Mystery Black Box

[Old Guy]

My T-Bucket has a black box under the passenger seat. My efforts to identify it are not going well. Maybe somebody will recognize it and help me out.

There is a small cover on one end. It hides this.

I think the cover hides a rev limiter (appears turned off)
The underside on the box has id......maybe

My image hosting may have issues.....if this don't work, I'll go to plan B

Thanks for looking

Roger

It worked. Here's more. There are 9 wires coming out of this box. Purple & Green are twisted together and cut. A brown wire is also cut. Heavy gauge red and black wires go in direction of battery. An orange wire & a black wire are twisted together and go.....??? There are also a red wire and a white wire that go.......??? It's difficult (not impossible) to trace wires in this car.

The box is 6 7/8" long X 4" wide and about 2 1/2" thick

 

[Old Guy]

I should have added that this car has a Mallory 2748201 dual point distributor.

 

[old round fart]

Sounds like an MSD ignition box. See if it was red.

 

[HenrysT]

Looks like it MIGHT be something like this, but a older model. Look at spec sheet, see if it looks similar.
Mallory 6852M Ignition Box - HYFIRE®6A - Magnetic Trigger

 

[fletcherson]

My T-Bucket has a black box under the passenger seat. My efforts to identify it are not going well. Maybe somebody will recognize it and help me out.

There is a small cover on one end. It hides this.

I think the cover hides a rev limiter (appears turned off)
The underside on the box has id......maybe

My image hosting may have issues.....if this don't work, I'll go to plan B

Thanks for looking

Roger

It worked. Here's more. There are 9 wires coming out of this box. Purple & Green are twisted together and cut. A brown wire is also cut. Heavy gauge red and black wires go in direction of battery. An orange wire & a black wire are twisted together and go.....??? There are also a red wire and a white wire that go.......??? It's difficult (not impossible) to trace wires in this car.

The box is 6 7/8" long X 4" wide and about 2 1/2" thick

It's an ignition box. On Holley.com there is one similar, it's an accel brand box. It has similar wires and potentiometers to yours. I couldn't find any technical details on your numbers, maybe call a speed shop and see if they recognize it.

 

[Intrepid]

It looks like a Holley 800-100 Annihilator.
They don't make them any more.
Very similar to the MSD 6AL
I would like to know what you find out about it, I have a friend wanting to sell me one and I haven't done any research on it yet.

 

[Old Guy]

It's an ignition box. On Holley.com there is one similar, it's an accel brand box. It has similar wires and potentiometers to yours. I couldn't find any technical details on your numbers, maybe call a speed shop and see if they recognize it.

Looks like you are right. I downloaded the instructions for the accel 61212 box. Looks like same number and color for wires. I'm sure they are not interchangeable, however if the basics are the same, it still could be a great help. Tomorrow, I will attempt to open my black box. It's put together with screws. I hope it's not all potted. Thanks,
Roger

 

[Old Guy]

Looks like it MIGHT be something like this, but a older model. Look at spec sheet, see if it looks similar.
Mallory 6852M Ignition Box - HYFIRE®6A - Magnetic Trigger

The specs for the Mallory 6852M wires have a lot in common with my black box
Thanks,
Roger

 

[fletcherson]

Looks like you are right. I downloaded the instructions for the accel 61212 box. Looks like same number and color for wires. I'm sure they are not interchangeable, however if the basics are the same, it still could be a great help. Tomorrow, I will attempt to open my black box. It's put together with screws. I hope it's not all potted. Thanks,
Roger

Many of the brands products are built by the same core manufacturer or modeled after and labeled different. It's basically a capacitive discharge ignition box that stores energy in capacitors and essentially amplifies the coils discharge. There are specific coils recommended to use with them. Those potentiometers will likely allow a rev limiter and possibly a retard, i.e. electronic vacuum advance. I use them on everything. They are well worth the investment, imho. Btw, do not untwist those pairs of wire. They are twisted to cancel electronic noise, a type of shielding. That dual point distributor is not needed with a box, the dual points were the fore runner and basically did what the boxes do, by double firing the coil each them, they increases the energy to the plugs. You may be able to find a electronic conversion kit, like a Hall effect sensor to fit inside of that distributor if you want to retain it for nostalgia. I have a couple on hand for that reason.

 

[PotvinGuy]

Check figure 8: http://documents.holley.com/mallory..._206a_6al_wiring_diagram_6852m_6853m_0001.pdf

It looks like your setup. Dual points (that's real old school) should work OK, they just increased dwell time so the coil would have a hotter spark. But points are a pain, tho, since they wear out and need adjusting. I'd look for a conversion kit or spring for a modern dizzy without points.

 

[PotvinGuy]

You don't have to spend a fortune on a new dizzy. Proform (Summit, etc) has them under $100. But whatever you might choose, be sure it has vacuum advance. Makes a big improvement on the street.

 

[fletcherson]

I remember the first time I saw the actual effects of a capacitive discharge box. It must have been in the early '80's and nationwise auto parts had a MSD display with one where you could flip a toggle switch to see the difference between a coil firing a plug with and without a box. Big difference! I was sold.
If you decide to run that dual point distributor, look for details about timing. Some of them required the installer to rotate the spark plug wires on the distributor cap after installing the distributor to either advance or retard the timing, I don't remember which way it was...too long. Anyways, the best setups had an external disconnect that allowed you to isolate one set of points for initial timing and tune. They could be tricky to set up, and like most things mechanical, required periodic attention as the dwell changes as the points wear. If there is any wear in the shaft to housing or the point plate, I would advise against using the points because it can cause irratic dwell and timing, and tuning will be difficult.