Mallory, ignition problems, and my last good nerve

[jwinkler]

A while back, I (apparently) cooked my Hyfire IV - I mounted it where the CR battery usually goes, which is under the heater hoses, and when I filled the system, as far as I can tell, the heat made the box shut down. When the box cooled enough, I could start the car again, but it would only be a matter of time before the next shut-down.

I sent the box to Mallory, who kindly returned it with a "we found no problems with the unit" note. In order to continue to use it, I blocked the heater hoses, and for a while faired OK. However, just this Saturday, the shut-downs came back. I am guessing that it may be due to a combination of having recently taken the time to secure the box at all four corners (the fourth is a royal pain to reach, so I had driven it for some time without it, but got a whim to try the fourth, and managed to on Friday night), and typical Texas summer heat, which may have stretched the main circuit board.

However, given Mallory's less than useful tech support, I've lost interest in resolving this through them, and the Hyfire is on its way to being a paper weight or a doorstop.

I had planned to replace it with an MSD 6AL/Blaster combination, and mount the 6AL either where the Hyfire is now in the old battery tray, or against the passenger firewall (but inside the engine bay). During my last round if ignition issues, I had asked about this, and Don has mounted the 6AL on the firewall.

In the picture Don posted of a red car with the 6AL on the firewall, the coil was mounted near the distributor. Currently, the Promaster coil I'm using is on the firewall as well - how are the cannister-style coils mounted on the engine? Any pictures anyone has are greatly appreciated.

For the moment, I'm planning to retain my Mallory Unilite - both MSD and Mallory discuss running the two together, so I'm hoping there won't be any problem, but I'll throw that out for opinions as well.

Finally, I'm feeling less sure of my MSD decision after doing a quick search on MSD at clubcobra. Apparently (and naturally, now I can't find the thread) one owner with a 428 had nothing but trouble with the 6AL. Anyone care to recommend something other than MSD or Mallory? I definitely want some sort of electronic ignition - there's a marked difference in the car's character when I'm running with the Hyfire and when I'm running the bypass. Is mounting the box against the firewall or tucked under the passenger fender (not in line with the headers, and where a battery is expected to live happily) subjecting it to too much heat?

Thanks,

JLW