MSD ignition for my 200?

[Anonymous]

My mustang has had its share of up and downs. Im on my second engine now and am about ready to start a build up on it. I am going to have it rebuilt at a local shop in mid march. I plan on having them instal the clifford 264 cam. Beyond that, im going to put on a set of clifford headers, a weber 55 idf carb. Lastly to finish this off, I want to redo my ignition system. But what to do?

Ive done some limited reading and it seems like the MSD 6A will best fit my needs. But I dont know what to do beyond that? What else am I going to need, and where can i get it? Can I use that MSD box with my distribuator or will I need a new one? A new coil too? Can anyone give me a list or maybe point me to a "HOW TO" to do this?

Thanks guys

 

[falcon kyle]

http://www.fordsix.com/duraspark.htm Is a good place to start. I am using a msd-6a. You will like with a dissy II

 

[CobraSix]

go with some type of electronic ignition, either Duraspark 2 or Pertronix. Both will make your engine run so much better. See where that puts you. Either upgrade should only run you around $40-70 if you watch your costs.

Slade

 

[Anonymous]

You can trigger the MSD box with your old distributor and its points if you like. The points are just relegated to a light switching duty, and points deterioration is not a problem. However, you still have the wear on the points cam and the need to adjust them. Electronic distributors or a points conversion kit will give you more accurate timing and more available voltage for the coil since they operate faster than mechanical points. But basically, you can use your stock distributor and coil and get the benefits of higher spark energy and multi spark capability. This is the setup I have on one of my vehicles. I did elect to replace the coil, since I feared the 40 year old coil may not be able to handle the additional voltage.

 

[addo]

The less "stock" your cam is, the more the distributor rebuild matters. People can easily overlook just how many times those weight return springs are stretched and released over the engine's life.

For that matter, the curving of the advance is more relevant on hot cams, too.

Regards, Adam.

 

[Anonymous]

Goatbaron;
Just one (experienced) word of advice while that engine is in the shop: have them deck the block by about .030" so that your compression and quench band issues will be normal on rebuild. If not, you will lose power, compression, quench band and fuel mileage.

You can see more about this in the Tech section, or drop me a PM for detailed information, if you need it.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys. On this issue, how hard it it to install either the duraspark or the petronix? And since most of you (im assuming) have already done somthing similar to what im getting ready to do, what cam do you reccomend. I want to keep decent gas milage. like around 10ish to the gallon. Will the 264 give me that or could I go with a bigger cam? Beyond that, since my car is dead and out, i need transportation. For the time being, could I just have it rebulit with the new cam, either the 264 or bigger and keep my current set up untill a few more paychecks roll around. (im getting sick of using my fathers purple taurus When he said deck the block, does that mean take .030 thousanths off the height of the block? My friend has also suggested that i go and get a 250 head and put that on there and then have it rebuilt wih the 250 head (good idea or bad) somthing ive always disliked is the integrated intake, i know there are heads around that the intake isnt integrated but i cant seem to find on what cars and what years?

 

[MustangSix]

Semi-electronic ignition anyone?

I've done some experimenting and have found that you can actually trigger a Mopar module with a points distributor. The points ought to last forever because all they do is provide a ground signal to the amp; there is no current flowing thru it.

When you pull Pin 5 to ground it causes the module to fire. This means the ignition fires when the points close, exactly the opposite of when the points fire. This will need retiming because of that and you should probably close the point gap to .010-.015 to keep the points closed longer.

I haven't tried this on an engine, but there's no reason it shouldn't work pretty well.

Here's a rough sketch

I have a kooky idea that I want to try out......

 

[CobraSix]

Goat...10MPG?

Well, you have asked a loaded question. Pertronix versus DS2:

http://www.kastang.net/pertvds2.html

PErtronix is really easy to install. DS2 is a little more involved, but it is not difficult. I have a 260 cam, and love it. A very nice upgrade. The only lose in MPG you may have is because you have more power and it is more fun and you'll punch it more.

Slade