Fire it up
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,095
Likes: 213
From: The Buckle of the Bible Belt. Joplin Mo
Fire it up
Okay... So, looks like the Ignition module on the 69 Stingray is dead. It's an MSD 8360 ready to run. This is my first experience with one of these and would be my last choice for an ignition on a 50+ year old car. It was installed by the PO. I have looked online at how to replace a module on one of these, and it looks straight forward, but labor intensive. This is not a repair a guy could make on the side of the road.
I am not hung up on originality, I prefer reliability. a point system is a little too old school. Leaning towards an MSD Street fire HEI system. all my other cars run this system, and it has been a very reliable ignition system for years. This is a big block car, and I have no idea if an HEI system will fit and allow the hood to close. Welcome any and all opinions and suggestions from the group. Thanks
I am not hung up on originality, I prefer reliability. a point system is a little too old school. Leaning towards an MSD Street fire HEI system. all my other cars run this system, and it has been a very reliable ignition system for years. This is a big block car, and I have no idea if an HEI system will fit and allow the hood to close. Welcome any and all opinions and suggestions from the group. Thanks
Pro
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 578
Likes: 107
From: colo
I don't know what the inside of that distributor looks like, but I did replace the module on my 1979 in a parking lot, No harder than replacing points which I did on my firebird every 5,000 miles back in the day. I used to carry a feeler gauge in the glove compartment.
There may be videos out there to guide you. Good luck.
There may be videos out there to guide you. Good luck.
Safety Car
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 4,747
Likes: 1,642
From: Fairfax Virginia
I have a completely MSD ignition system on my 1968 Corvette. I am using the billet tach drive distributor with a 6AL Box and an MSD Coil and wires. I have been very lucky with my parts so far. I have a HEI distributor in my 1988 C4 and that unit has served me well but the horror stories are plentiful. In my garage on the shelf is a spare module, coil, cap and rotor and a new Hall effect sensor. The HEI distributors were not known for being hyper-reliable so you needed to carry or have the spares for when you needed them (not IF).
Replacing the module might not be that hard, this is the direction I would go because distributors are silly expensive now days. I have a Holley EFI system on my 427 and it works well. Holley wanted me to buy a new distributor so it would work more easily with the Holley EFI system. Instead, I opened up my MSD Billet Distributor and locked out the mechanical advance and removed the vacuum advance mechanisms. Now my EFI system can control the timing and the whole system works better more like a modern car.
The distributor you have has some nice features and it is a "Bird in the hand" so to speak. If it the timing curve is set up properly it should do a good job for you.
Replacing the module might not be that hard, this is the direction I would go because distributors are silly expensive now days. I have a Holley EFI system on my 427 and it works well. Holley wanted me to buy a new distributor so it would work more easily with the Holley EFI system. Instead, I opened up my MSD Billet Distributor and locked out the mechanical advance and removed the vacuum advance mechanisms. Now my EFI system can control the timing and the whole system works better more like a modern car.
The distributor you have has some nice features and it is a "Bird in the hand" so to speak. If it the timing curve is set up properly it should do a good job for you.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,095
Likes: 213
From: The Buckle of the Bible Belt. Joplin Mo
Thanks for the responses. Had some time to kill this weekend, so started disassembling the 8360. The pin on the gear came out relatively easy. I used my press, but realized the job could probably have been done with a bench vise. Looks like the module is readily available for $160.00. Going to go ahead and rebuild this MSD distributor, but still not sure if it's going back into the Vette. Was hoping to hear from other members who have ditched factory set ups and switched to HEI with the coil in the cap.
