Good afternoon Gang!

I have had alot of folks asking the same types of questions so I figured it might be worth getting it up on the board. #1 Is there really any benefit to changing to a Ignition box with more output? #2 Tips on keeping my MSD box alive?

#1 Short answer Yes, even if we are talking about a street 9 to1 engine with no mods you can improve things across the RPM band by updating your box. The normal for most would be going from a MSD 6a to MSD 6al. Good update & the change comes with a rev limiter. Now the next common jump is usually going from the MSD 6al to say a MSD 7al2 or MSD 7al3. But most don't make the change until they have dumped a dollar or two into the engine.  Now here is were you can help yourself out, the MSD 7al2 & MSD 7al3 are quicker triggering boxes with more output. The output is about 1/3 more when looking at a MSD 6al. What we have found over time is you can pickup the bottom end torque & have a faster rise time on the HP & Torque curve even on Bone Stock equipment. The extra output gives you an additional opportunity for tuning in the engine. Now if you want to really play the stealth game you can use the HVC setup that the Nascar kids use. It has the footprint of a MSD 6al & the output of a MSD 7al2. Over the past two years we have updated many of our customers to this setup in all forms of racing. It has proven to be an advantage when everyone and his brother runs a MSD 6al & BlasterII coil. Yes, the HVC stuff New is not cheap but if you want I can source Good Used setups from the Nascar kids usually with less than 10 hours of use.



#2 Tips

If running a BlasterII coil Never lay the coil on its side or at an angle. These coils are oil filled and need the oil around the windings to keep them cool and stop them from shorting.

If you would like to run a better matched coil to your MSD 6A,6AL,6ALN and want to save some dollars at the same time. Then your want either a Carquest FD-478  or Autozone C-839 coil. You will need to build a couple of mounting brackets, we use alum L channel with some bolts & nylock nuts. These coils are faster switching and can be mounted in any direction.


If your connections to the MSD box have been in the race car for at least three years then this winter Cut All connectors off the ends and put fresh on. This will stop the oxidation gremlin from ruining your day next season!  Seen it Been there Done That........


Never mount your coil on the engine at all. Yes I know this is common OEM practice, this is racing and we're looking for any advantage we can find! The reason is pretty simple any coil can loose performance as its internal temp reaches a certain point. And will continue to degrade the longer the temp stays high.

Keep the ignition stuff away from ALL Infared heat sources, this is the fastest way I have seen really good equipment get killed over time. Just Say NO................

Something to keep in mind when dealing with providing power to a MSD box. A Happy MSD Box is one that thinks it has the Battery sitting right next to it. As long as the box can at a moments notice get access to all the power it wants the more consistent it will be. This is no different than making sure you have fuel pressure & fuel volume at the moment the Carb wants it. If you will notice I stated Power, the Voltage & Current have to work in together with No delays. If either is restricted for any reason your race car Will Slow Down. And with todays hundreths & thousandths of a seconds wins you can not afford to leave this on the table.

I hope this makes sense, if it doesn't give me a call and we can talk about it!

Pat Collins
704-995-4286
techwest@techwestracing.com