Aftermarket Ignitions

[Anonymous]

Are any of you running an aftermarket electronic ignition amplifier like an MSD or Crane unit? I saw this one while browsing tonight:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Prod ... 78/c-10114

Promises of increased power and economy are tantalizing, but are the rooted in fact for a stock engine such as mine?

Thanks for any insights.

 

[wsa111]

Dave, my ford duraspark with the MSD-6AL works to perfection.

The MSD with the right adapter harness hooks right to the duraspark distributor without the ford module.

You get the best of both worlds. William

 

[Anonymous]

Do you have a pic of the setup, William? Which MSD unit are you using? Did you notice any gains in either economy, power, cold weather starts etc.?

Before I plunk down my cash, I'd like to know if it is going to be a worthwhile improvement to the car, you know?

Thanks for replying

 

[addo]

A few years ago, one publication did a test on a whole bunch of these type parts. Some actually retarded power over stock setups! Many proved debatable in effect. The only two to show a clear gain in performance were the MSD like William's got, and the Crane Hi-6.

Seeing as you have a DS-II at present, is an aftermarket box worth it? Probably not, if all else is stock. Depends if you have any other plans for upgrades.

Regards, Adam.

 

[Anonymous]

I fitted a Crane unit (I think) to my car 3 months ago and it made a major difference. However the vacuum advance in my distributor was stuffed so I was probably also seeing the effects of this fix. My fuel consumption around town went from 14 MPG to 17MPG.


Mark

 

[Anonymous]

Do you have a pic of the setup, William? Which MSD unit are you using? Did you notice any gains in either economy, power, cold weather starts etc.?

Before I plunk down my cash, I'd like to know if it is going to be a worthwhile improvement to the car, you know?

Thanks for replying

i highy doubt you will "feel" a differance! most test done on these sytems showed hp increases at above 6000 rpm and even then it was like under 5 hp even if that. i don't think anyone can "feel" 5 hp never the less 20. well unless they are a bench racer :roll:

however with these systems the car will start easier and also your pulgs won't be fouling so fast when sitting and idleing for ever.. over all smoother... for hi performance reasons there are too many things to list that i like. either way i run these types of systems in all my cars regardless i like them for the reasons above.

just be aware these boxes do go out and when they do you car will too. just make sure you know how to by pass the system.

 

[Anonymous]

Dave, my ford duraspark with the MSD-6A works to perfection.

+1. Perfection is an applicable adjective.

Except, I use the 6AL with rev limiter
(I have to!! If something breaks when under boost, like a U joint, the motor will KABOOM instantly otherwise!!)


Here is one testimony - -- - I don't have to use a choke. I start my car with two pumps of the gas pedal, and it starts and idles, while bone cold.

The MSD has such a horrendous hot spark, it will light off a really lean mixture. I have my idle mixture adjusted so it is perfect when warm, but I never thought it would start and run with no choke.

Oh yeah, and my plug wires are ANCIENT. I mean really, really old - and the MSD sends fire through them like no tomorrow!! The Duraspark distributor is perfect for a signaling device.

 

[wsa111]

Dave, I have the MSD-6AL with a duraspark II distributor, I use the 6000 rpm rev limiter chip in the MSD unit.

To connect the two together I use the MSD adapter 8869.

You have to modify the MSD adapter plug to the duraspark by removing the two ridges on either sides of the large female adapter plug to get it to plug into the duraspark harness.

The engine just runs smoother, starts better & overall has no high speed misifire from lack of voltage & cross arcing between the stock distributor caps smaller distance between terminals.

I have not lost any fuel miliage, just a rough check I found a gain of at least 2 mpg.

Do it you will love the results. William

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

This car will never be built up, although I would like to squeeze a bit more power out of it. It is a daily driver, including in the frozen Massachusetts winters!

So, an increase in MPG and easy starting in all conditions might just be worth it to me.

Any other opinions and experiences, please feel feee to chime in before I lay out my hard earned-easily lost money

Any suggestions as to what coil to run if I do make the swap?

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, and if they do fail, how do you bypass the box to limp home?

Are failures fairly common, or rare?

 

[Anonymous]

Looking in the Summit catalog, I see that MSD has a MSD-5 box that they say is for daily drivers that don't have a lot of mods. It is only $105 compared to the 6A at $180.

What is the difference going to be between these two units? Will the MSD-5 be good for my application, or am I better of buying the 6A?

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, and if they do fail, how do you bypass the box to limp home?

Are failures fairly common, or rare?

your answer in this post

http://fordsix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23857&highlight=

 

[Anonymous]

I guess I have been lucky, I have never had an MSD go bad. You do have to use good connections EVERYWHERE, preferably SOLDERED and crimped. You can fry electronic parts with bad connections.

If you use a dura spark distributor, you can keep a GM HEI module with alligator clips in the glove box for emergency ignition control.

Here is how you hook it up:

http://fordsix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26294

 

[Lazy JW]

Looking in the Summit catalog, I see that MSD has a MSD-5 box that they say is for daily drivers that don't have a lot of mods. It is only $105 compared to the 6A at $180.

What is the difference going to be between these two units? Will the MSD-5 be good for my application, or am I better of buying the 6A?

Look up the MSD website. They give a pretty good explanation there. They have a less expensive module that is capacitor discharge but only gives one spark per event, the 6A gives multiple sparks. Seems to me that if I were upgrading to an MSD I would want the multiple strike capability. There is some evidence that this improves cold startup by a noticeable amount. But a single spark from a good inductive discharge such as the TFI works pretty well too, that's what I'm using and I like it. Simple, cheap, and effective.
Joe

 

[Anonymous]

I guess I have been lucky, I have never had an MSD go bad. You do have to use good connections EVERYWHERE, preferably SOLDERED and crimped. You can fry electronic parts with bad connections.

ture however the MSD only has like 4 wires a ground and a power.. not too much to crimp since your not really adding anything its all just pulg in.

infact if your running an MSD distrubitor it only takes 2 wires and neg and pos. so yeah they just go bad... you've been lucky... you just cursed yourself now for saying you never had one go bad.. either way i still run them cuz they work well.