Listers,
Just a little light input that I thought I might pass on to the List. It
started about a year ago when, on a trip to L.A., my 5-year old Mallory
model 4070 gearotor type fuel pump began acting up. Finally got so bad I
pulled of the freeway and called Dale A. who came with his trailer and took
me and Mr. Green back to his shop. Dale did a quick and dirty overhaul of
the pump; basically just cleaned up the brushes and commutator and it was
fine. At least until about three weeks ago when the same problem occurred
again. This time I was able to limp all the way home. Guess it's time for a
real overhaul, so go to Smokey's speed shop in Oceanside and order the
rebuild kit for the model 4070. Was $9.95, now it's $14.95 and they tell me
it'll be take about a week to get. Turned out to be more like two weeks
'cause the warehouse "screwed up". So I finally get the rebuild kit and
pull my pump and set to work. Gee, lots of parts here; new screws, new
pressure adjustment springs, lots of new gaskets, etc. , etc., but what's
this - NO BRUSHES?? They put everything but the kitchen sink in the kit and
leave out the brushes. What gives?? So first thing I do is try and look up
Mallory on the Web. Nothing listed in the SEMA list of manufacturers, no
luck with www.mallory.com and versions thereof either. Oh well, just call
the number given on the box in Carson City, NV. The automated greeting says
something about you having reached "Mr. Gasket". Not a word about
"Mallory". But I persevere and get connected to the service desk and
explain my problem. Seems I needed to order a separate kit for the brushes;
I forget the part number, but she is very apologetic and gets my address
and promises to send me a pair of brushes gratis. And, indeed, yesterday
they arrived; two tiny brushes in a huge mailing envelope.
So, to summarize the important points, if you have a Mallory Model 70, or
any other similar model for that matter, it would probably be advisable to
get an extra set of brushes and carry them around so they're handy when the
fuel pump fails (which most likely won't be close to home). But, if you
don't have the points, you can probably make it run again for awhile by
just cleaning up the commutator a bit. Also, looks like another merger is
happening with Mr. Gasket now owning Mallory as well as Accel. Apparently
Mallory is yet another casualty of the slump in the high performance
after-market parts business.
Happily on the road again in San Diego,
Bob
Robert L. Palmer
Dept. of AMES, Univ. of Calif., San Diego
rpalmer@ames.ucsd.edu
rpalmer@cts.com
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