It looks like my Distributor in the Superbird is finally dying and I need to be thinking about replacing the ignition system over the winter. Just to be clear, this car is a driver and I’m not looking for 100% factory correct looking or date coded parts. I’m more interested in function over appearance. I tried to search and found some posts comparing specific brands of components, but I'm looking for first hand experiences with a complete system
Right now it has a MP electronic system on it and I’m looking to upgrade. The shop that dyno’d my engine is a fan of MSD, but I’ve never actually owed one. I’m looking at the MSD Distributor, 6AL box and epoxy filled coil.
Anyone have any other/better recommendations? This is a street driven, not a race car so reliability and function are what I’m looking for.
Thanks for looking!

The Firecore guys have a nice system. They don't have the internal distributor corrosion issue the MSD probillet unit has either form what I hear. The big thing with any of the distributors that you may use is that you are able to limit the mechanical advance enough to run more initial advance with out getting too much total advance. Vacuum advance would like be a good feature if your on the street a lot.

The mopar kits work well, which box are you running now? wdo you know hat is going bad in yuor current distributor?Not much in there, pickup, reluctro, mechanical and vacume advance The Orange box has a built in RPM limiter, the Chrome boxes do not

i use an MSD 6, MSD blaster 2 coil and an MP distributor and am pretty happy with it! I've heard good stuff about FBO with the exception of their new ECU units. there's been alot of bad press about them here and other Mopar sites.

Here is what I have now:
Mp electronic distributor
MP Orange box (on my 2nd one in 4 years)
Replacement coil (I believe accel with a Mopar performance decal on it)

When my engine was on the dyno, we could not get it to Idle very well. the guy messed with the vacuum advance and monitored timing while we tried to get it fixed. For whatever reason the timing drops off to 0 or even + a couple degerees ATDC below about 1,000 rpm. we adjusted the vacuum advance all the way "in" but there is still a bunch of instability below around 1,100 RPM.
I'm not opposed to simply replacing the distributor with another
Mopar one, I'm just wondering if there are any better options?

I have tried several combinations and here what I settled on:

-Mallory Billet Unilite Distributor. You get Opticle trigger with the ease of adjustment that comes with unitlite design. You can dial in any curve with the adjustment kit.

-Crane HI6 box and LX92 coil. The box is digital, built in rev-limt and stage limit. Also have warning lights to tell if you something is failing.

There is no magic ignition system. There is no power gain to be found from one properly-operating system to another. Years ago, Circle Track magazine tested ignition wires and found no power gain over a set of new carbon-impregnated-rope street wires, and they tried several major styles and brands. IIRC one super-trick set cost horsepower, but generally they were all clustered within measurement error. Not even straight copper conductors were any better. However, durability of spiral core wires is generally superior to the others. For wires I have used cheap Borg-Warner and MSW spiral cores with success, also MSD. But for quality of construction and general feel, you cannot beat Magnecor 8.5mm wires. They cost more, but it is rewarding just to install them. I have never used a better-feeling wire.

I am using the Direct Connection high perf breakerless distributor with a $40 'bay MSD 6 and a Jacobs chrome coil on my '64Dog. I really like the quick ignition curve in the distributor. The MSD box I substituted for a softly failing 20+ year old orange box. The coil I had bought to use with the orange box.

On every other regular driver I am using an Accel 300+ ignition box and coil. I have bought these used for as little as $42 and two brand new ones for less than $120 each, all on the 'bay.
The Accel unit on my 93 suburban has been working in the engine compartment for more than 130,000 miles, without failure. This engine compartment is so hot that after driving you cannot lay your arm on the hood.
The Accel is digital. It is small and has a built in rev limiter that you set with a screwdriver. The only problem I have had is that it makes rather loud clicks from the internal capacitor. I'd suggest either mounting it on the fenderwell or else using rubber mounts if it's on the firewall. I put rubber washers behind mine and quieted it down a lot.

You can use a Crane, MSD or Accel with success. Be sure to use the recommended coil. The boxes' specs are quite close to each other, and are beyond what your engine needs. Check out the specs of the older NASCAR-approved boxes, they were actually a little less powerful than the street versions. To my way of thinking, energy available per spark event is the major factor.

Several years ago, Car Craft ran a test of the different spark systems available at that time. Horsepower figures for each box were within the measurement error of the others. Fact is, a good point system would make your sparks just fine. I do prefer the simplicity and durability of the breakerless system, though.

The last point is, a better distributor advance curve will really make an improvement in how the car feels. So for this reason I encourage you to get a new breakerless distributor with easily adjustable ignition curve. This will make more difference than what kind of box or coil you are using.

R.

MSD all the way.I put mine in probally 10 years ago.My sons about 7 years.He had the MP all set up.He dropped .2 in the 1/4 with MSD.He runs the digital 6 I run the 6AL.No problems easy to set the curve.Just look at the track.Probally 90 % of the racers run MSD.Rocky

I just got a new dist from Don at FBO. Its not a MP one but looks just like it and is curved for your engin combo/trans /rear ect and uses vac advance. I like the stock mp box cause if it fails you can swap it in 2 min or find a new one locally. If your Pertronics/MSD/HI6/Accel fails, you gotta tow it home. For a street non race car , simple is better.

For my convertible. I bought a rebuilt Factory Mopar distributor from Napa for like $70, welded up the mechanical advance slots a bit, dialed it in with my dial back timing light, and am running a universal Accel 300+ box & coil. The motor loves the higher ignition energy over the stock point type ignition, especially at start-up and at idle, plus it has a built in rev limiter.

I keep a ready to go points distributor and coil in a small box in the trunk along with the tools to swap it out just in case of failure.