MSD pickups

[Stangman]

Not sure if if it was here somebody was talking about it but the MSD pickups that are always bad are they a Ford pickup that you can get from the part store.

[GerryP]

I have read many times in other places that the Duraspark pickup is the same as the MSD pickup.  They certainly look the same and it would make sense that MSD would use the Duraspark pickup since they know it would be durable.  Some folks have said the MSD pickup is some higher performance in some electrical way, but it's just a pickup waiting for something to disrupt its magnetic field, which is picked up by the box to collapse the coil's field.  It's easy to see how the magnetic pickup works if you have an oscilloscope.  I can hold the distributor and turn it by had and see the signal it generates.

[thatdarncat]

My limited experience is the MSD pickup, although it looks very similar to the Duraspark pickup, it is physically not exactly the same - specifically the two mounting holes are slightly larger on the MSD pickup. We had an issue at the racetrack a few years ago with my friend’s SBF Mustang drag car. The MSD pickup failed, and he didn’t have his spare distributor along. We couldn’t find another MSD pickup at the track, but someone had a spare Duraspark pickup. We tried to install that, but as I mentioned we found the mounting holes too small a diameter for the MSD mounting screws. My friend attempted to drill the holes larger, and the magnet cracked. I’m not saying someone couldn’t make the modification under some better shop conditions, or with possibly a better method to enlarge the holes, but it’s something to be aware of. I’ve been trying to see if I have a spare Duraspark pickup here to compare & take pictures for this post, but haven’t had a chance yet, if I find one I’ll add to the post. I have no information on if there is anything different between the two in the electrical design or specs. As most are aware there is a difference in the wiring harness, in that the MSD has just 2 wires, and the Duraspark has an additional ground wire & different plug.

[pbf777]

      At first, and up to a decade or so ago MSD did use the Ford Motorcraft product, and developed a good name for themselves as having a reliable product; but then Ford went up on the price; this probably due to production numbers dropping and causing the cost per unit to rise; and MSD (as so many others have done ) found something else!  But unfortunately this substitute suffered from poor quality (yep, typical "off-shore shyt!  ) and developed a terrible reputation of "it didn't even work the first time just out of the box"!   

      They have shuffled a few different products threw since and I don't know what being installed in the distributors these days?   

      Scott.

[Falcon67]

I use MSD pickups in some of my retro distributor setups.  They fit same where a Duraspark fits.  In my testing, the MSD units put out a stronger signal than the off-shelf Ford replacements. 

Stock dizzy hack for my 302 with a tunnel ram:




Note - since converted to crank trigger on everything.

[GerryP]

...In my testing, the MSD units put out a stronger signal than the off-shelf Ford replacements. 

...

What is the consequence of that stronger signal?

[Stangman]

Does anyone know the gap or is it bolt it down and go. That’s what I did last time. It don’t seem to move much.

[GerryP]

Air gap is .015-.025".  You can miss a little on that but keep in mind that the wider your gap, the weaker the signal is to the module.  If it's too wide, you can set yourself up for hard starting as the signal is weakest when cranking due to the slow speed of the reluctor in the field.  You can see this happening and measure the signal strength if you have an oscilloscope.  Once the engine is running, the gap becomes less of an issue but you have to get the car started first.  If the car runs fine, then leave well enough alone.

Edit:  Corrected the gap spec.

[Stangman]

Thanks Gerry

[Falcon67]

...In my testing, the MSD units put out a stronger signal than the off-shelf Ford replacements. 

...

What is the consequence of that stronger signal?

For the aftermarket ignitions I've used, it's a more reliable signal to the ignition interface.  One of these days I should fire up the old oscilloscope and get a reading LOL.