Nice looking primer-I bet you can wait to get paint on it.

I just hope your box doesn't go south on you-doesn't look to fun to replace.

Richard

 

My '64 Coupe is originally a factory air car, but we removed the factory unit in favor of an after-market AC many years ago. That created gobs of room under the hood on the passenger's side.

My MSD is mounted under the hood on the backside of the passenger's wheel well. For years it withstood the torture of daily driving in Florida, until moving up north where it didn't get much use for the past three years.

But last weekend I drove it back to Florida for good. Almost 1200 miles in scorching heat and sometimes very heavy rain.......the car ran great !! The route I took included everything from high-speed I-95 to almost an hour of Inch & Go approaching the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis.

The only problem I've ever had with any MSD component was humidity getting trapped under the distributor cap and fouling the contacts. That was solved (after cleaning) by venting the cap with several small holes on the backside of the cap, per MSD's Tech Site. They also sell a vented cap for that same reason.

 

Not sure if there is clearance on a C2, but on my C3 a previous owner had mounted it under the passenger seat.

No one would ever know it's there unless you have a heavy passenger at some point!

 

I've enver fully understood the reason behind those MSD boxes. I thought one of the reasons to go with an electronic ignition was to replace the points and condenser?

Wouldn't a GM HEI or something like a Pertronix conversion be better as most often people use the MSD box and leave the points and condenser in....

Sorry - I don't mean to hijack this thread....but the MSD boxes always confound me...

 

kenmo, this might help:

http://www.msdignition.com/1helpmechoose.htm

 

Thanks kindly for the link. It was a great read but still doesn't answer my original question...

Cheers

Kenmo

 

people take comfort in the simplicity of points.
old guys are stubborn. it is that simple.
i have points in a bag, just in case the pertronix dies.

 

So .. adding a MSD unit to an existing points and condenser system is better then going the Pertronix or HEI way?

BUT... what confuses me is - IF the purpose of going the electronic route is to do away with points and condenser... Adding a MSD box doesn't get rid of the points and condenser....

Sorry for hijacking this thread....

 

no, the purpose is a more reliable spark. msd & pts is FAR more reliable as the load is removed from the points. the terrible resistance of points is bypassed, so they last far longer.
in 72 i used a CD ignition w/pts to run 22 psi boost. points gave out at 15 psi. MSD is a glorified CD.

 

I got tired of old GM distributors 7 years ago(went thru 3 of them) and bought the MSD dist. w/ tach drive and the 6al box. No more points/dwell meters/breakdowns!!

 

From the link posted;
"At low rpm the MSD produces a series of sparks during each firing instead of one like a conventional ignition. At low engine speeds when the air/fuel molecules are not finely atomized, the multiple spark feature still ignites the mixture. But this isn't the only feature. The number of sparks produced by the MSD Is reduced as engine rpm increases simply because "time" becomes too short to repeat a spark. However, the spark series always lasts for 20 degrees of crankshaft rotation no matter what the rpm and no matter whether it is a single spark or a series of four or five spark. This 20 degree duration spark sequence insures that the air/fuel mixture is ignited and completely burned. Also each spark the MSD produces is an extremely high current spark. Current is like the heat of the flamethrower. Current is what actually does the work or in this case ignites the fuel mixture. Together, the multiple sparks, the high current and the 20 degree duration, produce an ignition that is superior to any other ignition. More importantly though, the MSD Ignition ignites the fuel mixture in the cylinder instantly and insure complete combustion, no matter what the molecular composition is. The result is reduced variations in burn times and therefore more engine power, better throttle response, easier starting and better fuel economy."

That is the difference between an MSD box and a standard electronic or Capacitance Discharge ignition. Multiple sparks.

You can trigger it with standard points, no capacitor required, or an electronic device such as an MSD distributor. As stated the points last longer in any CD ignition because they only switch low current and therefor do not have the tendency to wear/burn.

 

It's already painted...sunfire yellow...

jack

 

I believe the MSD fires multiple times under 3k RPM. I also have the billet distributor. I love all my msd parts. Quality work. Smooth idle, no points to replace yearly. Only thing that can wear like a normal old car is the cap and rotor. I like the new LS engines with crank trigger and individual coils! No wear parts.