MSD, can you tell the difference?

[rumblefish360]

OTR, the MSD should technicaly help on the 60' times. However, since I have not run it on a car that is sub 1.7 on the 60', and have run it on a verity of cars slower, I find it a waste of money for a slow strip car. A fast strip car? Would probably bennifit from it.

I found 2+ MPG's with it on my mostly stock 360 '79 Dodge Magnum.

 

[Tony Fields]

You do however need to pay attention to which plug wires MSD says to use or that can cause problems quick and will have to gap the spark plugs a little bigger.

Not trying to hijack the thread but
what should the plug gap be with a complete MSD system?

 

[rumblefish360]

Tony, on my stock '79 - 360, I ran it to .055. After that, I didn't notice/feel any power gain or mileage increases.
The higher the compresion, the smaller the gap.

 

[Tony Fields]

Tony, on my stock '79 - 360, I ran it to .055. After that, I didn't notice/feel any power gain or mileage increases.
The higher the compresion, the smaller the gap.

Thanks Rob....I'll check my gap tomorrow...not sure what the speed shop
set them at.

 

[mullinax95]

Hotter spark and Rev limiter is a must for performance engines. Don't HAVE to use it but you know what I mean.

 

[theothergarth]

I have run the orange box/MOPAR distrib with a MSD Blaster coil for about 10 years with no problems. About the only thing I noticed when I switched to the Blaster was it started so easy in the winter compared to the coil I had before

 

[dodge freak]

I run an MSD 7al box and HVC coil, there is a BIG difference in cold idle from a MSD 6 box and wimpy coil/ If your going to replace might as well get the good stuff -better to overkill then under kill. Now you MUST use $$$ plug wires or they will breakdown/leak. Best to use an MSD dist also so no cross firing in the cap/rotor.

That was another $900 out the window but I got a bad *** ignition that fires 99% of this junk pump fuel.

 

[dodge freak]

By the way, when stuff needs to be sent back to MSD for checking/repairs, on goes a point dist and cheap 7m wires. Its noticeable but once running for awhile works pretty darn good for being so cheap/simple. WOT isn't that much slower it seems but can be and feel not as crisp if you punch the throttle open too fast.

With the MSD system it works best all of the time, no excuses needed

 

[bohica2xo]

I have several MSD units. On the street, the 6 series can improve both mileage and driveability. I have swapped between a Pertronix and the 6a on the same vehicle with very obvious results. Because the Pertronix is the trigger for the MSD it is a quick swap for comparison.

The high output allows you to make changes that other ignitions simply will not deal with. Bigger gaps make for a longer spark, and better exposure to the fuel / air charge.

You can run a much colder plug - like an N19V Champion. A point ignition may not even fire that plug.

I have never had one of my own MSD's fail, but I do know what will kill one. A friend of mine went through 3 of them in a month - he was pretty angry about it.
I stopped by to help, and he was fighting a miss with a point distributor. He had the can type 8203 MSD coil on it. I pulled a plug wire, and there it was - "Snap Snap Snap". Coming from the coil. A crack in the tower, and it was firing to the negative terminal on the coil - from just below the boot. I still have the coil, most people can't see the crack before I point it out.

Two years later, someone else asks me about the MSD, and wants to know how many I have killed. "None". I asked to see his install. OEM ford coil, with a visible arc track across the coil. Same story, starts missing at WOT, just suddenly quits for good. MSD charges 100 bucks to fix it.

I use the MSD 8207 Blaster coil on street cars. No way to zap the primary side from the tower. Never had a failure with that coil. My work truck has close to 100k on the 6a & that coil. I gap the plugs at .045 - and run them 30 k miles.

B.

 

[DusterKrazy]

I ran an MSD on my /6 bracket car years ago and really wasn't that happy with it's reliability. It made me coin the phrase "might suddenly die"...

My '71 Twister has had a Mallory electronic conversion on it for a long time. It works just as good as any box ignition that I have tried.

I may try another MSD later in the future but I am still not sure. I like for my daily driver's to start up when needed!

 

[jimjimjimmy]

i run msd systems scince 97 never a prob and a gain of 1-10th in the 1320 i still have the stock setup for backup but never had to use it . i run both at the track and the msd is a tin y bit quicker

 

[Mopar44134]

When I was drag racing my 68 barracuda, 360, I used the gold box then switch back to the chrome one for the street. I had a problem with the mopar performance pickup coming apart. Never had a box fail though. Then switch over to MSD 6AL box, distributor and coil. Fired right up, exhaust note sounded better, easier starting, better street drivability. At the time I got it, I was still learning about the holley 650 double pumper, especially setting the float, power valve and jets. Flooded out a few time but fire wet...over all I was happy with mopar performance stuff, like the msd better.

 

[dodge69hemi]

I ran the 6AL box and ran 3 of them, but them kept dying. but i switched to summit's version of an ignition box and havent had one problem. i finally found that the summit box is digital and the msd's were mostly all analog except the higher end computer controlled ones. but now msd has a digital one..... yaaaaay...............

 

[Salty Dog]

Just was curious and kinda been wanting to post this thread for a while. I wanted to know if you guys you could tell the difference between your stock Mopar Electronic Ignition system and when it was replaced with MSD part partially/fully. Please explain the difference you felt and what you did. I'm kinda curious of it would be worth the money in the future to slowly upgrade from an orange box ignition to a 6AL box, blaster coil, and distributor. I understand the distributor has bearings in it compared to the mopar performance one which is already one advantage.

So please post your MSD opinions and experiences here!:-D
Maybe this will help some other young guns too in the future!

1st, the Orange box stinks. 2nd, go to the Chrome box. Much better.

Alot depends on what type of engine the MSD is in use on. Examples;

Stock engine to a mild performance build up.

It cleans up the idle, smooths it out and helps someone who isn't the best at tuning, tune the carb. If the carb is tuned well, low speed driving will see improvments in power and mileage. On a W.O.T. no dif.

On a more serious build, street strip style, the MoPar Chrome box is a must or a MSD. I have found the most modest gains with the MSD.

I have not tried the Gold box vs. (a better than) MSD 6 series box. The Gold box was very good to me, but limited in useage. (Time on the street.)

For young guns or thin wallets, the MoPar Chrome box will certainly get the job done.