Distributor issue....

[rejeep]

AMC 360 freshly built a few years ago..

Have been dialing in the truck and running around town with little issues..
Last night on a 2 hr road trip I started having a skip..
Long story short I have a broken tooth on my pickup.
Seems the #1 cyl tooth sheared off against the relucter and there you have it.

I'm using a motorcraft distributor, bultear front cover and matching cam gear set.

Anything I should look into or just chalk this up to shitty A1 cardone parts.
I haven't autopsyed the distributor yet...

It's been one thing after another with this ignition system... quality of parts is just so hot or miss

[tufcj]

I chalk it up to bad parts. The only way the reluctor tooth could contact the pickup is if there's a bad bearing/bushing, it was rebuilt improperly (clearances), or something came loose. It is going to take a dis-assembly of the distributor to find out. I'm not real familiar with the motorcraft dizzy, I prefer aftermarket. Mallory Unilite is my favorite. I believe you can go to a Ford "big cap" HEI style on the factory Motorcraft base with some additional parts.

Bob
tufcj

[rejeep]

I'm currently running the big cap...
Chose the motocraft due to parts availability and reliability... Kinda ironic.

Is the Mallory swappable with the duraspark ignition...

[tufcj]

It would eliminate the ECU. The Unilite is entirely self contained. 3 wires, 2 to the coil, 1 to ground. You need to add a ballast resistor if your vehicle doesn't have a resistance wire to the coil. Everyone told me when I bought it that the sensors fail, buy a spare. So I did. I ran the Unilite in my CJ for 20+ years with no problems, I've had one in my AMX for 12, and have one for the engine that's going in my SC/Rambler clone. The spare I bought 20 years ago is still in my tool box in the original wrapper.

Bob
tufcj

[rejeep]

In theory I could make a harness for the Unilite and leave duraspark in place....
Decisions decisions....

Took old distributor out this am...
Good contact pattern on distributor gear..

[rejeep]

do they even make the mallory ones anymore?

[tufcj]

HMMMMM. I looked at Jegs and Summit Racing. Looks like Mallory was bought out by MSD, and they discontinued the AMC Unilite. I still see new ones pop up on ebay from time to time. It looks like MSD still makes replacement modules, and the points to Unilite conversion. Don't know what to tell you, didn't realize that had happened until I looked today. Glad I have the one for my Rogue engine on the shelf.

Bob
tufcj

[rejeep]

more I think about this.. the aftermarket duraspark ignition components are the weakest link in my Jeep performance..
what is a better more reliable ignition system.. the HEI or MSD?