Orange box vs Chrome vs Gold

OK, I have a choice of the three boxes for my dart. Mild 383, headers, Holley 750. Which box would be better on the car, and why? Thanks in advance!!

I have started using the blue box that is sold at JEGS and on ebay by Rick Ehrenberg. Three cars so far, all very successfully, over several years…two 440’s and a Hemi. Seems to start much better than the orange or chrome, also seems to do better at part throttle, have had no issues with them. Key is to use a well matched coil, which is the classic 8140 Accel coil. [align:right][/align]

Are Mopar boxes even still available? The orange ones have been crappy for a few years now, and jobber units available over the counter at your local auto parts store run the gamut from bad to worse. I believe there are two levels of the box that Kowal is talking about, the higher RPM rated one is probably comparable to a 1990's chrome box.

Upgrade to a MSD6A.

Politely disagree due to availability and diagnosing / repair if it fails. I'd do an HEI conversion first

If it’s a 1980’s or early 1990’s gold box I’d use that. I’ve tested those boxes and they all retard with RPM. The Gold box only retarded ONE DEGREE in 10,000 RPM. The orange boxes I’ve tested all had 4-6 degrees of retard by 8,000 RPM.

Again, all these boxes retard. So whatever you buy you need to have it tested so you can account for the retard.

Take them all, and maybe a couple different coils too and go test them at the drag strip.

That's what I did.

I think I made like 18 runs that day.
You'd never know I changed anything, the car ran within a few hundredths every time.

For whatever reason the chrome box seemed to start the easiest so I kept it, but other than that none of them ran any different from the next.

Can ran mid 12s at the time.

I got a lot of practice driving, at least, which I needed.

Several years later I was lucky enough to get a job at MP and read (what passed for) a blueprint for each one!
It was really great being able to do that! I'm too professional to post what I saw + also signed a confidentiality agreement, so I will protect
that secret of the brand. (This just means I will tell you in person if you buy me a beer).

Opinion:
The only orange box worth a hoot (anyhere near the last few years of the production run) was the one with blue heat sink and "MADE IN USA" stamped in. The very oldest ones did not have a "made in usa" stamp because they were all made in usa, it was taken for granted. If you're running yellow heat sink knockoff garbage,
it's a good idea to carry at least two spares.
Chrome box: Either the std motor products or the MP with black heat sink are fine.
Gold box: If it works and the car runs at all, you're actually very fortunate.

(If you are running around at 8,000 to 10,000 rpm I would suggest spend more on your ignition system)

Thanks for all the information so far. I have an old chrome box and an old gold box. I put the chrome box on and it runs way better than the Autozone one (blue) that I had on it. I think I will try the gold on the car and see if I can tell a difference. This is just a mild built 383 in a 69 Dart.

I have one or 2 new in package 20 25 years old. But was told not good to use on street with prolonged idle.
So never used them
So glad to hear.
I also have a few orange and chrome same age and a conversion MP kit too.
I am a pack rat and had a friend who worked a Plymouth part counter. As well as mechanics that worked there as well.
Glad when I read new ones are a crap shoot I did stick up.
Funny now that they are all retired the place wants an arm and leg so i buy internet instead as a,place I bought from plenty since age 16 wants to screw me over on price now

This issue with these boxes are manifold, they are ancient technology that while interesting when introduced it has been surpassed. Then there is the issue that the correct power transistor is NS1 and has been for a long time. So whatever you are buying today has something else that may or may not be hacked in with no real engineering done on it.

If you nees the look then consider the FBO setup

Putting GM stuff on a Mopar. I see plenty of posts with people trying to figure out HEI installations. MSD is as simple as you can get! Two power wires, two pick up wires and two for the coil. And it will outperform any ignition mentioned here. The MSD6A fires six times for every one of a conventional ignition(hence the name 6A). Better performance faster starts it's a no brainer.

Six wires to hook up the MSD.

Four wires to hook up the HEI.

Seems simpler than MSD to me.

Not rocket science

https://www.streetmusclemag.com/tec...t-a-ford-or-mopar-distributor-to-gm-hei/

And if you really have to have multiple spark

https://www.competitionproducts.com...-Pin/productinfo/PRTD72000/#.YI1SU91OmM8

Is the expense of a 6a really worth it on a street driven vehicle? I say no and if and when you have no spark you better hope you're very close to home. Many years ago I was stuck with a broken Mallory rotor at about 2 AM. Back then plenty of "Service stations" were open within walking distance that would have had a stock rotor in their tune up cabinets. that and my mentor pounding into my head to ask myself if the money I was about to spend could be better used elsewhere on the car.
MSD is a great system for alcohol burning 14:1 compression etc. On a street car? waste of money IMO. but they do have a helluva marketing dept.

one thing to be aware of, some wally world and parts store boxes are "chrome". these are NOT the chrome box from mopar.

I have a couple of old chrome boxes likely from the 70 - 80's timeframe. Are they considered desirable or junk ?

Put one in and your question will be answered! I'm surprised that no one else has commented about the mds (except bad mouthing it). I used nothing but the factory electronic ignition on all my mopars until i put the msd6a in one. It it suited better for the street rather than the track. But it will perform better than the factory ignition in both cases. Check out the video, I did this exact same test but a bench test with a battery and a Accel super coil. You be the judge.

without seeing them, i will go out on a limb [with a saw of course ! ] and say 70's to 81-2, maybe even 83, would be DC items.
of course knowing what diode number[s] was/were used on the original chrome boxes would be a big help in identifying the boxes you have.

all the chrome DC boxes i have owned have an ink stamp below the female plug that shows the part #, and has a sticker on the plug's long side saying "electronic h. e. ignition" along with the pentastar and chrysler corporation.
the one in my hand this instant has an ink stamp of 4120534, underneath that, 2299, and then what appears to be a smeared pentastar.
the diode thing has the numbers 3597625, and underneath that, A7926
this box was from 1978 or 79. it was used with one of those huge accel super coils, but i don't remember what ballast resistor value was used with this setup.
hope this helps somehow.

Thank you, I'll check them out when i get some time which likely won't be for a couple of months

I've been reliably running the MP Chrome box here with a 0 (zero) ohm resitor and the Yellow Tower coil. No problems, spark is massive.

For what it's worth, my understanding regarding how "good" a particular combo (as far as ignition energy goes anyways) is that what matters is the actual Joules of energy that are provided in the spark itself. The stuff like MSD boxes (capacitance) because they fire multiple times do not produce a spark with as many Joules. That is only what I have read on-line and various publications.

For reference:

1) 1 Watt is the power of a Joule of energy per second

2) 1 Watt is the power from a current of 1 Ampere flowing through 1 Volt

Just to be clear, thats a transistor NOT a diode.

transistor ! that's the word i was searching my [old feeble] mind for !
thanks for setting me straight !