MSD 6AL Installation

[Hib Halverson]

Hib,

Funny you should mention that. I am considering putting in the dual Spals at some point and was considering running a heavy gauge wire up front from the battery into some type of distribution box. I've seen these things where a heavy gauge wire goes in and then there are several posts to distribute the power. How did you do yours? Pictures if you have them please.

Rowdy,

I saw the burnout video from last year. I'm not surprised that you don't hear the hum. :L

Bob

Don't have images. Sorry.

But, the job was simple. I ran an 8ga wire from where the battery connects to the starter, over to the frame then around to the front of the car, to a junction. From there I ran power to the fans (I use a stock, late C4 dual electric fan assembly) and to the MSD with two 10ga wires. The MSD power line has MSD's filter capacitor in line.

The fans and MSD are grounded to the frame up front. The starter case is grounded to the frame at the right side engine mount bracket and I ran a separate negative battery cable from the battery all the way up to the block next to the starter. That eliminates the ground path from the frame back by the battery, up to the engine.

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Thanks Hib. I was wondering what you used up front, a junction box or an auxillary fuse block. The info on the wiring will be a great help as well.

 

[76okievette]

MY two cents, I have been working on aircraft for over 20 years and we always use the mech type crimp connectors to splice wire, as long as you have the correct tool and connector it will work fine and last forever. You have to be careful when you solder wires together that you get the solder to flow between the strands and that you don't get a cold solder joint, for this application you will fine with the mech type connector with heat wrap over.

 

[Bob Chadwick]

That's what I like about this place. Always a definitive answer.

 

[Tom Bryant]

Hi Bobchad.

Nice to know there is someone else that can't get anything done during the week. :L

Personally I would solder but then that's how I do this stuff and am used to soldering. When it is hot enough that the solder flows into the strands of wire you are there. It will never even pull apart in a wreck, It'll break something else first.

As for fuse box or terminal block that depends on if the items you are installing are fused themselves. If the MSD has a fuse or breaker in it or you are coming off a point that is fused then you don't need another fuse. If not then a fuse or breaker is a very good idea if you don't like electrical fires in your Corvette. Personally I don't like the smell.:L

You could run the 8 ga. up to a terminal block then use a seperate breaker in the line to the individual component or mount a fuse block with however many terminals you think you will need for future components. Painless has lots of this stuff as individual parts or in kits. If you don't see it on their site contact them. http://www.painlessperformance.com/catalogframe.htm

Also go to your Radio Shack store and look at all of the stuff they have that you can use on your car's wiring. They have all kinds of terminal blocks and connectors that you may be able to use.

Since you got the 6AL I assume you will be a good citizen and run the 3000 rpm chip?

Tom

 

[Tom Bryant]

P.S. Look at the fuse blocks section in Painless at item 30002 4-CIRCUIT FUSE CENTER. This might be just the ticket.

Tom

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Tom,

Of course I'll be the good citizen. Heck, 3,000 rpm won't even get me to 75 mph.

Those fuses are what I was looking at and what I will probably end up going with. Right now I need to get this thing back on the road by the 18th and have some other things to clean up while I have it apart (sound familiar ).

The wire was cheap, $2, and I'll probably run the 10 gauge to extend the power and then at a later time change out to an 8 gauge and go with either the fuse or a box. The MSD unit has a fuse in it so there is no concern there.

The ignition controlled power interests me simply because of future electrical additions I'm considering.

Bob

 

[Hib Halverson]

Thanks Hib. I was wondering what you used up front, a junction box or an auxillary fuse block. The info on the wiring will be a great help as well.

Actually, it's more crude than that. I used an open terminal block--one of those compartmentalized, black phenolic blocks with screws and cross bands. The fans are separately fused and the MSD has a fuse internally.

Admittedly, this was all done ten years ago, and perhaps could be done better, now, but it's worked flawlessly all these years including driving in wet weather. And that fan set-up, holy crap, adapting the ZR-1 elec. fans, which wasn't all that hard, was one of the best things I did for cooling. That plus a Griffin radiator and I've never seen over 205 deg. and that's doing a parade here in So. Cal in July. 45min. at between 0 and 5 mph with some hotie sitting on the halo bar--it was fun, fun, fun!!

The only problem I have ever had with MSD stuff is on the other MSD6T I have on my Malibu. One time, in a fit of stupidity, I reversed the polarity on the power lines. That fried the box. Even though it was a self-inflicted FUBAR action, MSD fixed the box under warranty. Pretty cool of them, I'd say.

I solder connections when I can, otherwise I use high-end crimp-on connectors with a good crimping tool.

Someone mentioned "Painless Wiring"...they make good stuff.

 

[JohnZ]

Look at OEM car electrical harnesses, and you won't find any soldered connections - they're all good mechanical crimps - just like aircraft. Why? Because soldered connections are subject to fatigue failure due to constant vibration, and good crimp connections aren't.

 

[Robin7TFour]

Bob, if you need some black phenolic terminal strips let me know. i have easy access to that part( don't ask)

robin

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Robin,

Tell me what they are and I might. :L

 

[Robin7TFour]

black strip of plastic with double screw terminals the length of it. great for making multiple wire connections. Disney uses oodles of them.<hmmm>
Robin

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Sounds like a handy thing to have. I'll take a couple.

Well I tried soldering and decided to go with the connectors. It looks easy but I wasn't having any luck. My recollection is that you are supposed to heat the wire, which should melt the solder and draw it into the joint. No such luck. I ended up heating the solder and making big clumps of solder. It seemed solid but I wasn't happy with the way it looked and just used the connectors.

Covered each end of the wore connector with a handy little product called liquid electrical tape. Coat the end, let it dry and you have a sealed connection.

 

[Robin7TFour]

Bob, i'll get you a couple and put them in the post this week. BTW, i use a lil bit of liquid flux. it helps the solder flow on and into the wires

Robin

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Thanks Robin.

I opened the distributor (I have the MSD so yours might be a little different), removed three screws and the ignition module is out.

The module unplugs on one end leaving a plug with two different size female receptacles in the distributor. Match the male end on your wires and plug them in. Two wire clamps and a grommet and it should have all gone back together.

I say should have because you use the same screws to hold the wire claim in place that held the ignition module down. One screw fit it down nice and snug and the other is way too long. Of course I dropped one of the wire clamps down the back of the engine and now I need to go to the hardware store and get a screw and a wire clamp.

 

[Bob Chadwick]

I have the orange, black and red wire up to the distributor from the MSD box. The orange and black wire, plus a ground to the engine, connect in place of the the stock pickup. If you take a look at picture of the stock pickup in the prior post, it has a connector on it that connects to what I think is the coil on the top of the cap. The area on the coil has 5 marked terminals, B+, C-, Grnd, Tach and Bat.

The orange wire from the MSD goes to the B+ connection, the black wire to the C- and the center is simply grounded to an engine ground.

I have questions about the other two posts. Does the tach connector go back on? I would assume so to drive the tach.

How does the red wire hook up? The instructions show a single white wire jumper with a connection to the red or pink ignition connection from the wiring harness and to the red MSD wire. The only jumper in the box is basically a splitter with two male and one female plug.

Am I supposed to plug one of the male plugs into the red wire from the MSD box and the other to the red/pink wire from the wiring harness and them put the female on the Bat post. Or do I need to make my own jumper and connect the MSD red to the wiring harness pink/red and not connect it back to the distributor?

I've got to get the car up on stands to get the main power and ground for the box hooked up. I'm going to run both back to the battery as the instructions recommend.

 

[GTR1999]

Here's the picture you requested Bob

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Thanks Coupeman. Mine didn't look like it would fit but now I'm curious. I'll have to take a look.

Anyone have the answers about the tach and switched wire?

 

[GTR1999]

On my setup -75 HEI- the tach wire is brown which went to the filter on the intake manifold. Using the MSD the filter is eliminated and the brown wire is connected to the tach terminal on the 6A box. The red wire is connected to the red/pink wire on that went to the distributor. It should be explained better in the instruction sheet or online at MSD.The 75 had a 4 pin module originally in it.

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Coupeman I did as you indicated and hooked the red wire straight to the switched pink wire and did not hook them up to the coil/distributor. I grounded the black ground off the coil/distributor to the support bar for the a/c which already had the a/c ground (if it was good enough for the General, it was good enough for me). The big always hot red wire from the MSD box went to the heavy gauge wire on the starter and the heavy black ground wire went to the ground right behind the fuel pump.

Went to start the car and (drum roll) the battery was low and only got a clicking out of the selonoid. Will charge it overnight and give her a whirl tomorrow.

Tune in tomorrow.