Moparts

MSD or Not

Posted By: 300_dup5

MSD or Not - 01/27/12 09:12 PM

I,m building a 70 Cuda with a six-pack manual car. I,m 50-50 on putting in a MSD. What would you do stay with the standard( with a good electronic distributor or go with the MSD setup. Thanks
Posted By: JohnRR

Re: MSD or Not - 01/27/12 09:14 PM

Depends on the look you are after and performance goals ...

That said I'll be running a dual point in my Dart ...
Posted By: B_Body_Bob

Re: MSD or Not - 01/27/12 09:16 PM

You could hide the MSD inside the car or under the battery tray and nobody would be the wiser.
Posted By: hemicop

Re: MSD or Not - 01/27/12 09:17 PM

Definitely use the MSD. You could hise it (as mentioned) paint it & the coil for a factory appearence & no one would know the difference
Posted By: 300_dup5

Re: MSD or Not - 01/27/12 09:28 PM

Just a weekend cruzer, Getting to old to drive it hard been there, just like a nice looking car
Posted By: JohnRR

Re: MSD or Not - 01/27/12 09:34 PM

pertronics under the stock cap ??
Posted By: DANA60

Re: MSD or Not - 01/27/12 10:14 PM

I love mine. Used them on all my cars. The only thing is, if you are not doing any real performance stuff with it, you may not even notice. A regular dist. might work just fine, but hey, why not. Also, I agree with the other posts, you can hide it easily under the tray (I did that myself), or in the clove box and run the wires through the fire wall. The 70 Cuda has a nice dimple in the fire wall where the choke cable for the HEMI ran out. Drill there for easy access to the glove box. I also have done that.

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Posted By: 300_dup5

Re: MSD or Not - 01/27/12 11:15 PM

I guess it sounds that i should go this route, What i might do is put it to stock, then down the road put it in, I,ll get someone that is a little more into the change over than i am, Would there be alot of messing aroud later ? Thanks
Posted By: rt66jim

Re: MSD or Not - 01/27/12 11:31 PM

If it were mine. I would convert to Mopar Elect. You can get the Control box anywhere for about $40. It will do almost anything a MSD will for probably 1/3 the cost. They are easy to convert.
Posted By: Secret Chimp

Re: MSD or Not - 01/27/12 11:38 PM

I converted from an orange box to a 6AL and Blaster coil. Eliminating the ballast resistor is nice, plus I've picked up another 1-2 mpg on my last few tanks since I got it all hooked up. Timing it still works just the same on my old cheapo non-digital inductive timing light.
Posted By: RUNCHARGER

Re: MSD or Not - 01/28/12 01:37 AM

I don't think there is necessarily a HP gain with the MSD but I find the engines start a lot faster with an MSD. I think the part throttle gains are more than the full throttle ones.

Sheldon
Posted By: 300_dup5

Re: MSD or Not - 01/28/12 02:11 AM

Thanks. I,m not looking for more horsepower Can I put in a MSD dustributor, use Mopar electronic black box, And eliminate the ballast resistor, if so what else would I need ie. Type of coil. Thanks again
Posted By: 383man

Re: MSD or Not - 01/28/12 07:21 AM

I am using the MP orange box and a Mallory dist and it works fine. I have run 10.70's with it so far. I took it off my sons car when he went to MSD and it made no difference at all on his car. It still started and idled the same and ran the same. But MSD is a great ign and helps keep the plugs clean with the multi-spark. You can use a Mopar dist and the MSD box and that will eliminate the ballast. Ron
Posted By: Dodgem

Re: MSD or Not - 01/28/12 02:35 PM

My vote for you would be the simple mopar electronic conversion kit. Just carry a ballast or two. Simple wire in nice new dizzy and all you need plus seem more are having failours with new MSD digitals??
Think they sell a nice coil that looks OEM!
http://chucker54.stores.yahoo.net/eligpa.html


I ran 12.00 @ 112 one Saturday back in the day converted to MSD 6AL during the week and went out and ran 12.02 @ 112 the next saturday exact same weather. 3900 lb with me in!
Never started any different, never idled better, never ran better same street manners and did not get better gas milage but I did not slow down and drive easier to see if it would get better gas mileage!

The next year I ran 12.01 on another May day and during the week put in a MSD billet dizzy and next week ran 12.01

Posted By: 70Cuda383

Re: MSD or Not - 01/28/12 03:07 PM

Take this with a grain of salt, because it's not a true comparison, as I changed 2 things at once.

I was running orange box (new ones that everyone says are junk) and MSD wires, MSD coil, no ballast, but the coil said it was rated for full 12v.

my plugs would load up at idle and spark would start jumping the boot and grounding to header flange. rev it up and "clear it out" it would idle normal for 10 seconds or so, then load up again and start jumping the gap.

Switched to Firecore 50 wires and an MSD6AL in the same weekend. same distributor, same coil, same plugs

no more spark jumping the boot when left idling.

was it the wires? was it the multiple spark per cycle of the MSD? you tell me!
Posted By: DANA60

Re: MSD or Not - 01/28/12 03:21 PM

You can use a Mopar dist and the MSD box and that will eliminate the ballast. Ron



That's how I do it. I think the msd dist is ugly.

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Posted By: 70Cuda383

Re: MSD or Not - 01/28/12 03:27 PM

Quote:

You can use a Mopar dist and the MSD box and that will eliminate the ballast. Ron



That's how I do it. I think the msd dist is ugly.



that's how mine was too. stock orange box and electronic distributor to an MSD6AL and stock electronic distributor. I even cut off the other end of the plug on the orange box, and wired that rubber plug to the MSD stuff, so that the distributor was completely stock and untouched.
Posted By: 4spdswinger340

Re: MSD or Not - 01/28/12 04:59 PM

I swapped my mopar electronic ignition to a MSD 6AL. IMO a waste of money. Car ran 7.60s in the 1/8th w the mopar ignition and still runs the same w/ the MSD. I saw no change in fuel milage.
Posted By: Secret Chimp

Re: MSD or Not - 01/28/12 08:27 PM

Quote:

Quote:

You can use a Mopar dist and the MSD box and that will eliminate the ballast. Ron



That's how I do it. I think the msd dist is ugly.



that's how mine was too. stock orange box and electronic distributor to an MSD6AL and stock electronic distributor. I even cut off the other end of the plug on the orange box, and wired that rubber plug to the MSD stuff, so that the distributor was completely stock and untouched.



Why would you run an orange box and a 6AL at the same time?
Posted By: DANA60

Re: MSD or Not - 01/29/12 03:14 PM

No orange box for me, just the MSD and the Accel Mopar like dist. (same pick up inside) that is a bit easier to recurve. Also ran with just a mopar elec dist. Also have done it with a Mallory and the MSD dist itself. In the end settled for the Accel recurved depending on app. I do know those who use the Orange box and love that too.

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Posted By: Anonymous

Re: MSD or Not - 01/29/12 07:59 PM

I run the 6AL mainly because I like to eliminate the ballast resistor, love the rev limiter function, and I got tired of replacing bad ECU's. I only get about 2-3 years out of the current parts store ECU's in my truck before they crap out!

The great thing about the MSD is you can add on things like a two step or adjustable timing module so you can control timing from the drivers seat, It really does idle nice compared with points.

I rebuild and tailor the older Mopar electronic distributors to use with the MSD. All it is is a triggering device anyway. Some of them do have reluctors that aren't quite right and I've found you have to go through a few to set a consistent air gap.
Posted By: jeff57

Re: MSD or Not - 01/30/12 05:03 AM

i used a pertronics igniter in my 69 dart 340 because it hides well,installs easily,very dependable and cost effective.great piece for a driver. jeff57
Posted By: Mike P

Re: MSD or Not - 01/30/12 02:01 PM

The amount of benefit you get from an MSD really depends on the engine you attach it to. On you’re 440 Cuda I think you would probably see a bit of improvement in starting and cold idle but if it’s enough to justify the changeover is up to you. Here are a few thoughts for what they are worth.

In most cases with a stock low performance engine you spend a fair amount of money to hang an ugly box (sometimes 2 if you’re running a factory tach that requires the add on tach adaptor) and wiring in the engine compartment for no noticeable gain.

Although MSD boxes have a pretty good reputation for reliability, if
you happen to be away from home and the box dies you’re dead in the water until you can find a replacement which may not be that easy in a lot of small towns.

That being said they can make a BIG difference on cars with a lot of cam, cold start issues, or cold drivability issues (for instance on cars that have had the intake exhaust crossover blocked).

Of the 7 car I own, I’ve use MSDs on 2 of them...... the other 5 don’t need it.
Posted By: 70Cuda383

Re: MSD or Not - 01/30/12 02:08 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

You can use a Mopar dist and the MSD box and that will eliminate the ballast. Ron



That's how I do it. I think the msd dist is ugly.



that's how mine was too. stock orange box and electronic distributor to an MSD6AL and stock electronic distributor. I even cut off the other end of the plug on the orange box, and wired that rubber plug to the MSD stuff, so that the distributor was completely stock and untouched.



Why would you run an orange box and a 6AL at the same time?




you mis-understood my context.

I previously said that I originally had an orangebox, then went to an MSD

then another post said you can run the MSD on a stock distributor.

and I said that was how I had mine hooked up. MSD to a stock distributor. I was saying I went from an orange box/stock distributor, to an MSD6AL/stock distributor.

I know I said I went "orange box to MSD6AL" but I also said stock distributor twice...I wasn't running 2 distributors
Posted By: belv2vert66

Re: MSD or Not - 01/30/12 06:25 PM

Quote:

i used a pertronics igniter in my 69 dart 340 because it hides well,installs easily,very dependable and cost effective.great piece for a driver. jeff57



This is what I run also. I kept my ballast on the fire wall so things look somewhat factory. Just gutted it and replaced the resistor with a heavy gauge wire
Posted By: bigtail

Re: MSD or Not - 01/30/12 06:26 PM

Quote:

Just a weekend cruzer, Getting to old to drive it hard been there, just like a nice looking car

For just being a weekend driver, MSD is a lot of wasted money and overkill. Stock Mopar electronic distributor should be more than you ever need, and a good set of wires and plugs. Plus replacement parts are readily available, as noted. A 100,00 volt coil is useless if your engine only requires 15,000 volts. The electrical system will only draw what it needs, no more. ie, a 100,000 volt coil will almost certianly NEVER ever, truly deliver anywhere that amount. Unless you gap your plugs 1/2"
Posted By: TJP

Re: MSD or Not - 01/30/12 06:26 PM

Quote:

pertronics under the stock cap ??



or convert to chrysler setup
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: MSD or Not - 01/31/12 01:22 AM

Quote:

Although MSD boxes have a pretty good reputation for reliability, if
you happen to be away from home and the box dies you’re dead in the water until you can find a replacement which may not be that easy in a lot of small towns.



See, I'm of the opposite opinion.

Most small town parts stores (O'Reilly's for example) stock the 6A ignitions because even the blue oval and bowtie boys use them. It's getting harder to find a place that has Mopar ECU's in stock!
Posted By: Secret Chimp

Re: MSD or Not - 01/31/12 01:32 AM

I just left my orange box on the firewall and wired up the MSD with spade connectors on all of the connections formerly used by the orange box. Easy to switch back if it ever dies on me on the road.
Posted By: Mike P

Re: MSD or Not - 01/31/12 02:41 AM

“……I just left my orange box on the firewall and wired up the MSD with spade connectors on all of the connections formerly used by the orange box. Easy to switch back if it ever dies on me on the road…..”


I went one better when I wired my 57. I mounted both the MSD and Chrysler box and when I built the wiring harness used 9 pin plugs so that if needed I could just unplug the harness with the MSD and plug in the Chrysler box.

The Plymouth is my vacation car (usually 4000+ mile trips) and I’ve never had to change it, (although I do plug in the Chrysler box to check it before I go on long road trips) but it is just kind of nice having the peace of mind knowing that I have a backup to the MSD.

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