Thread: How Do You Like Your Msd Ignition??

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I have never run an MSD box in my life, but know some people who have, and they all swear by them. I'm thinking about adding one to the T and am wondering if they are worth it on a mild street engine. I am thinking of either the 5900 blaster, or the 6A.

From what I understand, it doesn't really replace anything, it just suppliments your existing distributor, coil, etc. ??


What do you guys think?


Don

I have the 6a on my 29- like it. Had the stand alone distributer on two other cars, worked good.(w/o box)

Installed a new MSD distributor, wires and Blaster coil on my SBC about a year and a half ago....love it!

I use them on everything, great service when I did have a problem.

IDK but, my MSD 6 BTM, for the $403.88 I paid for it it'd better be good.

Don, I'm running a 6A on my 77 Mustang and a 6AL (rev limiter) on the 57 Plymouth (my distributor has been converted to stock Chrysler electronic).

On the Ford (Duraspark) and Chrysler units the 6A and 6AL are stand alone and replace the factory control modul. In the case of GM HEI it works through the in distributor modual.

The Ford (351W) runs Edelbrock Preformer RPM heads with no provisions for a heat crossover package.

The Hemi in the Plymouth is 10:1 compression and a "bit" over camed.

I've had a chance to run both engines on both the stock iginition and with the MSD boxes.

In both cases each engine is cold blooded during the winter (we get to 15-20 degrees some mornings.) The MSD boxes do a LOT for cleaning up the idle and cold drivability problems. Yes I realise I'm only curing a symptom and not the real "problem" with either engine but the boxes do make a marked improvement.

In the case of the Ford there is no noticable difference between factory and MSD systems once the engine has reached full operating temperature.

On the Plymouth the idle seems to be a bit cleaner across the board with the MSD.

I've had to send a few of the boxes back for repairs, but never any problems with them after that. I have an MSD distributor and box in a toter I built that has well over 100,000 trouble free miles on it now!!!!! Not many of the stock units will hold up that well, let alone work as good as this does.. I also still use the same crank trigger system on my big blocks that I originally bought about 10 years ago and have switched it to numerous engines over the year, it's never missed a beat yet!!!!

Ran an MSD 6A for years on my chev, they are good, put out a good hot spark(s), and in some cases, depending on climate you can lean the fuel mixture back a little bit. I found that using a Holley, what worked best was leaning the main primary jets down 2 sizes and increasing the power valve up 1 size did the trick.

Thanks for all the input Guys. I think I am going to try one out. probably the 6A.

Buddy of mine had one and swore by it too.

Don

i have a pro billet dist. with a 6AL and a coil on my FE i love it..... it starts up better and runs smoother its just a better system thhe 6AL is only a little more and has a rev limiter so i would go with that one and im pretty sure you should get a little more power out of an MSD system

yes they work good easy to set up have i have set up many

i have a 6al setup to my 302w with an HEI ignition, runs like a whole new car with the box.....

i ran the 6AL and it has a chip style rev limiter. very nice option on any rod!

I have run the 6A on several cars with never a problem. If you plan on racing (i.e. high rpm) the 6AL is a good choice, but for most street driven cars, not worth the extra bucks. I'm trying the small diameter billet distributor as well in my new project - should be interesting after years of "never broken" Dura Spark dizzys.

I've had a 6AL on my 32 roadster for over ten years.
No problems.
Runs with a Mallory Unilite distributor.

Make darned sure you have a good ground with both these units.
That seems to be where problems start and failure - sometimes - isn't far behind.

I chose the 6AL due to it's capability of having different RPM maximums.
Change a chip does it.

Kinda nice to throw in the 3000 rpm chip when the kid drove the car....