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Ignition systems: MSD, Pertronix, otherwise?
Quandary du juor: What type of ignition system should I use in my 289 FIA? Use an MSD system (6AL, distributor, blaster, wires) or go with a Pertronix distributor.
Any suggestions? Is MSD overkill for a 90% street / 10% track car? Will I gain drivability with MSD over the Pertronix, or will I just be burning cash? DD |
MSD is superior to ANYTHING Pertronix makes.IF all else is on the money with your motor,neither one will give you additional HP.HOWEVER,the MSD will clean up the idle and give you easier starts.And the 6al is the cheapest insurance going to keep your rods inside the block.
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I've heard of MSD units failing within the first 30 milnutes of use. An article about small block tune in the last Second Strike newsletter talks about that too. I thought about changing the Accuspark unit in my SPF Cobra so I could have a rev limiter. Then, Pertronix came out with a digital rev limiter that you could add on, so I bought that. The Accuspark is extremely reliable, idles the 460 down to 600 RPM, and will rev that sucker without a miss up to 6000. (Well, that's where I set the limiter).
If you're starting from scratch, mybe the MSD distributor, 6AL ignition, and blaster coil would be a consideration. |
I've had MSD on any and all vehicles they would function on for 15 years now.I've had one failure.Sent it back and they replaced it.
Here is another option:www.davessmallbodyheis.com |
I also had an MSD failure and the box was sent in...it checked out fine. Turns out I had a loose ground wire. The lesson learned was DOUBLE CHECK THE WIRING and, most of all, I think MSD has gotten a bad rap because of incidents like mine.
I absolutely LOVE my MSD billet distributor and 6AL set-up. Rock steady and the plug electrodes are always burnt orange. :) -Dean |
Last year I thought that I had a problem with my MSD setup. However, the 6AL box, the distributor and the coil all checked out to be OK. Turns out that I had a bad connection in my wiring between the ignition switch and the box.
I replaced the points and condenser in my '66 Mustang with a Petronix conversion module which also seems to work very well. Wayne |
I am using the Pertronix unit to replace my points, and it has worked flawlessly.
I had an MSD 6AL which failed in the first two weeks, and it was replaced. From the way it acted it seemed like the rev limiter circuitry was faulty. The engine would run but randomly not be able to exceed about 1800 rpm reguardless of what chip was in it. It was promptly replaced by the shop I bought it from, and the replacement has worked well since. The MSD unit improved the low RPM drivability, and also seemed to improve fuel economy over the Pertronix unit alone. The rev limiter is far more advanced than the one in the Pertronix unit also. My motor is a small block that is tuned for high rpm power so the low rpm improvement was noticable and welcome. I have also used a Crane Hi6 which has some diagnostic modes and a retard input (for a nitrous system for example) which also worked very well. IMO, the MSD had a more noticable improvement in low rpm drivability though. |
I've got an MSD Digital 6, and have had not problems other than you cannot use a gear-reduction mini-starter with this device. The mini-starter will not turn fast enough to generate a reliable signal from that unit.
Otherwise, the unit has a nuimber of great features....retards timing at start-up, two stage rev-limiter (all digital, done by rotating a dial on the unit) and a host of other things I'm unlikely to ever use. Overkill for the street? Sure, but the bright red anodized case looks really cool if you just happen to have you head in the passenger's footwell. :) |
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