Mallory distributor

[Jean Tkachyk <tkachyk@domain.elided>]

Been lurking until now, but am in need of some advice from the list. 
I can't seem to tune the engine properly with some of the previous 
owners modifications. I have a '79 scout (345, 2bbl Holley not orig., 
4-speed, non-electronic distributor not orig). The distributor that was 
in the Scout when I bought it last year had bad bushings and I replaced 
it with a Mallory dual point, it already had the mechanical dist. The 
preivious owner also removed all of the smog stuff from the orig Carter 
carb. and installed a 10" air cleaner. A manual choke was also 
installed. With all of these mods. I'm only guessing at what the 
timing/idle/dwell should be and what the points should be gapped at, and 
what air/fuel mixture should be. Currently running at 800rpm, timed @ 0 
degrees TDC, and points are gapped at .022, total dwell 33 degrees ea.@ 
26 degrees. I got the dwell and gap info from supershops when I bought 
the merch. After start-up the engine runs OK, but surges occasionally 
and sometimes sputters on acceleration. Also it will need considerable 
warm-up time to get to running smoothly @ 800 rpm. Strange since I live 
in Tucson, AZ. Sorry about the long post. Thanks in advance for your 
help, Steve