I've been out for little while, too. Golden, CO., being the hokey little town I love, had a small Christmas parade today and I drove my `49 Plymouth in it.

Anyway, to the MSD; yes, each computer recognizes the device, and to which port its connected. Trying the different USB ports hasn't seemed to help, whether the MSD is set to the matching port or not.

If you have a multimeter you might check the cable that was provided by MSD to ensure that it is good, I have had bad serial cables right out of the box.

wishing you quick resolution to this problem as I will soon be going your route with MSD on my 87 930 but not until I finish chasing down all of my electrical gremlins and replacing my fuse blocks with ATO style Blocks

Regards
Mike

I finally gave up and sent the unit to MSD, figuring they'd send it back with a note telling me the problem was either me, my computer or my serial-usb adapter. To my surprise, their communication test failed (everything else was fine) so they repaired it and sent it back. When I connected it to the computer and started the software it worked exactly as it should. I love the smell of vindication in the morning ...

On the matter of dizzy locking, I found an incredibly simple way to accomplish this. No drilling, no tapping, no extra screws. For the weights, I did as others here have and simply wired them up. It was the advance plate where I strayed from what others have done and took my own approach. Took two screws the same thread diameter and pitch as those that attach the distributor cap clips to the dizzy body, but just a shade longer. Shortened them until they were maybe 2mm longer than the originals, then carefully (so as to not bugger the threads) filed them to a slight point. Installed them a couple of turns (replacing the stock ones), moved the plate to full advance and tightened them down all the way. My theory was that, being slightly longer, they'd bottom out against the advance plate, the pointed end would dig in just a bit and I'd effectively have two set screws, 180* apart holding it at full advance. Success! Got the plate locked at full advance in little more time than it took me to type this.

Nice. I'm going to use this method when I do the MSD swap. So are you staying with the CIS for now ?

Nope. I'm going to drop the engine next weekend for a top-end rebuild and the efi conversion. Weather here's been unseasonably nice so I've been delaying the project because I so enjoy driving this car and hate the idea of not being able to for the several months it'll take me to finish.

[QUOTE=nkowi;7868501]I finally gave up and sent the unit to MSD, figuring they'd send it back with a note telling me the problem was either me, my computer or my serial-usb adapter. To my surprise, their communication test failed (everything else was fine) so they repaired it and sent it back. When I connected it to the computer and started the software it worked exactly as it should. I love the smell of vindication in the morning ...[QUOTE]

Can I ask you if they reimbursed you to ship it back and forth to them or was that on you and how long did they take to turn it around for you.

Reason I ask is that I have had problems getting any intelligent responses out of their help line, in fact I think they suck, and wanted to know how they rated with their return/repair ticket system they seem to push on buyers when there is a problem.

Sounds like you got lucky and found your problem without more headache. Cool!

thanks,
Fred

Can I ask you if they reimbursed you to ship it back and forth to them or was that on you and how long did they take to turn it around for you.

Reason I ask is that I have had problems getting any intelligent responses out of their help line, in fact I think they suck, and wanted to know how they rated with their return/repair ticket system they seem to push on buyers when there is a problem.

Sounds like you got lucky and found your problem without more headache. Cool!

thanks,
Fred

Shipped to them on my dime, back to me on theirs.

Total time, from when I dropped it at the post office until I received it back was less than two weeks.