Blkblt

I posted Sunday about installing an MSD 6al system in MileHigh66's (Kurt) 1966 427. I am now considering the same for my '66 427.

A friend who drives a Cobra kit 428 has told me that his mechanically minded friends have said that MSD's are prone to failure (they seem to like Mallory)......yet, I hear good stuff from 'Vette owners. :confused: Maybe its just Fords...... :lol:

Has anyone had any bad experiences with the MSD systems? Any failures?? Lay it on, folks.

Thanks in advance..... :cheers:

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Jeff
Ô66. Modified Used Car
ÒThe Silver BeastÓ
Keep on :seeya :seeya :D

richscorvettes

Jeff,

We've had the same MSD unit installed in the 67 for three years and (knock on wood) have not had any problems yet.

Rich Lagasse

65ZR1

Ive had an MSD unit in my 58 for about 6 years now. No problems at all. A friend was using a crane unit in his 68 AMX but it failed and he is now using a MSD.

Kris :cool:

ML67

I've had mine for 9 years w/o any problems. I have several friends also running MSD 6 boxes in a variety of different cars and they have all had good luck too.

Perhaps some of the reliability issues can be attributed to excessive heat due to locating it inappropriately?

Take care,

Mark

Blkblt

Rich, Kris, and Mark......

Thanks very much for the input. My guess is that Mark hit the mark regarding the heat issue.

:cheers:

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Jeff

Milehigh66

Great Jeff, post this AFTER I installed mine. thankfully everything everyone has said is good so far. Your killing me!!!!!! :smash: :smash: :smash:

Kurt :cheers: :lol:

Blkblt

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :p:

I wondered when I would get your attention....... :D

Actually, the guy brought up the issue yesterday. I'm still next..... :yesnod: :yesnod:

:cheers: back to ya!!

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Jeff

396 RAT

"A friend who drives a Cobra kit 428 has told me that his mechanically minded friends have said that MSD's are prone to failure (they seem to like Mallory)......yet, I hear good stuff from 'Vette owners. Maybe its just Fords...... "

Never owned an MSD, but a Mallory Unilite was installed on my
65 w/306hp 289 hi-po back in 1974. The 18 years I have owned the car
it has always lit off as soon as the key is turned. Even after sitting
for a month or so. Simply amazing. I replaced the cap and rotor
about 8 years ago out of guilt. Don't drive it much, but it still shocks me
every time I turn the key. :eek:
MSD systems have been gaining popularity for many years,
there must be something to it!

Viet Nam Vett

Have a MSD Pro Billet Tach Drive Dist.with the 6al box on my 65 Small Block Dual Quad Cp. It's been on for about 3 years and not a lick of trouble. It Idol's like a dream and blast's through the RPM range wth no trouble.One thing you must do is make sure it is mounted if possible with the supplied rubber mounts which raises the 6al box about 1/2 inch from the mounting surface.This is for air to pass under the box to help keep it cool as well as help reduce vibration. The case of the 6al box is the heat sink for the output devies which get quite hot during operation. It should also not be mounted if possible in the path of discharge heat from the radiator.

I also have a 6al box in my 86 Vortec blown cp. And I did burn it out do to mounting it to close to the discharge heat from the cooling system. After I relocated it their was no problem.It's been on the 86 now for 6 years with no more problems.

Hope this helps, Regards: Mark :cheers:

Blkblt

Thanks Mark. All comments help. :yesnod:

I am looking to put it in the battery wheel well near the vents. Kurt mounted his forward of the battery which seemed like a good spot. Rear of the battery may also work.

:cheers:

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Jeff
Silver Car

TheOman

I have MSD distribs and 6ALs in both of my cars. No probelms in several years. One thing though. My small block car really reacted poorly to a 35/1000 Spark Plug gap. Increased the gap to the recommended 50/1000 and saw much inprovement.

I cannot be sure of this but I suspect some failures may be caused by cross breeding parts. MSD gives pretty good instructions as to how to connect to Petronics which is really only a trigger to replace the points and HEI and various coils from various suppliers. I never liked trouble shooting electronics so I stick with all the parts from one supplier. Worked for me.

TheOman

Look at my post about mounting points. I extended my harness and mounted the unit up ahead of the rad support. You cannot see it unless you know to look there. I also routed the wires on the outside of the "inner fender" Snaked the wires thru a piece of radiator hose. Impossible to notice even the wires. They are shielded by a tough piece of rubber hose to protect them from rocks and from the elements and the hose is held to the outside of the fender behind the wheel and tire by some black pull ties. The hose enters the engine compartment just above the battery and enters the area ahead of the rad support behind the front signal light. Almost total stealth.

TheOman

Nam Vette

Ditto! My experiences with both of my cars echo your experience. One car is an LS-6 454 which is much much easier to start with the MSD especially after sitting for a week or two, it idles much better and best of all even with the big port heads which are notorious for mushy low speed perf the thing lugs much better at low RPM. It pulls more smoothly thru the RPM range. Sometimes to impress a passenger I lug it down to almost stall in high gear with the A/C on. Press down on the gas with the A/C on and the 4000 LB Monte Carlo (1972) just pulls right up to speed. Much smoother than the same process with just plain points.

Viet Nam Vett

Heh Jeff,
I mounted mine on the driver side inner wheel well. close to the outside fender across from the washer bottle. I didn't like the idea of puting it on the battey side do to the fact that it would be hard to get at for service and wireing. On the driver side it seemed easier to run the wireing to my distributor. The down side is that you have to run 12 Gauge primary wire across the firewall to the battery + Terminial. Anyway, it looks cool tucked up under the fender on the well. Just make sure you use those rubber stand off's. You will defenitly notice a better idol and crisper responce from the loud pedal. Good luck, Regards:Mark

Viet Nam Vett

Heh Oman,
I know what you mean. I have a 73 Thunderchicken that I drive to work with a
460 CI Police motor under the hood. It use to get 8.5 MPG. So I slapped on a Mallory unilite and though the points away. Then I Put the MSD 6al box in and a MSD Blaster coil. Now she gets 10.5 MPG!!!. When I lug it up a hill with every thing running it doesn't miss a beat. Thank god I only have 9 miles one way to work. But their something about all that tourqe that makes it Fun :jester

Regards: Mark

TheOman

I live at the top of a rather large hill. The road with the hill intersects another street at 90 degrees. One day with two buddies in the car and the air on I wheeled around that 90 degree as fast as I could in 5th gear with the Richmond 5 Speed and just lugged my way up the hill. The engine kinda hung there for a moment when I jumped into the carb and then it just started building speed. No tire smoke (or clutch smoke for that matter) it just groaned and started moving. Good thing it is not my daily driver too much gas required.


[Modified by TheOman, 4:13 PM 5/8/2002]

396 RAT

"One day with two buddies in the car and the air on ...................."


Any photos? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

7vettes

We've had an MSD Pro Billet/6AL/Blaster 2 set-up in the 64 for about 18 months with ZERO problems. The car is AC so we mounted the unit on the inside fender well on the right side. I've gotten exactly what I was told to expect......better starts, really smooth idle and low-end response and better mileage. The plugs are a lot cleaner and the car just runs great.

Regarding the "prone to failure" comment in the original post, I was advised by an MSD rep to steer clear of the Ready To Run Dist. because of problems in the internal module circuit that had been giving them headaches. Don't know if they've cleared that up yet or if anyone here has experience with that unit.

TheOman

Sorry for the confusion. That was not my Vette. I have a 72 Monte Carlo with a 454 LS-6 and a 5 Speed. That was the "up hill A/C on" test car. My Vette is a SB without A/C. At least right now it is without A/C.