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Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? #2588672
12/07/18 05:03 PM
12/07/18 05:03 PM
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Lansing, MI
70gtx440dana Offline OP
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I have heard many negative things re: the Mopar "Orange" ICU boxes. Are they all considered "no good"? Or, is there an early version....or whatever version that is a good reliable and well performing unit?

Also, looking for recommendation on any known reliable and high performing aftermarket units (Standard Ignition, Wells etc.). Hoping for something made in the USA or Canada.

I am installing electronic ignition on a 70 440-6 engine. Wanting good reliability and performance up to 6K RPM's or so.

Thanks in advance! Joe

Last edited by 70gtx440dana; 12/07/18 05:04 PM.

70 Road Runner 383-4 4 speed FJ5 & black guts
70 Charger R/T 440-4 4 speed FJ5 & white guts
Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: 70gtx440dana] #2588676
12/07/18 05:09 PM
12/07/18 05:09 PM
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WA
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tman Offline
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Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: 70gtx440dana] #2588679
12/07/18 05:22 PM
12/07/18 05:22 PM
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Lincoln Nebraska
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RapidRobert Offline
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reportedly (by a # of people) the newer orange ones have a less than stellar failure rate (tho we are the complaint dept & we get the problems) & the older ones were moderately OK. I would go to a yard & get one or two OE later ones (4 pinners) OR one or two from a parts house & the problem there is most are made overseas now & have reported reliability issues (why you get one or two) & if you can find a made in US of A unit for sale I would purchase it (take the time to have your parts house do some checking & get back to you on this). Ebay would be worth checking. Do some homework on the ballast ohms also (depends on your coil).


live every 24 hour block of time like it's your last day on earth
Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: 70gtx440dana] #2588680
12/07/18 05:22 PM
12/07/18 05:22 PM
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A certified culture free zone.
74RALLYE Offline
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My new Orange box lasted about 2 months. I bought several old boxes from the junk yard and I haven't had a bad one since.
I had just painted the car so there could have been a grounding issue that helped kill the new one.

Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: 70gtx440dana] #2588684
12/07/18 05:32 PM
12/07/18 05:32 PM
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S.E. Michigan
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The old school Mopar part numbers are all discontinued. I still have a few from the '80s and '90s that work well. Maybe I should sell them?

I ran traditional mopar ign for alot of years then went another way, and tried a hybrid ign that I had read alot of AMC off road guys running. Here are a couple links about that if interested. the module is easy to hide.

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/2286360/1.html

for the original "look"
https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/threads/hei-in-mopar-ecu-casing.252705/


Rich H.

Esse Quam Videri




Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: 70gtx440dana] #2588720
12/07/18 07:04 PM
12/07/18 07:04 PM
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Chicago
PurpleBeeper Offline
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It won't be original, so why not a MSD 6A or 6AL?


70 Roadrunner convt. street car 440+6, NOS, 4-spd, SS springs '96 Mustang GT convt. street car '04 4.6 SOHC, NOS, auto, lowered "Officer, that button is for short on-ramps"
Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: PurpleBeeper] #2588784
12/07/18 09:21 PM
12/07/18 09:21 PM
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Lansing, MI
70gtx440dana Offline OP
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Originally Posted By PurpleBeeper
It won't be original, so why not a MSD 6A or 6AL?


Pretty stock 6 pack build.....not fond of the look of the MSD stuff. Originality of the engine compartment will be maintained except for the small wiring differences and the non dual point distributor.


70 Road Runner 383-4 4 speed FJ5 & black guts
70 Charger R/T 440-4 4 speed FJ5 & white guts
Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: 70gtx440dana] #2588825
12/07/18 10:35 PM
12/07/18 10:35 PM
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I dummy-up my Rev or nator and couldn't be happier!!
Ron

IMG_1654 (Large).JPG
Last edited by RJS; 12/07/18 10:35 PM.
Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: 70gtx440dana] #2589089
12/08/18 06:13 PM
12/08/18 06:13 PM
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Lansing, MI
70gtx440dana Offline OP
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Thanks for the replies......found a Mopar Chrome box that I am going to give a try. Fingers crossed!


70 Road Runner 383-4 4 speed FJ5 & black guts
70 Charger R/T 440-4 4 speed FJ5 & white guts
Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: 70gtx440dana] #2589146
12/08/18 09:51 PM
12/08/18 09:51 PM
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Lincoln Nebraska
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RapidRobert Offline
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Chrome boxes have a good rep (best of all the Mopar ECU's).


live every 24 hour block of time like it's your last day on earth
Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: 70gtx440dana] #2589321
12/09/18 01:31 PM
12/09/18 01:31 PM
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Valencia, España
NachoRT74 Offline
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Agreed... IF DOESN'T FAIL, the Chromed piece is the best of all MP pieces. Faster start up and hot aceleration... sometimes I felt like loossing some beat, but still noticed the power with it.

Since I got tired of MP failed boxes ( and the old A688 FBO ), went with the Rev-N-Nator long time ago. A bit smoother than the MP, but still hot without miss a beat


With a Charger born in Chrysler assembly plant in Valencia, Venezuela
Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: 70gtx440dana] #2590246
12/11/18 05:09 AM
12/11/18 05:09 AM
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383man Offline
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Years back Mopar said if its a street car that will idle for 30 minutes then don't use the chrome box. But many have used them for years. Back in the late 90's I had a mild 383 Dart that ran 12's so I bought the orange MP ECU since its a street car and will idle a lot. I bought it around 98 or 99 and its still running fine as its been on my 63 since 2006 and was on the Dart which my son now owns from the late 90's until 2006. My son bought MSD we installed on his Dart after we put a 400 in it. His car ran the same 11.40's with the MSD ign and the MP orange ECU. So I took the orange ECU with an older Acell Super Coil and still run it on my 63. It runs in the 10's as a street car and never misses a beat. I have checked my timing and it is not retarding my timing at higher rpm as many say newer ones do. Best I can tell you is my sons Dart started , idled and ran the same with the orange MP ECU as it did with the MSD ign. I have not run a newer one so I cant say but this one I bought in the late 90's has been flawless. I am not sure what the best ones are today but it may be the Rev-N-Ator ECU from what I have heard. I don't even know if anyone sells the chrome one anymore ? Good luck , Ron

Last edited by 383man; 12/11/18 05:11 AM.
Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: 70gtx440dana] #2590390
12/11/18 02:43 PM
12/11/18 02:43 PM
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Western Md.
skicker Offline
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Here is a pic of one I bought about 10 years or so ago...
P/n is P4120534 shruggy

ECU 1.jpgECU 2.jpg

...FAFO...
Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: skicker] #2591874
12/14/18 03:07 PM
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dogdays Offline
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The Rev-N-Nater and FBO's box are two that I'd suggest. I don't believe either is rebuildable. Both use digital modern technology with an inductive spark. After all these years the OEMs are still using inductive spark, there must be a reason.

It's really laughable what people say about the various stock type boxes. 15 years ago the complaints were all about the Chrome boxes. People were failing them right and left and replacing with Orange boxes. Now it's the Orange boxes that are the bad ones and Chrome is good. Stock replacement boxes are hit and miss. Stock OEM boxes are "good" now but back in the day they were what everyone threw away when installing an Orange or Chrome box.

20 years ago, Dr. Chris Jacobs in his guide to electronic ignitions said the Standard LX-101 was about as good as it got without buying one of his units. If you decide to go this route keep in mind that Standard Motor Products has two lines, the regular and the "T" series. The T series is their budget or "Thrift" line.

R.

Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: skicker] #2591901
12/14/18 03:55 PM
12/14/18 03:55 PM
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NachoRT74 Offline
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Originally Posted By skicker
Here is a pic of one I bought about 10 years or so ago...
P/n is P4120534 shruggy


interesting the Transistor in it, not the ON one I have got failed in 3 modules ( MJ10012 )


With a Charger born in Chrysler assembly plant in Valencia, Venezuela
Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: dogdays] #2591904
12/14/18 04:01 PM
12/14/18 04:01 PM
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Originally Posted By dogdays


It's really laughable what people say about the various stock type boxes. 15 years ago the complaints were all about the Chrome boxes. People were failing them right and left and replacing with Orange boxes. Now it's the Orange boxes that are the bad ones and Chrome is good. Stock replacement boxes are hit and miss. Stock OEM boxes are "good" now but back in the day they were what everyone threw away when installing an Orange or Chrome box.



well I just can talk about the chromed box ( with the ON MJ10012 transistor )... 3 failed in 2 years... ( that was 8-9 years ago )... run an orange box for couple of months while I was getting the Rev-N-Nator. Sold the orange to a buddy of mine

FBO A688... failed in 6 months or so.

HiRev 7500... used for couple of weeks just for testing, Now my trunk spare, but a friend of mine got it failed in 3 months

Last edited by NachoRT74; 12/14/18 04:01 PM.

With a Charger born in Chrysler assembly plant in Valencia, Venezuela
Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: NachoRT74] #2591923
12/14/18 04:43 PM
12/14/18 04:43 PM
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Went through another box, second in two months. Ordered some standard boxes from RockAuto. So far,so good. I still have an orange MO box on my GTS. So far no problems. I always carry a spare which is a ProForm. The other boxes that failed were ProForm.


“So if it’s on the internet it must be true”

Abe Lincoln
Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: 70gtx440dana] #2591946
12/14/18 05:28 PM
12/14/18 05:28 PM
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I have had the black version Rev-n-ator on one of my Chargers for years with no issues. I have it mounted down low under the horns out of sight on the frame rail. I like the built in rev limiter just in case even though it is an automatic.


1963 Belvedere 440 Max Wedge Tribute
1970 Charger R/T S.E. 440 Six Pack
1970 Challenger R/T, 528 Hemi
1970 Charger 500 S.E. 440 4 BBL
1970 Plymouth Road Runner 383
1974 Chrysler New Yorker 440
1996 2500 RAM 488 V-10 4X4
2004 3500 Dually Cummins 4x4
2012 Challenger R/T Classic.
Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: 6PKRTSE] #2591991
12/14/18 07:11 PM
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I've had good luck going with a pertronix II conversion in a points Dist. with their coil and a bypassed ballast resistor so I could pick up the pos wire right off the coil vs the Mopar elec. setup. Also retains a more stock look with everything under dist cap.

Re: Mopar Electronic Ignition ICU box recommendation? [Re: dogdays] #2592089
12/14/18 10:25 PM
12/14/18 10:25 PM
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RapidRobert Offline
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Quote:
20 years ago, Dr. Chris Jacobs in his guide to electronic ignitions said the Standard LX-101 was about as good as it got without buying one of his units. If you decide to go this route keep in mind that Standard Motor Products has two lines, the regular and the "T" series. The T series is their budget or "Thrift" line. R.
I have that book. a good read. I think back then that LX was American made but now it is made in china.


live every 24 hour block of time like it's your last day on earth
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