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installing a msd in my sleeper

1K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  Arns85GT 
#1 ·
hello, I have a mercury sable gs with a 3.8l engine which I am turning into somewhat of a sleeper. the exhaust is going to be upgraded next about a quarter of an inch larger, nothing annoyingly loud but just big enough to give it that siphon flow from the engine.
my question is about installing an msd 6a into the engine compartment I know I need to upgrade the wires plugs coil etc. where do I start? I am terrible with wiring and this is my daily driver so I need to keep it running.
 
#3 ·
On your totally stock engine installing an MSD box would be a waste of money and time, it won't make any improvement you can feel over the stock Ford Duraspark set-up. Spend your money somewhere else.....probably the best idea would be a turbo kit or a small nitrous oxide set-up if you want more performance that you can actually feel.

Problem is the transmissions/transaxle in these cars aren't noted for being able to put up with more power, even too much excited driving with a stock engine tears up those transmissions rather easily.
 
#5 ·
Nothing front wheel drive is a good base to hotrod with...the transaxles just aren't made strong enough to put up with much in the way of performance gains....they are barely strong enough to put up with stock power levels.

Keep it as a thrifty daily driver, and pick up a better platform to make a hot rod out of is my best advice. Or make it look good and handle good and don't worry about how much power it has.
 
#7 ·
never again

I had an MSD 6A. My engine started to develop symptoms of a vacuum leak.

I couldn't find one. After a whole lot of aggrevation I found the MSD box has 2 circuits, one for below 3k rpm and one for above. The solder points went bad on the primary circuit and started emulating a vacuum leak. Of course I didn't figure that out until after I unplugged it and the problem went away. I also learned you can't repair them locally. You have to uninstall and ship it back. They are like tooth brushes. Either they work or they don't. Essentially the only time you need one is for high reving like 6k+ or 7k. I now use an HEI and it works fine. I personally wouldn't recommend the MSD 6A because (a) you don't need it and (b) I found it unreliable, undiagnosable
 
#10 ·
exhaust design is tricky

I am not surprised at your outcome. Increasing the pipe diameter slows the air flow. You need, on a v6, to have equal length primary pipes, not larger than 1.5 inches, and not longer than 36 inches. After they collect you can then open the pipe up. I use 2.5 inch pipe after the collector. If your primaries shrink to under 22 inches, you lose power. I don't know what your setup was, but if you stick with the formula of 1.5 inch primaries 22 to 36" long you will create more torque and more power. Hope this helps.
 
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