Gosh darn. It's always something

jerry S · Oct 18, 2004

So I am installing my MSD pro-billet distributor and 6AL ignition today. I unbolt my Global West shock tower support bar to drop in the distributor and guess what, even though I ordered the bent one, it still doesn't clear the distrib. Bang. $130 down the drain. My new and expensive 14 inch chrome air cleaner doesn't clear the distrib either. Then there is the $40 puller I bought so I could get the steel distrib. gear off and replace it with the bronze one. I will never use that thing again. What else. Oh yeah, when I was putting my new igntion kit together at Jegs, the guy sold me the wrong wires, you know, the kind that just won't fit the distrib he just sold you but which you spent $50 in transatlantic shipping and customs duty on anyway? So I got that going for me too. Sigh. Will there ever be a rainbow?

MustangMatt1966 · Oct 18, 2004

dont stress man, it all will turn out alright in the long run

mfp4073 · Oct 18, 2004

I have a probillit msd distributor (drop in version) and it clears my hipo aircleaner fine. Post a pic and maybe we can come up with something.

6Stang7 · Oct 18, 2004

Gosh darn?

68poop-coop · Oct 18, 2004

just be happy that you have some money to spend, I cant even afford to buy some gas for my car. even if you bought a few extra parts you can probably sell them to some one on ebay who will have the same problem after you send them to him.

68poop-coop · Oct 18, 2004

just be happy that you have some money to spend, I cant even afford to buy some gas for my car. even if you bought a few extra parts you can probably sell them to some one on ebay who will have the same problem after you send them to him.

gp001 · Oct 18, 2004

jerry S said:
My new and expensive 14 inch chrome air cleaner doesn't clear the distrib either.

Trick/tip - get an offset base and slightly rotate the air cleaner for clearance. You can use the same top and filter element.

jerry S said:
Then there is the $40 puller I bought so I could get the steel distrib. gear off and replace it with the bronze one. I will never use that thing again.

Well, I would recommend replacing that bronze gear with a steel gear (assuming you are running a hyd roller). And I really hope you measured absolutely correctly for the gear placement.

jerry S · Oct 19, 2004

68poop-coop said:
just be happy that you have some money to spend, I cant even afford to buy some gas for my car. even if you bought a few extra parts you can probably sell them to some one on ebay who will have the same problem after you send them to him.

Yes I have the money to spend, but at what cost? I had to rent my puppy out for spanking to pay for the ignition. There are all kinds of people who like to spank puppies but don't want to bother with all the work a puppy entails. So I get $4.00 an hour for her and she can only take about 4 hours a day of hard spanking. And that is after I sent her to spanking camp over the summer to get her ready. Don't think that spanking camp is cheap either. It looks like she goes back up on eBay 'cause I am going to need more money for the new monte carlo bar and air cleaner.

jerry S · Oct 19, 2004

gp001 said:
Trick/tip - get an offset base and slightly rotate the air cleaner for clearance. You can use the same top and filter element.

Well, I would recommend replacing that bronze gear with a steel gear (assuming you are running a hyd roller). And I really hope you measured absolutely correctly for the gear placement.

I took a steel gear off to replace it with a bronze one based on the suggestions of people appreciably more knowlegable than I. I have a hydraulic roller cam and was told to go with a bronze gear. As for the installation, I was supervised by a guy who builds 351W strokers for cobra replicas. He has dropped many an MSD distrib in place and I trust that he was on the ball on my job.

I am looking into an offset base right now.

mfp4073 · Oct 19, 2004

jerry S said:
Yes I have the money to spend, but at what cost? I had to rent my puppy out for spanking to pay for the ignition. There are all kinds of people who like to spank puppies but don't want to bother with all the work a puppy entails. So I get $4.00 an hour for her and she can only take about 4 hours a day of hard spanking. And that is after I sent her to spanking camp over the summer to get her ready. Don't think that spanking camp is cheap either. It looks like she goes back up on eBay 'cause I am going to need more money for the new monte carlo bar and air cleaner.

puppies?

gp001 · Oct 19, 2004

jerry S said:
I took a steel gear off to replace it with a bronze one based on the suggestions of people appreciably more knowlegable than I. I have a hydraulic roller cam and was told to go with a bronze gear. As for the installation, I was supervised by a guy who builds 351W strokers for cobra replicas. He has dropped many an MSD distrib in place and I trust that he was on the ball on my job.

I am looking into an offset base right now.

I too fell for the bronze gear recomendation. With about 750 miles on the motor (all easy miles) the gear went. My buddy was behind me and we were cruising down the freeway. All of the sudden BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!! Loudest boom I've ever heard. My buddy said it looked like a battleship firing it's guns. A big black cloud of smoke out of each exhaust pipe. I contacted Coast High Performance and some other reputable builders and they all said go with the steel. Bronze is more for a race car that makes a few passes every now and then, but if you are going to put any mileage on it go with steel.
When you installed the gear did you measure and redrill, or just put it in the same place the old gear was? If you didn't measure and re-drill chances are you are off because there is only 0.009" margin of error
http://www.msdignition.com/pdf/gear_install_ford.pdf

jerry S · Oct 19, 2004

gp001 said:
I too fell for the bronze gear recomendation. With about 750 miles on the motor (all easy miles) the gear went.
When you installed the gear did you measure and redrill, or just put it in the same place the old gear was? If you didn't measure and re-drill chances are you are off because there is only 0.009" margin of error
http://www.msdignition.com/pdf/gear_install_ford.pdf

Darn. I was told to get a bronze gear in part because it would last longer than a steel one on a hydraulic roller cam. As for the swap, the old gear was pinned to the shaft. I recall that we simply slipped the new gear in place and put the pin through the holes. We did not measure (gulp). In using an MSD gear, shouldn't the tolerances be within spec?

gp001 · Oct 19, 2004

jerry S said:
Darn. I was told to get a bronze gear in part because it would last longer than a steel one on a hydraulic roller cam. As for the swap, the old gear was pinned to the shaft. I recall that we simply slipped the new gear in place and put the pin through the holes. We did not measure (gulp). In using an MSD gear, shouldn't the tolerances be within spec?

The bronze is much softer and will wear/or disintigrate much quicker.

I would pull the distrib and meansure as per the link I posted in my last post (especially with a bronze gear). I originally bought an MSD distrib with cast gear, I bought an MSD bronze to put on it and had to redrill to get within spec. I then bought an MSD steel gear and had to again re-drill to get within spec.

jerry S · Oct 19, 2004

gp001 said:
The bronze is much softer and will wear/or disintigrate much quicker.

I would pull the distrib and meansure as per the link I posted in my last post (especially with a bronze gear). I originally bought an MSD distrib with cast gear, I bought an MSD bronze to put on it and had to redrill to get within spec. I then bought an MSD steel gear and had to again re-drill to get within spec.

The guy who supervised me builds ford stroker engines cobras and I voiced my concern to him. He said that he compared the position of the cast gear to the bronze gear on the shaft and they were exactly the same. As for the bronze gear, they are good for up to 5,000 miles. I will pull it after 4,000 and replace with a steel gear. BTW, which steel gear did you use? As far as I can tell, the only one for a 351w is a ford racing.

gp001 · Oct 19, 2004

jerry S said:
The guy who supervised me builds ford stroker engines cobras and I voiced my concern to him. He said that he compared the position of the cast gear to the bronze gear on the shaft and they were exactly the same. As for the bronze gear, they are good for up to 5,000 miles. I will pull it after 4,000 and replace with a steel gear. BTW, which steel gear did you use? As far as I can tell, the only one for a 351w is a ford racing.

Well, I sure hope your bronze gear lasts longer than mine (or the stories I've heard). Especially if its placement was eyeballed. If I were you I would pull the distributor and take the measurement just for peace of mind.
MSD lists a steel gear for the 351w as part# 85834

Good Luck

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