What I possibly want to do is upgrade to an MSD ignition coil, and possibly 6a box. What I wanted to know is if the MSD ignition coil has more storage than a Mopar coil (what’s better/worst?). And if just upgrading to a Chrysler: chrome, orange box is more bang for the buck. All this is going onto an 78 Plymouth Volare 4 door.

Go for the MSD as it is the best option with consistant spark control, better then stock. If using as daily driver would stick with the orange box regardless of which coil/system you decide upon . Have read of running chrome box in daily use, but have also read where it is not intended for daily use. Never having used the chrome, perhaps someone can expand on this.

There is no advantage to the orange or chrome boxes on a daily driven vehicle. The only difference in the standard mopar ecu and the orange, chrome and gold ecu's is the capability to operate to higher rpm's. The rpm ratings of these ecu's are based on ignition sparks of a v8. If you are using the box on a six cylinder you can multiple the rpm rating by 1.33 to come up with the rpm the ecu can support on a 6 cylinder.

An MSD is a multi spark capacitive discharge ignition, a completely different design compared to a mopar electronic ignition. It could be a benefit over the stock ecu. However, if you car is running well you would likely get a better performance bang for your buck else where.

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Dave Clement
68 Barracuda (Hot-Rod \6)
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze4pgxf/

Ill put my vote in for the MSD. I installed the MSD 6A, Blaster 2 coil, and wires and could not only feel the difference, but i saw it by way of an increase of 2 mpg. Still some of the best $$$ ive spent on my slant.

I was, however, converting from a lean-burn ignition....

-S/6

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The "Silver Bullet"
87 Ram D150

As long as your distributor bushings are not worn out, and the centrifugal AND vacuum advance are working, on a daily driver, going from points to electronic is a big step, but which electronic is not gonna matter that much. If any of you have experience using a scope to watch your ignition pattern, (boy, this is going way back in the old mind surprised I can remember this far back.) I do not care how big the output on the latest "super Coil" is, even though the package says that he coil puts out
100K volts, with a fresh set of properly gapped plugs, if they only require 7K volts to fire, that is all that your coil will put out. Now if you have worn out, electrode nearly burned off plugs, it will take much more to fire them.
You guys might be surprised how many cars get towed in to me that won't start, that fire right up on a new set of plugs, because they are worn beyond the capacity of the coil. But most of these are not car people, ones that are lucky to know that E means Empty, not Enuf on the gas gauge and come in asking what that "genie in the bottle" lite means on the dash board. I had a 98 Dodge van 2 weeks ago, that had 98k on it, 3.9 v-6, and the outer electrodes were so thin that they were actually curling away from the center electrode and were cracked like a piece of firewood about 1/2 burned away. This was a fleet van for Menards. But I know that most who care about their car enuf to be on a site like this, care too much to let their cars get that bad

I have to say that I have burned the electrodes off of sparkplugs
although it was from too much spark advance and NOS, not high mileage!

I have to say that the MSD Blaster coil still fired all cylinders even though the electrodes were completely gone.
DD

We have my son's '74 Dart Sport engine bay stripped down to bare metal and closing in on a day very soon to get it painted. Given the fact that we both are extremely particular about how we do this project, one of the things that prompted us to gut the engine bay was the goo running out from behind the electronic ignition and the voltage regulator. I now understand that is a resin of some type that seals off the exposed electronics in the back of their housings. Unfortunately, you don't just wipe it off with a wet rag. On the brighter side, the car still started and ran, regardless of the mess. Squirrels must have been living under the hood, there were pecan shells embedded in the goo.

Now, here goes. What would you recommend we do? Put the old stuff back on the car, since it apparently still works. Try to replace them with OEM parts, if still available. Look for aftermarket OEM replacements. Look at upgrading to new ignition components, ie. MSD, Mallory, etc.
I need a lot of help in this area to decide what is our best option. Cost is somewhat a factor.

Jerry

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There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

I would seriously suggest replacing that regulator. If it got hot enough so the insulation on the back got melted it is going to fail soon enough. In fact it may have already. You don't need your alternator/regulator in working order to start your car by any means. For $100-150 I believe powermaster makes a 1-wire (no regulator needed, regulator is built inside alternator) drop in replacement. Call up summit and see

'74 Sport.......I tend to lean toward the conservative side when doing something like what you're doing, so..........I suggest you put it back together in stock condition, using new components where there is obviously bad ones. Get it running well, THEN start upgrading and modifying, one step or area at a time. In this way, should something go wrong, you'll know what it is, and can put it back the way it was rather easily. You can also spread the mods out over time, and therefore spread the cash outlay out, too. Sort of the "ongoing project" attitude.

Roger

With all this said and done, I think I will go with a Mopar black MSD 6al. The question is has anyone had any problems hooking one of these up to a slant six (of course it will have a summit chrome coil cover over the blaster 2 can)

It took me longer to cut my MSD plug wires to length and crimp on the ends than it did to install the box. If i recall correctly the whole job took me about 1 1/2 hours....ive never been happier with my ignition

-S/6

I have a 6al on my truck and soon will have one on my 60 valiant ,for the money spent i think it is a worthwhile investment and makes relable ignition to build upon if you decide to get more radical with your combo plus it hooksup in less than an hour even if your slow just read the manual.

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Ive got a slanted attitude and a heavy right foot.

I've run the MSD 6a box on several vehicles now. I've always had good luck with them. But consider this.....If it breaks on you it's a lot more difficult to get a new box in a hurry. If your stock stuff takes a dump, just run to the local parts joint! ...One more pointer....NEVER use MSD with splitfire plugs!! I've seen the box eat these plugs up on a couple different trucks! Kinda works against itself. Doh!

If it breaks you unplug it, revert back to your stock ignition and drive off.
Bob D

love my msd did you know it works untill the battery's allmost dead (I had some charging issues a short time back) Just so you Know I threw out my dis'en weights and welded the distributer in it's advanced mode, the msd computer I added is getting the advance I chose....rev limit...start retard...and maybe soon NOS retard , Just want to say its a nice system I can Grow with, like all of this on the forum keeps the brain cells pumping I would like to here from others who are using the timing computor and wether or not you still use the vacume advance on street cars/trucks mine is presently locked out but I'm thinking of renstateing a ajustable diafram for mileage and emissions Bruce J.

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78b4ramSnortbed/6