[Turk]

DV,
One way to preserve your MSD box is NOT to put the (+) orange wire and the (-) black wire on opposite terminals of the coil. If you do, not much happens until you hook up two more wires for the tach that is on the wiring harness that are meant for the non MSD applications.
Even then, if you hook those up wrong following the earlier color scheme of Orange being (+)....still nothing happens.
Car doesn't start but no damage takes place.

UNTIL.....you realize your mistake(s) and decide to correct only hjalf of your mistakes, by reversing the leads from tach, thus applying 12 V from the ballast resistor directly to the coil!

That is when the hell breaks loose.
Three coils and 2 MSD 6 ALs later I am now an expert!!

TURK