• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

MSD 6AL location?

Moparlike

Moparlike

Active Member
Local time
1:13 AM
Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Messages
30
Reaction score
8
Location
Baldwinsville NY
1E21AC2C-F40D-47A4-8C3B-C0892F405403.jpeg
Hey.
The previous owner of my 69 Road Runner 440-6 mounted the MSD behind the rear seat. The battery location is in the trunk.
It seems too far back.... should I move the 6AL forward, and what is the ideal location?
Stay safe!
Thanks!!!
 
Yikes. interested to see how the coil wire was routed. I know the big thing is the box gets hot and needs ventilation.
I always mount mine on the passenger side inner fender well. And mount my coil near by. Just has a clean look with minimal wires.
 
I mounted mine inside my car, high on the right side kick panel. Stays cool, dry and it's easy to change the rev limit. Don't even notice it's there.
 
Yea. most of us would mount it inside the car on the right side somewhere. Mine is mounted on the firewall just below the glove box. Out of sight but easy to get to.
 
I've got two msd 6al's, and an ancient mallory box that still works great. All three are mounted high on the toeboard on the passenger side, inside the pass compartment. For exactly the reasons Colorado Dave and Ruffcut mentioned.
 
With that placement, I'd be worried about the voltage drop on the trigger wires and coil power wires. I'm happy with my setup on inside of the firewall.
 
Mine is hidden under the battery tray in the engine compartment. Very close to all the connections to be made, stays cool, accessible and fits very well there. Best of all? No one notices.
 
I just got a digital MSD6AL unit and I am mounting it here under the hood. What I am doing is running a ground and pos battery cable from my trunk mounted battery to these two stud post I mounted on my firewall. That way I can pick up my hot and ground for the MSD right under the hood. And I will also use the hot to feed the car and ground the ground stud to the block and body. Ron

414415667.jpg



414415666.jpg
 
I see no reason it wouldn't work. The most important factors are A; good power feed and ground to the box. B; good shielded wiring to the distributor/crank trigger and the coil. C cool location. Whats not to like? I've mounted them under the front battery tray, glove box area. Never had an issue in those locations either. At a bare minimum the harness to the coil and trigger device should be twisted. I personally like wire with shielding grounded to the box itself (one end only). You'll seethe top harness has a 3rd wire going down the right side of the box to the ground nut at the lower front corner. This is the shield for thecrank trigger harness. It acts as a antenna. any stray signal goes right to ground.
Doug

E17.JPG

E18.jpg
 
Last edited:
I have mine hidden inside, behind the radio delete plate. Gets convection cooling up through the empty speaker grille.
 
383man said:
I just got a digital MSD6AL unit and I am mounting it here under the hood. What I am doing is running a ground and pos battery cable from my trunk mounted battery to these two stud post I mounted on my firewall. That way I can pick up my hot and ground for the MSD right under the hood. And I will also use the hot to feed the car and ground the ground stud to the block and body. Ron

View attachment 938917


View attachment 938916
Click to expand...

No hinges are a plus, Ron...lol.
 
I put mine where the battery used to be. Easy to get at all the dials and it's up out of the high heat areas. It also stays dry when I get caught in the rain.

Engine_MSD_Location.jpg
 
Mine is exactly opposite of where Brewzers’ is (passenger side). I have read from MSD that they recommend “somewhere the box will get airflow; NOT in the glove box because they get no airflow there for cooling”. It’s the only place they mention specifically, so I’m guessing they’ve seen multiple failures with them there (??).
 
LemonWedge said:
Mine is exactly opposite of where Brewzers’ is (passenger side). I have read from MSD that they recommend “somewhere the box will get airflow; NOT in the glove box because they get no airflow there for cooling”. It’s the only place they mention specifically, so I’m guessing they’ve seen multiple failures with them there (??).
Click to expand...

If it's mounted in the passenger compartment it's not exposed the higher heat of the engine compartment. I believe that engine compartment heat is what MSD is concerned about.
 
Not an MSD but my FBO box is mounted on the inside on the firewall. It's up far enough it's outta sight but I don't have a heater box..
What I did do though, is used some standoffs to space it away from the firewall. I also cut a piece of thick industrial piping gasket material (Gylon) the same size as the box and put that under the standoffs, right against the firewall because even the inside surface gets a little hot to the touch after driving. The cooler the better...
 
66Satellite47 said:
With that placement, I'd be worried about the voltage drop on the trigger wires and coil power wires. I'm happy with my setup on inside of the firewall.
Click to expand...
Think about voltage drop when the battery is in the trunk? Same distance.
Doug
 
I have always mounted them under the battery tray in the engine compartment. My current set up, MSD Grid, RacePak data logger, fuse/relay panel, 4 stage nitrous controller are all mounted under the dash on the knee bar.

20190828_220401.jpg 20190926_222421.jpg 20190926_222358.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

68Satellite440
Wrong 440 MSD? Wired incorrectly?
Replies
15
Views
1K
icetech
icetech
69XMan
Spark plugs with msd 6AL
Replies
14
Views
4K
Geoff 2
G
ThatCoronetKid
  • Locked
FOR SALE 1966 Dodge Coronet 500
Replies
0
Views
1K
ThatCoronetKid
ThatCoronetKid
W
Any Dirt Track Mopars?
Replies
10
Views
1K
Curiousyellow71
Curiousyellow71
A
MSD cap/rotor uneven wear
Replies
9
Views
1K
RJRENTON
RJRENTON
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top