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Vintage Mopar Performance Gold Box

Posted By: hp383

Vintage Mopar Performance Gold Box - 04/15/23 02:41 PM

So I have this gold box, bought it in the late 90's along with a Chrome Box for a street/strip car.
Used the Chrome one, but not the Gold.

Its been wall art in my house since new, but the packaging failed long ago.

I have a 77 Fury... it is absolutely NOT a performance machine. Bone stock 360 4bbl.

Does the Gold box hold any significant value if it were to be sold?

If I were to use it on a stock ignition, will it cause any harm, or were they just manufactured with better components to be stabe at high rpm?

The Gold box is the only one of the three (MP orange, chrome, gold) to have a heat sink.
Is that because it runs much hotter, or is that part of how it maintains accuracy at high rpms?

Long story short, can I sell it for anything significant?

If I run it on stock setup is it going to do any harm, or will it just die in street use because it isn't designed for extended use.
Posted By: Diplomat360

Re: Vintage Mopar Performance Gold Box - 04/15/23 03:29 PM

Faintly recall reading in several places that the MP Gold boxes were NOT meant for continuous (street) use. This is because of the higher temp they'll build up.

Having said that, my '98 MP "Small Block 'A' Engines" book has the following on p.312:

"Super Gold Electronic Control Unit
The Super Gold Electronic Control Unit is the culmination of eight years of high performance ignition systems development. Designed to out perform any ignition unit previously offered to Mopar racers, it will handle the high current demand by the P3690560 (Accel) high performance coil, while keeping dwell variation to less than 1deg from 1,000 to 10,000 rpm. Dwell is set for maximum spark output at low and high engine speeds. The Super Gold ECU provides outstanding performance from idle to 12,000 rpm.

P4120600 Super Gold ECU-race only"
Posted By: hp383

Re: Vintage Mopar Performance Gold Box - 04/15/23 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by Diplomat360
Faintly recall reading in several places that the MP Gold boxes were NOT meant for continuous (street) use. This is because of the higher temp they'll build up.

Having said that, my '98 MP "Small Block 'A' Engines" book has the following on p.312:

"Super Gold Electronic Control Unit
The Super Gold Electronic Control Unit is the culmination of eight years of high performance ignition systems development. Designed to out perform any ignition unit previously offered to Mopar racers, it will handle the high current demand by the P3690560 (Accel) high performance coil, while keeping dwell variation to less than 1deg from 1,000 to 10,000 rpm. Dwell is set for maximum spark output at low and high engine speeds. The Super Gold ECU provides outstanding performance from idle to 12,000 rpm.

P4120600 Super Gold ECU-race only"


Yes, that is the one. That text was what I was remembering when I was wondering if it would last in street use.

Thanks for posting the info.

Attached picture 20230415_105949.jpg
Posted By: Diplomat360

Re: Vintage Mopar Performance Gold Box - 04/15/23 04:12 PM

Well, as it happens, a similar ignition issue has been bugging me for a while, that being: the proper match of the MP Chrome box - P4120534 - with the Acel Yellow Coil - 140001 - and the matching resistor.

That is the combo I currently run (on a street driver) having replaced the actual resistor with a pass-through wire. No ill behaviours have been noted, the coil is warm, the ECU gets hot, but things keep on running.

Anyways, back to your question: off I went deep diving in my MP books and I dug up the component xref charts from the big MP Engine book '89 edition.

I've attached both of these.

As with most things, the bottom line here is: the whole COMBO has to work together. So in this case the Gold box is meant to be used with the MP race coil, which the MP book states will get too hot in under 2000 rpm applications.

I haven't ran this combo myself, so I do not know the real-world survivability.

Attached picture MP - Electronic Control Units Chart - 1989.jpg
Attached picture MP - Electronic Ignition Application Chart - 1989.jpg
Posted By: hp383

Re: Vintage Mopar Performance Gold Box - 04/15/23 05:37 PM

Thanks for the help on this.

I guess I should let it hang on the wall a bit longer. Or bolt it in next to my stock ECU and tell people thats for when I race,
I plug it in so my dizzy doesn't scatter... LOL 😂
Posted By: moparx

Re: Vintage Mopar Performance Gold Box - 04/16/23 09:18 PM

i have to agree with the old posted charts.
however with that being said, i never heard of the "super gold" box until now.
the gold box i am [sort of] familiar with is the gold "race" box that was a DC item in the mid to late 70's and early 80's.
i have used the "chrome" box before, and it works good up to 6500rpm with an accell [big] yellow coil. used 7.5 mm [?] orange factory wires as well.
beer
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