Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Help again please - 1993 +8 ?ignition

TBM, and Tony Q - many thanks for the inputs from you both here. I feel some research for replacement bits coming on.....

If you have the Lucas 14 CUX Hotwire system, then you don’t fit a ballast resistor. The coil that best fits the Plus 8 is this one https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154433137459?epid=1229815149&hash=item23f4eeab33:g:0I4AAOSw9iNfcyEz.

Agreed , but that is the standard 14CUX system , and OP has a Mallory Unalite distributor fitted , which does apparently require a ballast resistor.

This distributor was very well thought of in its day , and definitely not cheap, so I think it would be worthwhile persevering with it. It will however fetch a pretty good price on the second hand market, more than enough to buy the components to take the system back to standard IF that was the chosen route.

I used to use an RPI ignition amplifier, but had nothing but trouble, so I reverted to standard which cured that one.

Hi! A rare visit. Sent here by well-wishers to save the fella from the wrong direction.

I would recommend you ignore the comments made so far. They are incorrect.

The Mallory Unilite is the best distributor for Morgans we have found so far. The Lucas original V8 dizzies, from their start (1967 to the GEMS) offers only feeble sparks and other stuff is akin to scotch tape or chicken wire solutions. Sadly IIRC, Mallory (est. 1922) was bought over by MSD for its market share and then MSD was bought over by Holley...so this V8 lost its best ignition option for reasons only of profit, not performance, though other Mallory types were continued by both buyers. Happily, the all-important inexpensive photo-optic unit is still supplied and that is the only thing that can go wrong, a roadside 3 minute repair for an amateur. If it is decided that some other reason to remove it, your guy will find a line-up for his Mallory, or send it to this mogger for this advice.

ALL Mallorys need to be ballast-resisted. They are normally sold with the unit. These are a wise move as it guarantees a great spark at perfectly steady low voltage rather than a fluctuating high one. Compared to Lucas, when we tested all Plus 8 distributors, the Mallory went right up and off the same scale used on the Lucas or another market junk. That gives a great result at idle, tuning and acceleration.

Though the MOG 615 is right on the RPI amplifyer, he misses that all Mallorys are internally amplified, so he is amplifying an amplifier. That hadn't caused him harm yet, but it adds another factor that can go wrong, something that is very common to Lucas amplifiers. An expert would see that at a glance. It is good to have one peek under the Morgan bonnet from time to time. It is so easy to get something wrong, like 615, that a professional will see at a glance.

Without a ballast resistor, the owners of this car have been burning out one coil (wish we knew the type) after another. They will only last a bit before they get so hot (enough to burn skin off and don't ask me how I know!) before they fail or get VERY angry. Mallory made an internally ballast resisted coil (red top) but I DO NOT recommend it for that reason. Buy a standard British ballast resistor.

Mallorys also allow a LOT of ignition advancing over other solutions..producing another 15-20 bhp at the minimum. (I do my tuning on a rolling road.)

As for the general conditions of his Hotwire fueling system, that is impossible to ascertain until the ignition basics are sorted out. But my guess, is that, aside from some smart tweaks, he is fine. (fingers crossed). If not, he should look at https://www.gomog.com/allmorgan/HotwirePLUS8.html

BTW, I hear some in the community are believing the recent silliness about the traditional Plus 8s. What makes a car perform is not bhp, but bhp, torque and weight. (gear ratios aside). The fastest Morgan in the world is and always will be, Keith Ahlers' super-light Trad Plus 8 that nudges over 400 bhp. After, 60ish years, that old V8 can reliably be turned to almost any bhp wanted anywhere in the world, served by the UK, US and Australian markets while still keeping its lithe lightness. Do not believe weights, but my last +8 weighs 850 kilos and can put out 309 bhp. Figure out the power-to-weight and compare it to any Morgan made. That being said, I like the pre-2004 4/4s. They are SO reactive and fun before they put them, inexplicably, on the same heavy chassis as the others.

Good luck!

gomog (aka Lorne)

Hi Lorne,

Thank you for your (genuinely) wise words!

During the TalkMorgan interchange that I initiated as a result of my problems, I did indeed check the GoMog website, and that plus the prior contributions led me to conclude that I needed to include a ballast resistor in my ignition system - whoever had originally installed the Mallory distributor definitely failed to do on my car. The coil that the car burned out previously was a standard Bosch one for TCI ignitions.

Tomorrow I will order said resistor, together with a replacement Mallory ignition module; I don't want to take any chances!

Greetings and best wishes from North Yorkshire,

Dave

,

I would suggest reading all the comments properly first, before a blanket dismissal.

There is no ignition ballast resistor in the standard 'Land Rover Discovery' harness. The original circuit will have had an ignition amplifier, fed from a pickup coil in the distributor. I don''t know the Mallory setup, but a quick google suggested a ballast resistor is required.
Note that with a ballast resistor fitted you may well read 12 volts at the coil, the voltage reduces to 8 or 9 volts when there is current flowing through the coil, such as when the contact breaker is 'made' on a conventional old style system
If a ballast resistor is fitted you should have a feed from the starter relay to short out the ballast resistor while the starter motor is 'live' so the coil gets 12 volts (will actually be less as the load of the starter motor reduces the voltage at the battery)

Do you have a model number for the Mallory distributor ?

You can make a final confirmation by putting your voltmeter on the 12v terminal of the coil, and with ignition on, connect the negative of the coil to a chassis earth. If the voltage stays at 12v you don't have a ballast resistor.

Sorry TBM. Should I have written "incorrect or inapplicable". Sorry to have offended you but these things are not a contest in who is right. Dave only wants his car running right.There is no one more frustrated than a mogger with a wounded Morgan. What IS good of you is to TRY. People feel very alone and having someone like you attempting to help is half the battle. You can now correctly answer the next question in this area with panache.



You are a wise man. I always carried the little optical unit in my Malloried Plus 8s. I had an occasion to be very grateful for that. If the pivoting bonnet stay touches the ballast resistor. it cancels its effect and the coil burns out in a few miles. Hard one to figure out as the problem disappears as soon as you lift the bonnet. If you have a sec, test the present module with a credit card. I put up a simple test for you. https://www.gomog.com/allmorgan/MalloryUnilite.html#Testing It is not unusual for an unballasted coil to snafu the "module". Better safe than the other thing.

I use Mallory brown top coil for EFI. I know that there are those who swear by Bosch Blues..but only some are good and others bad depending on which country they are made. https://ratwell.com/technical/BlueCoil.html That being said, I am not a fan of hype. Any component is only as good as it performs for YOU. Install the ballast resistor and see what happens for a few drives. All mainstream Morgans pre-2000 are infinitely tweakable if you have a screwdriver and a bit of time. Very owner friendly vehicles.

No offence taken. Every day a learning day and Dave gets a fixed Mog which is the priority.

I'm struggling a little to see th difference between these posts, but I'll take my pat on the back for 'good effort'