- Jul 11, 2015
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Hey everyone.. Wanted to see what thoughts everyone had on the above dizzys for our 302. I know msd is good but someone had mentioned hei and wanted to see if anyone is running this?
Hei Or Msd
- Thread starter 84foxyconv
- Start date
- Jul 11, 2015
- 9
- 0
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OK. Well the previous owner had replaced and msd dizzy with a hei but he gave me the msd too when I bought the car. Idk why as I know hei are mainly for Chevy. But I will be swap them out. Thanks Lscam
mikestang63
SN Certified Technician
I wouldnt put an MSD distributor in my car if you paid me. Stick with the stock Ford distributor.
- Jul 11, 2015
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Well I bought the car with an hei distributor already installed, but the previous owner gave me the previously installed msd one too. So are you saying my best path would be to get rid of both and just install a Motorcraft one?
The only thing less reliable than a MSD ignition is a Politician...
- Jul 11, 2015
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mikestang63
SN Certified Technician
We have missed a very important question or two? How hacked up or nicely modified is the wiring? The other question is how fast are you spinning the motor? If the stock Ford wires are gone or are a mess, the HEI is super simple to wire. And heresy of heresies, I believe HEI is as reliable as anything Ford made, and will support naturally aspirated motors until at least 6500 RPM.
The only reliability issues I have had on my cars that use HEI (including family members when I was too young to drive) was a bad bunch of Wells brand modules at Autoworks (just like Ford modules - use OEM) and I pinched a coil lead wire putting the coil on a new cap (oops!). I call that pretty minimal trouble.
So if the wiring is hacked up, use the HEI. If you are going to spin it to the moon at the track, consider MSD. Otherwise, use Ford's system.
Opinion on appearance here. The Ford cap has to be about the same diameter, and having the coil and wiring off the side of the engine compartment seems like a good thing to me. Get a coil with a nice cap or top (Accel style comes to mind) and it looks better than a stock Ford one to me.
The only reliability issues I have had on my cars that use HEI (including family members when I was too young to drive) was a bad bunch of Wells brand modules at Autoworks (just like Ford modules - use OEM) and I pinched a coil lead wire putting the coil on a new cap (oops!). I call that pretty minimal trouble.
So if the wiring is hacked up, use the HEI. If you are going to spin it to the moon at the track, consider MSD. Otherwise, use Ford's system.
Opinion on appearance here. The Ford cap has to be about the same diameter, and having the coil and wiring off the side of the engine compartment seems like a good thing to me. Get a coil with a nice cap or top (Accel style comes to mind) and it looks better than a stock Ford one to me.
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