
Yes, what he said. Points work great in an old Y-block. Mine would start bfore the crank hit the second cylinder everytime. Tim
I am undecided on what to do for my Y block dist. I had a 460 in my work truck and after a few thousand miles in the summer the little plastic tab that rubs the dist. shaft and opens the points would melt, and i would allways have to regap the points. Is there a set of points that have a wheel? I also have considered the pertronix but don't know much about them. It is true, as soon as the points are installed they begin to wear out and fuel milage and performance begin to drop off. Points are easy and having spares as well as a condensor can get you out of a jam, but wouldn't electronic conversion be better in the long run? Sorry OP about the thread hijack but the conversation went toward dist. components.
your sort of correct about points, but I dont think I've seen the slider melt, they do wear out but it takes a long time. I am not a fan of pertronix, soem have had real good luck with them and I'm happy for them, but some of the horror stories about them scare me off. Being a professional drag race builder for a long time I have installed many msd boxes and have seen very few failures, and most of those were due to owner screw ups. When using a msd style box triggered by the points the only thing the points see is reference voltage. They wont burn, arc, or carbon up. Adjusting becomes a never do thing, as long as the points open and close it will work. You can also do away with ballast resistor, and it lightens the load on your ignition switch. There is also a trick you can use if the box fails that will get you home. All you need to do is put a wire from the neg side of the coil to the points, and run a 12 volt (ignition hot) wire to the positive side of the coil. Now you points work like they are supposed too. Try that with any other electronic conversion.
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