Hi Folks,
I have a 351-W with Duraspark II I want to put in one of my '53 F-100's. I also have an old MSD-5 multispark box that I have had for years. I had it on my boat but I removed it before selling the boat in order to return everything to the stock configuration. I was thinking that I would like to use the MSD with the 351. My question is, has anybody used an MSD box with the Duraspark II system?

Havi and I have kicked this idea around a little bit in PM's and he has suggested that the MSD box might replace the Duraspark box. I don't really know enough about the Duraspark II to know how it works. Havi sent me some links I have to look at so maybe that will tell me something. If I remember correctly the function of the MSD box was to deliver a constant high frequency spark for a duration of 20 degrees of crank rotation after the initial timing point. I think the idea was to aid in burning the fuel more completely by a longer duration spark.

Currently I have no way to expirement with this stuff as the donor the 351 is in is down back in the snow and the fuel system is not delivering fuel to the carb. This spring when I drag it up to the shop to take apart I can fool with it. I am also trained in electronics and I have some nice test equipment. I will at that time be able to throw my O'scope on it and see what the Duraspark is doing and compare it to the MSD.

If anyone has had experience with using these two systems, please chime in here let me know about it.

Later Folks...

 

i got a mallory laying around here dave i've been wondering the same thing about with points < or electronic and cant remember the wiring for either . hopefully someone like our lady savior of the electrical , JULIE , can answer them we'll both know .............

 

I just wired up my 351W with the Duraspark II but in learning how to do it I saved a few sites. Here is one that may be helpful:

Duraspark Upgrade

At the bottom they even show pictures of the MSD install.

 

Thanks guys, I'm collecting all these links andd I will try to get through them all. Any and all help is appreciated.

Later Guys...

 

Yes you most certainly can do the swap.........
Check out this link.


http://webpages.charter.net/1bad6t/duraspark.html

 

I lookled at your link. I believe I have an older model MSD box than the one in that link. Mine is an MSD-5 which is over twenty years old. I believe that it was designed to work with points or an amplified pointless system like the old Mallory. I had this unit on both those systems in the past. I do not think it has the ability to amplify the signal from the magnetic pickup on the Duraspark II. I could be wrong but it's the way I see this. In the link you included there are more wires on the MSD box than mine has. What model was it?

Later Man...

 

My bad the link is for an MSD6a I believe....... however I found another link that says to use the duraspark box to trigger the MSD5........ I guess you must fool the MSD into thinking a set of points is triggering it, this apparently is simulated by the output of the duraspark module............

https://www.msdignition.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6715

 

That was the way I saw it. Of course that was based on the experience I had with it in the past. But hey, it's old and most people wouldn't have expected that to be the case. Heck, you might have been a little kid when I bought that thing. I was a big kid and it was a relatively new thing at the time. Thanks for the link Man.

Later...

 

No problem, glad to help.......... I may have been a little kid if you bought it in the early sixties ;-)

 

Hi Sparky,
OK, I guess not... There are a lot of younger guys on here, so I wasn't sure. At 64 I'm in the Geezer class. I bought the MSD in the late 70's. I first had it on a moderately built up 302 and then it was on a SBC in a boat. It has been on the shelf in my shop since '04. Being as my 351-W will be running a 650 4-bbl and an RV cam I expect it to be a bit rich on the bottom end. The extra spark duration of the multispark MSD seems to be a good idea to help burn that stuff better which should help. The whole deal sounds a bit retro and it is. But then again, I'm a bit retro myself so we ought to get along well together. Now, the big challenge is to get the sucker built before I croak so I can enjoy it a little.

Later Man...