MSD and wires?

[rob'smobile]

just got the new MSD 6al from pelican and it has a sticker that says not to use with solid core spark plug wires? the stock wires are stranded solid wire aren't they?1969 911 what s up ? choices please ., thank you Rob

[rob'smobile]

may I have some help ? thanks Rob

[Nitrometano]

I have an MSD and I use the stock wire set with no problem. Check is they are solid. Is they are solid core they only have one wire inside the shield if they are miltiple wires they are ok to use. Take a spark plug boot apart and see is they are one or multiple wire that attach to the connector.

[Vintage911Racer]

I think the solid wires cause more radio interferance. If this is a track only car it may not be so much of an issue. I was using solid core wires with my Crane Hi 6 unit and have had no Problems...

[fleaman]

MSD boxes can sometime act wacky from the RF (radio interference) that a solid core (copper wire, etc.) spark plug wire creates when firing. Solid core wires also interfere with radios (AM especially) and police radios, etc., so suppression wire came out that has a carbon core (think like the lead in the pencil, but more flexible) and that took care of the RF problem, but also cut down on the spark energy to the spark plug.

Race cars have solid core spark plug wires. Old (very old) cars or old sports cars might of come with solid cores from the factory.

There is an easy solution to this my friend: Spiral core spark plug wires! MSD makes them, Moroso, Crane...basically most perf. aftermarket ignition manufacture that make spark wires. Basically they wind a solid wire around a carbon center (or not carbon) and even though there is a solid wire (for practically no resistance), because it is wound, it acts as an RF choke...no problems with your radio clicking, or with RF interfering with the MSD box.

When you strip the end of a spiral core wire, you can see the thin solid wire wound tightly around a center core. Some cars (especially high end sports cars, etc) come from the factory with OEM spiral core wires now. They don't interfere with today’s ECM computers, etc.

I'm not sure if MSD makes a custom fit set for your car, but at the very least you can make a set with a universal style cut to fit (spark plug ends are terminated, you cut to fit and terminate the distributor ends).

I highly recommend spiral core wires, a win win situation performance wise.

Fleaman

[fleaman]

Oh, and even if it's a race car, they most all use spiral core wires now because most all race cars have MSD boxes, computers, etc. that are touchy when it comes to RF.

True to form vintage racers (no MSD, etc.) can run the normal solid cores, no problem. And not all people have problems with solid cores and MSD's. It depends on the car, where the MSD unit is mounted, what kind of resistance your secondary ignition system is generating (spark plug gap, etc.). But, better to be safe than sorry. I even remember seeing a dyno test where the solid core wire made a little less power than the spiral core on a MSD equipped motor. The motor didn't appear to have any noticeable problems when running, but something was happening with the MSD and solid cores that was hard to pin down and there was a measurable (i.e; slight) hp difference.

Fleaman

[911pcars]

"....I even remember seeing a dyno test where the solid core wire made a little less power than the spiral core on a MSD equipped motor. The motor didn't appear to have any noticeable problems when running, but something was happening with the MSD and solid cores that was hard to pin down and there was a measurable (i.e; slight) hp difference."

This could mean the MSD box could use better RF shielding; always a good idea when working near high voltage pulses. I use a Crane box with solid core wires, and while I haven't A-B dyno'd any difference in HP/torque, I doubt there would be any perceptible difference in power between the two types of wire conductors (with the exception of potential interference on electronic ecu operation).

Sherwood

[jabb]

I have an MSD ignition and Use Magnecor wires,
Do a search on this site for Magnecor.
Here is the Link
http://www.magnecor.com/

[rob'smobile]

Thank you For the replies ,. I will probaly get new wires soon but just didn't want to make the install till I had input into this ,. Thanks again Rob