Good Pairing for MSD ignition

[phrenology]

Looking for a good coil and distributor setup to use with an MSD SCI 6320 ignition system. Going into EFI A20A3. Any recommendations? After thumbing through MSD's site it looks like the Blaster 2 or 3 is a good match for the coil but what should I do at the distro end? :dunno:

[MessyHonda]

well since msd does not make cap and rotors your best best is OEM...you should really think about going obd1 so then you can use a accord MSD cap and rotor...and for coil the blaster 2 will do

[turabaka]

I haven't had any problems with my blaster 2 coil, but I've heard that due to the design they start to put out less power above 6k rpms. Anyone care to add on that? If this is really the case what would be a better choice for coils?

[2ndGenGuy]

If they spin a V8 to 6000RPM, you should be fine on a 4 banger I would think.

[turabaka]

If they spin a V8 to 6000RPM, you should be fine on a 4 banger I would think.

I guess so. I intend to build this motor to withstand much higher than 6k though. I'd like somewhere between 8k and 9k to be my goal.

Is there a way I can check for a power drop from the coil as the revs increase? Ohm meter perhaps? That way we can determine whether this is even an issue or if it's just a myth.

[2ndGenGuy]

I just assumed that a V8 spinning to 6000RPM would be as many fires per minute as a 4 cylinder spinning to 12000RPM.

[turabaka]

I just assumed that a V8 spinning to 6000RPM would be as many fires per minute as a 4 cylinder spinning to 12000RPM.

lol. I guess your logic is kinda hard to argue with. Besides I'm not really sure a small drop in power is going to matter with the ignition box I'm using.

[2ndGenGuy]

You should just go distributorless. It's probably cheaper. ;) Makes me wonder if the stock distributor will advance any further after a certain RPM. I suppose you could always just change out the weights...

[stat1K]

for efi i've never understood the point of msd on a honda. i ran an external coil for a while but i didn't notice a difference. fuel economy was the same, power didn't "Feel" any better, granted i didn't dyno it, but if it was unnoticeable it was pretty low if any gain.

honda makes a pretty nice ignition system for stock units already. it's pretty efficient... i understand the gains more on older cars and american models.

i would just go obd1 and not worry about the msd. money better spent.

[turabaka]

for efi i've never understood the point of msd on a honda. i ran an external coil for a while but i didn't notice a difference. fuel economy was the same, power didn't "Feel" any better, granted i didn't dyno it, but if it was unnoticeable it was pretty low if any gain.

honda makes a pretty nice ignition system for stock units already. it's pretty efficient... i understand the gains more on older cars and american models.

i would just go obd1 and not worry about the msd. money better spent.

I know this is in the EFI tech section, but Im carb'd. obd1 isn't really an option for me. Crank fired ignition with coil packs on the other hand is, so I might end up going that route someday.

[cygnus x-1]

As far as I know the Civics and Integras that rev up pretty high still use a plain single coil. So coil upgrades aren't going to do much unless you are really boosted or have high compression that makes the mixture more difficult to ignite. The universal aftermarket coils like the Blasters are fairly cheap though so if your stock coil is failing then it's probably just as cheap/easy to get one of those than a new stock coil.


FWIW I don't see the benefit of an MSD ignition on any stock-ish car that already has electronic ignition. Unless the stock setup is really crappy.


Some time back I reverse engineered the stock distributor on my 2g 'lude (carbed A18A1) and the high RPM advance topped out around 35*BTDC. By 4000RPM it was already up to 32* with the rest in by 6000RPM. At that point the weights are fully out so that's all it can do. If you need more you would have to turn the dist. to advance the base timing.


For accuracy and tunability crank fired distributor-less is definitely the way to go if you use carbs for fueling.


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[itzdave]

i plan on putting megajolt in my car in the near future!

[2ndGenGuy]

Some time back I reverse engineered the stock distributor on my 2g 'lude (carbed A18A1) and the high RPM advance topped out around 35*BTDC. By 4000RPM it was already up to 32* with the rest in by 6000RPM. At that point the weights are fully out so that's all it can do. If you need more you would have to turn the dist. to advance the base timing.


For accuracy and tunability crank fired distributor-less is definitely the way to go if you use carbs for fueling.


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How did you reverse engineer the distributor? I've been wanting to do this for a while on my 81, but couldn't think of any way to spin the distributor and see how much advance it was getting at certain RPMs. Measuring the vacuum advance doesn't seem hard, just using a pump and vacuum gauge. But the centrifugal advance I'm not sure how to do...

[stat1K]

I know this is in the EFI tech section, but Im carb'd. obd1 isn't really an option for me. Crank fired ignition with coil packs on the other hand is, so I might end up going that route someday.

that's why i said for EFI. carb guys don't have the advantage, you could always go EFI and go OBD1, carbuereters are nice for the ease of use and mechanical operation but the tunability on EFI is so much greater.

really though, either way on honda, msd doesn't make sense to me. there are people running the internal coil on 600hp cars.

[cygnus x-1]

i plan on putting megajolt in my car in the near future!

Did you get the Megajolt controller yet? I need to get you the rest of the parts soon. I think I might be able to do the pulley tomorrow after work. Then I just need to get a crank sensor.




How did you reverse engineer the distributor? I've been wanting to do this for a while on my 81, but couldn't think of any way to spin the distributor and see how much advance it was getting at certain RPMs. Measuring the vacuum advance doesn't seem hard, just using a pump and vacuum gauge. But the centrifugal advance I'm not sure how to do...


Probably the easiest way to do it is to use a dial back timing light. Disconnect the vacuum advance and set the timing to 0* with the idle set really low. Then rev the engine and check the timing at various RPMs. That would give you the mechanical advance. Vacuum advance would be checked the same way but with a vacuum pump instead of revving.


I actually put my distributor on a lathe to spin it and used an oscilloscope to compare the VR signal to another VR signal triggered from a fixed spot on the lathe spindle. The timing advance was calculated by looking at the change in signal timing compared to RPM.


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