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shop guy said i have spark overkill ????

I guess that I am the odd one out here.
It looks to me like you bought parts to make a better than stock ignition system. You won't get the majority of your investment back by selling it. So I would use it.
But I have 2 trucks with MSD stuff. I won't tell you that MSD is bullet proof, but I don't believe that it's junk. I have seen too many guys have fairly good luck with it. I like overkill for some things, you have a lot of parts already running.
 
I suggested that he fix the msd and run it since it's already in the truck. It's not that complicated of an ignition system to troubleshoot.
 
6872xtc said:
I guess that I am the odd one out here.
It looks to me like you bought parts to make a better than stock ignition system. You won't get the majority of your investment back by selling it. So I would use it.
But I have 2 trucks with MSD stuff. I won't tell you that MSD is bullet proof, but I don't believe that it's junk. I have seen too many guys have fairly good luck with it. I like overkill for some things, you have a lot of parts already running.
Click to expand...

Yes you are odd.





I think the point about the shop not being able to figure it out unfortunately might be true.

I called MSD direct before. That walked me through their troubleshooting. I ended up sending it in for repair, but the customer service was good
 
Nothing wrong with overkill, gives you room to grow on the fuel side later if you choose. It's paid for so use it, selling it to buy a stock HEI isn't a forward move and MSD has a decent support service.

I wouldn't put all that ignition into my mild small block but if it was already there I wouldn't pay to take it out.
 
Most days a stocker wont turn fast enough to cause huge problems.
If all the valvetrain parts are good, they usually run out of tbi before they run out of spring
 
A Dana 60 in the front is an "Overkill" most of the time.
A 14 bolt out back is "Overkill" most of the time.
Lockers are "Overkill" most of the time.
Bigger than stock tars are "Overkill" most of the time.
And the list keeps going.......
Most if not all modifications done would be considered overkill over stock......But you know what, I'll keep my overkill parts.

Go fix the MSD fixed.
 
Your setup is definitely overkill but it'd be stupid to take it out since it's already installed and paid for. It sounds like you fell for the marketing hype just as I did.
I've personally had bad luck with MSD stuff but most of their stuff is good. (Except the ignition boxes, those are crap and will leave you stranded and kill you to death)
 
A rev limiter is for when you're at WOT and the driveline breaks. Having 4x4 is safer in that respect, but you could shatter the flexplate, break the input shaft, etc. etc.

In general, OEM ignition parts are most reliable. Nobody else can spend millions on validation. Of the aftermarket stuff, MSD is probably the most reliable.
 
It all goes back to the fact that dude didn't want or know how to trouble shoot it. You're current setup is fine it just needs to be setup properly. Did you need to go past a standard HEI? Probably not. But sometimes we all want a listen race truck under the hood. Just gotta make it work.
 
Back in the day I had a bunch of "Jacobs" stuff wired into my truck. I think they are out of business now. I had a spark box with some sort of anti-theft things, plus a rev limiter and a thing to adjust ignition timing with a knob in the car. It's definitely fun to make "upgrades" sometimes, but I've long since decided that simple is better and I do my best to stay as close to stock as possible. Having said that, my EBL ECM does have a rev limiter in it I believe. I can't see ever needing it, except in some bizarre form of driveline breakage, and the radio would probably have to be up really loud too.
 
I sure as hell wouldn't take it back off to replace it with a HEI. Sure a HEI works fine but why pull it all off if it is working? Besides either way Rev limiters are evil. It is far harder on your engine to go off/on/off/on/off/on..... 5000 times before you let off than to run into valve float.
 
Once place I found a higher end ignition is nice is doing off angle stuff with a carb that loads up. Our Cheap Truck project '74 K20 came with some msd stuff and it starts and clears out a little better than other HEI stuff when it gets grumpy. Then we fixed most of those problems with a good Qjet that runs good most of the time.
 
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