I bought a full MSD set up from a board member a few months back. Opened the box all looked good. Put it on the shelf until the engine build was complete to be installed at a later date. Well I couldn't wait. I put it on today. As I was installing the Dist. I noticed there was no advance on it. Does the A6 box advance the timing? Is there a separate module I need to connect to advance the timing? Will I still set initial at 10 degrees? Also wondered about the ballast resistor that was on the old coil. Use it or not? and will my tach still work as before when hooked to the Blaster 2 coil. I did search the past threads but didn't find the answers I was looking for. Once hooked up I turned the key and it fried right up and idled. maybe smoother than with the points so thats a good sign. Any input would be great. Thanks in advance!
I run an MSD dizzy but I have my timing locked out w no advance. I would go to msd's website and download the instructions and how to adjust the advanced curve. Good luck.
Do you mean the 6A MSD PN 6201? As far as I know the only the only MSD Street/Strip ignition unit that can be programed with a timing curve is the 6AL-2 PN 6350 An add-on timing control unit only subtracts a set amount of timing and does not provide an rpm based curve. If you are street driving you will want a distributor with mechanical and vacuum advance. All the MSD units are high voltage capacative discharge and are not used with a ballast resistor. The tach must NOT be hooked to the the coil since the coil now sees up to 530 volts. (MSD 6A PN 6201) Follow the tach instructions in the MSD installation instuctions. Let us know if this helps. Paul
Box is a 6A pt# 6200.Dist is Pt#8548. I know it is a 350 unit but I have changed the gear on it and it is running in the car. So Im guessing I need to get a dist with a vac advance unit or a add on part. Is the Vac.advance unit sold seperate? Heres a thought I have a Stinger dist with the vac advance. could that be used in place of the MSD?
Looked up MSD's web site did some reading on the dist. It has a mechanical advance built in under the rotor.I dont have a spring /weight kit. Will it be enough with the correct springs to be used as a street/ occasional strip car or should I start over. Thanks again!
I'd throw a timing light on it and see what it's actually doing and make sure you don't get any detonation. It may already be perfect for your car. Only way to know is to figure out what it's doing as far as the timing goes.
Briz, that distributor cannot be fitted with a vacuum advance canister. If racing is all you have in mind that's not an issue, but for street driving you may be leaving a lot of good idle and part-throttle manners on the table without it. Devon
Briz TA Performance has the Mallory Comp S/S Distributor which has both mechanical and vacuum advance. http://www.taperformance.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TA%5FMAL4264411 It is a $100 cheaper than the MSD distributor PN 8552 which also has mechanical and vacuum advance. Paul
I think thats right. Pure mechanical advance which you can "mechanically" change with springs. Mostly for race. I was going for the MSD "Ready to run" if it fits under my air cleaner, because it has vacuum advance and a built in rev limiter. No need for a box. It does use a round coil, same size as stock, but is "hotter" than stock. Kinda all looks stock.
I got it all put back together yesterday. put the light on it and set it at 10 Int. the timing is all in at 2500 and tops out around 28 total. I drove to a cruise last night and put over 200 miles on the car with no real issues. She runs smoother and idles better. Also will do a better(20') standing burn out with out power braking. Id say a nice improvement. Now the bad... I hooked my tach lead up to the blaster coil without thinking about it and discovered after the fact I shouldn't hook anything other than the 6A to it. I think my tachs fried. it reads roughly 2x's what it should. When I did above mentioned burn out it showed over 8K. cruising to Tallahassee last night I was running 6000 @70 mph LOL. The other issue is the new dist is taller and my GS air cleaner wont fit any more.I guess I will have to cut more out of the bottom of the L cup.
Briz Please take this as all in fun. Please re-read the last part of post #3. LOL Someone else is probably going to suggest that you might get even better results with the a little more total timing so I won't say it. Anyway if your tach is a current driven type it may not be burned out. Try connecting it to the tach output terminal on the side the msd box and see what you get. Paul
I can take all the good natured ribbing ya'll wanna toss at me.:beer I have a tach adaptor for the 6A ox and hooked it up after the fact. I will play with the dip switches on the back of the tach later today to see if it makes any difference
I looked at that Dist. It looks even taller than the one I got. The MSD is about 3/4 to tall to fit under my air cleaner. When I put the B4B on there it will move the air cleaner forward and compound the problem Maybe I can have a shop shorten up the center shaft on the MSD. Looks as if I may have to toss the ram air set up if I cant resolve this.
You might get even better results with a little more total timing. :laugh: Well someone had to do it. Go with 14* initial, that will give you 32* total. Should perk it up even more.
Briz, First, like mentioned before, the MSD billet distributors don't include vacuum advance, and you cannot add it. Second, ALL MSD distributors have an adjustable mechanical advance. The amount of advance is modified with color coded advance stop bushings, and the rate of advance, with color coded springs. They are all available separately from Jegs, or Sumitt, or you local speed shop. My Power Timing thread applies big time here. You should always set total advance. The initial will then fall where it has to based on the amount of mechanical advance being used. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=63475 Another option for you, if you want your vacuum advance back is to sell the MSD distributor and use your Stinger distributor to trigger the MSD box. All you need to do is purchase the MSD trigger connector and wire it up with correct polarity Also, The 6AL is normally set to work on 8 cylinder engines. It must be modified to work on 4 and 6 cylinder engines. You mentioned that you bought this unit second hand. Is it possible it was previously used on a 4 or 6 cylinder engine. I was thinking this might be why your tach is reading incorrectly. There are wires under a cover that are cut to adjust for 4 and 6 cylinder engines. This sets up the rev limiter and possibly the tachometer signal, not sure.
http://www.jegs.com/i/MSD+Ignition/121/8824/10002/-1 http://www.jegs.com/i/MSD+Ignition/121/8464/10002/-1
Ive got a new plan. Going to reinstall the stock points dist in the car and use it to trigger the 6A. If I read the info correctly I can hook up the white wire to my stock dist and set the points @ 20 it should work as well or better than what I have in there now.Hopefully I can still use the 8mil sprial core wires that came with my set up. BTW the MSD was used on a 350 engine before I got it and I changed the gear. Also got the tach to work by changing some of the DIP switches on the back.
Briz, Do you still have the Stinger Distributor? That's a better choice, although the points distributor will work just fine. The points only trigger the box, so they carry very little current. They will last forever. The Stinger magnetic pick up will be more accurate, especially at higher RPM.
yep have the stinger. I dont know about the clearance issues with it. I'll have to jump into it next week. Im going to the track Sat with a new set of taller slicks and the MSD to see what it will do.
