I have a Accel HEI setup that I got a while ago to replace the stock garbage. Well It seems this may be giving me problems. Like misfiring and what not. So I was thinking of chaning to a MSD 6AL and a blaster 2 coil. Would this be a good idea? Or should I stick with what I have? Also what else would I need if I went MSD?

 

if you want the heavy zap of a 6 box this is what you need to do it.
part # MSD-85551 pro billit mechanical advance Dist. iron cam gear
price $225.95. The MSD-6A box price $179.88. the e-coils are much
better coils then the old round oil filled coils. Blaster SS coil part #
Msd-8207 price $41.88. I wont recomend a vacuum Dist but a lot of
people like them, if you want to keep vacuum advance the MSD-8361
is the same Dist as MSD-85551 but also has vacuum advance. Price
$227.88. The ready to run DIST is vacuum advance and only needs a
coil does not need the 6A box. Ready to run Dist.part # MSD-8360
price $297.88. Mallory has some magnetic trigger Dists and boxes for
less money. Crane has some nice optical trigger street dist and boxes
for less then MSD prices. If you can afford to go for the 6 box your
plugs will get a for real ZAP Rumpity, Rumpity.

 

Im really not sure how anybody could give you accurate information about your situation without having the slightest idea of what year,what engine, and which "Stock garbage" you are refering to??

Give us a clue and maybe someone can give you a valid answer

 

if your distributer is really your problem and you want to upgrade an msd ready to run works well with no extra boxes or wiring..I have it in my 427 and no issues.As I understand it a box is not needed under 7000 rpm , go to MSD's web site and check

 

ok, I'd say more info is needed here.
first off, the stock distributors are not "garbage" by any means. They work very well and are very reliable - consider many, many of them are still in service for 30, 40 or more years and that's with a large number of them never having been touched as GM never specified any maintenance on them! Was your stock distributor a points or a HEI unit since you didn't give us any info on the year of the car, what motor, etc?
A good HEI is also typically a very good performing and reliable distributor.

If you are now looking to swap out to a third distributor I'd say you have a problem elsewhere in the system and/or you just aren't setting the distributors up correctly.

Before you keep throwing money at new parts how about more details so that we may be able to help you find and fix the problem.

 

Since you didn't include ANY info on your car, I will only guess.

I am not sure why you feel the "stock garbage" is bad. GM built tens of millions of cars with points and standard coils and they work remarkably well. The two significant advantages for keeping things OEM are that you can stop in any auto parts shop in the world (probably) and buy replacement points, condensor, cap and rotor. Secondly, points will continue to work and allow you to limp home even as they are worn beyond their usable life. You can't make either statement work for aftermarket ignition items.

It sounds like your aftermarket ignition isn't working all that well anyhow.

Just my two cents.

Gary

 

My 2 cents?
I'd stick with your "stock garbage" and loose the "after-market garbage"....I've said it before....nah, I won't say it again...

 

i agree
too many people try to fix or "improve" their car with catalog "hotrod" parts when the factory OEM parts are not only perfectly fine, but in many cases a better part or a better part for the particular usage

 

My stock dist. went out on my, so it was garbage. It was't garbage until I was stranded on the road. It is a 78 with a gm crate engine from 83. I recently redid the upper end (heads, cam ect.) I was having a backfire problem at low rpms. now that that is gone It have a misfire. After replacing both my plugs and wires. I can only assume my dist. is the culpret.

This is what I used:
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

 

A distributer is not a solid chunk of material. It has parts inside that can be replaced to repair the unit. No need to pitch it all and get a new distributer. That is how dealerships fix things.

BigBlockk

Later.....

 

replaced an entire distributor because it gave you a problem once?
that's like throwing out an entire car because something needs repairing. It could have been a simple issue inside the distributor that needed repairing, and now your replacement distributor seems to give you problems and you are willing to throw that one out also to get yet another replacement......

As I said before, find and fix the problem rather than just spending money on new parts like new distributors everytime there is a small problem.
Man, you must be made of money to just keep replacing parts this way!

A backfire could easily be a carb issue rather than an ignition issue.
The misfiring can be one of a number of issues, all resolved without requiring the replacement of the entire distributor.

was the misfire there before you replaced the plugs and wires and it's still there or did it start after you replaced them?
Was the misfire there while the car was also having a backfiring problem or did it only start after you resolved the backfiring problem?
What did you do exactly to solve the backfiring issue?
Did you check the coil on the distributor. A coil going bad can cause misfiring.
Is the misfiring at all engine speeds or only at higher rpms?
Did the misfiring occur before you installed the new heads or only afterwards? A stuck or faulty valve can cause misfiring also.

 

It started after I resolved the backfiring. I just played around with it alot to get the backfiring out. It did it before the new plugs and wires. It is a new carb. Holley 750 dual inlet. I haven't checked the coil. I had replaced various parts on the stock distributor and it was still giving me problems so I dumped it. The misfire is at all speeds. This all happened after I installed my new stuff. That should answer a few questions.

 

I use Accel Blueprinted Hei distributers all the time.
They are just rebuilt gm originals with a few improvements. Very reliable.

 

Justind the HEI you have or accell version of it has 12 volts going
into the primary side of the coil the secondary windings in the coil
miultiple the volatge times the 12 volts, if you use the 6A box it
puts 500 volts to the primary side of the coil the secondary windings in the coil have 500 volts to multiply instead of only 12.
Can you see now by simple arithmetic how the coil can put out an
extremly strong spark by multiplying 500 volts instead of 12 volts.
Thats the pro side the con is you add something else that could fail.
The old HEI was a nice step up from old point systems it got rid of the
points, the cap and rotor is large and the coil mounted on top gets rid
of the coil wire. thats the pro the con with only 12 volts going into the
primary of the HEI coil it is still hamstrung just like the old point systems
it will not put much spark to the plugs in comparison to CD or 6A.

 

Yes, I see.

 

Justind I think MSD makes a box that works with HEI Dist. that
can put more voltage to the primary of the HEI coil.

 

I have found that the Accel HEI modules are no better than a GM or good quality stock unit,they seem to drop off after 4000 rpm.I've had good luck with the MSD HEI module,they seem to run better at high rpm than the stock looking ones.If you get your dist. recurved and set up by a good shop that alone might solve some of your problems.Of course,if you like spending money or you are running a high rpm(7000+),high compression(12-14:1) engine the complete MSD or Crane system is the way to go.

 

They use 7 boxes for that 12 to 14 comp. 8000 to 10000 rpm stuff
I wonder what kind of monster you have to have for a 8 box
must be 25 pounds of boost. It would be interesting to know
what twin turbo will use.