Anyone using the MSD 6AL?

AZNPLUMBER · 05-12-2006, 02:49 PM

I just bought one for my 2.4 mfi. I want to know if there are actual improvements. I will replace the points with the optical trigger one as well. I already have the MSD blaster coil.

I will be also installing NGK Iridium spark plugs. Do they need gapping?

Thanx!

Paulporsche · 05-12-2006, 04:51 PM

On my modded 80 engine, I went from a plug gap of .028" to one of .045" when I installed the MSD.

pookie · 05-12-2006, 06:10 PM

Have one on my 81 3.0, love it. Plug gap is larger than stock. Do a search its been addressed multiple times.

fred cook · fred cook's Garage

I have the MSD 6A (no rev limiter) in my SC. I would say that it allows the engine to idle more smoothly but I can't feel any additional top end power. I bought it when the Bosch unit in my car started to fail. The MSD unit was less than 1/2 the cost of a rebuilt Bosch CDI. I used the difference to buy a good set of wires and still put some change in my pocket! Fuel mileage did improve slightly.

AZNPLUMBER · 05-12-2006, 07:14 PM

Sounds Great!

lateapex911 · 05-12-2006, 07:25 PM

I concur. Purists will tell you that the stock Bosch box and points are good units, and they are right. wehn in top form, the system works very well.

Where the MSD has advantages is in it's pricing over the CDI, and the mutliple spark discharge, which helps when things aren't quite perfect with the carbs or injection system. I don't think that increased HP is a goal of a project like this, and I should warn you that IMO, Crane should have made the optical pickup more robustly, and charged more. It's a bit dodgy to install. Once in, they seem fine.

Don't forget about the tach. Not all tachs "bolt right up" to an MSD.

Jeff Higgins · 05-12-2006, 08:13 PM

I have been running a 6AL on my '72 2.4 "T" MFI motor for over a year. It really runs no different than with the stock Bosch box. I only bought the MSD as a stop-gap, as my 30-odd year old Bosch failed about two days before a track day. I've kept it in only because it works, so I saw no reason to go back to the Bosch.

Be aware that the touted "MSD" feature goes to a single spark at such low RPM that it is really moot in our cars. This is more a big V-8 advantage, where folks lug them down more. The multiple spark is supposed to help idle, especially on a rich running MFI car, but I have not seen it. Even with the gap opened up to .050". It is also my understanding that if you open that gap up to the upper limit allowed by MSD, the failure rate of the box goes up. That may be utter B.S., but they do have that reputation.

Anyway, I think it's wash. If your Bosch works, keep it and save some money. Don't put an MSD in looking for better performance.

vash · vash's Garage

i got one. no performance gain that i can tell. but damn it if it isnt easy as hell to trouble shoot. i like it.

you have the high vib coil?

jluetjen · jluetjen's Garage

I've got one. No performance gain over 3000 RPM, but it really helps smooth out the idle and part-throttle driveability of my 2.0 with it's somewhat finicky combustion chamber shape (due to the S pistons). The 2.2's and later have a better combustion chamber shape and so the gains will most likely not be so dramatic. Especially on the lower CR T's. If you are running higher CR pistons like in an E or S, you will most likely find that the improvement from an MSD somewhat more noticeable.

DaveE · 05-13-2006, 06:52 AM

I had one in a BMW 2002 that I raced but it failed so I'll never buy another.

svandamme · svandamme's Garage

i got one

smoother @ low revs
easy troubleshooting
cheap compared to Bosch

Jared at Pelican Parts · 01:29 PM

Had one in my 83 SC with a Bosch blue coil and the plugs gapped slightly larger. You can use the blue coil despite what anyone says. It even says so in MSD's documentation.

ALWAYS started on the first click. Had a smidge more low end, and it had a rock smooth idle. I went through two factory CD units until i replaced it with the MSD. Well worth the money.

The tach also plugged right in without the adapter, however I've heard some VDO tachs dont work without the adapter. I got lucky

lateapex911 · 05-13-2006, 01:31 PM

Just an update, I was having tach issues, but it appears that it was a bad wire, my 73E tach is responding to the MSD6Al output. Will check for accuracy.

724doorE · 05-13-2006, 02:48 PM

Used one in my 72E and it worked fine. Tach worked correctly without the extra headaches.

randywebb · 05-13-2006, 03:05 PM

search up Steve Wiener's comments re the blue coil and on power gains also...

lateapex911 · 05-13-2006, 03:50 PM

OK, I just got my "temp tach" hooked up, and left the existing tach in to check for accuracy. (I was having two tach issues..bouncyness, and no function...it turns out the wire was intermittant which when solved, cured the no function issue. It's still as bouncy as ever..that's another story)

So, as I will be sending my tach out, I needed something to get me by while it's gone. So I hooked up a little light box by DKS Electronics that I had gotten for my race car, but never used (data aq in the race car instead)

Here's two shots of it. 4 leds are programmable. You set the rpm you want and they come on at that level. For this use I set 4k 5K 6K and 7K.

I just wedged it in place for the time being. Ultimately I might consider gutting it and mounting the LEDS in the Tach face as programmable shift lights. But thats another day...

The crux of the post is that I did a drive, and the box emulated the tach exactly. In other words, 4K was 4K, 5K was 5K, etc, on both. It takes the pulsed output of the MSD and converts it to voltage, and is very accurate, so, net net, it appears that my tach, while bouncy, is tracking revs accurately, with no conversion boxes or adapters, right out of the tach output of the MSD.

Just an FYI.

MobileWrks · 05-13-2006, 09:35 PM

What tach adapter are you using, And are you happy and or accurate??? Hey guys... wheres the pics????? LOL

vash · vash's Garage

ok, mobile works dude.

how do you do that twisty/curly pig tail thing with the wires? i tried it on my coil wires this evening and failed horribly.

cliff.

fred cook · fred cook's Garage

Here are some pictures of the MSD unit in my '80 SC. By rotating the rear window defrost relay 90 degrees, there is room to mount the unit on the original mounting plate.

Rick V · 05-14-2006, 06:08 AM

Be carefull with the plug gap, if you go over 55 you will start to suffer from premature rotor failure. I would also not use the euridiam plugs, I had them in the SC when I bought her, the PO had just installed them, and I had promptly threw them in the trash. My car was built before these plugs were invented and I ended up with some idle issues and extended crank time when cold. All was resolved by using the stock plugs. It makes no sence to me to add a hot ign. system and tone it down with a cold plug. JMO.