Which aftermarket ignition to use?

[AxtellZ]

Hi all-

Just looking for opinions/experiences with the various aftermarket electronic ignitions available..

Crane, MSD- Anyone have an opinion as to which version/model is preferable for a stock 240/260?

I have a late 260 with the stock electronic ignition, as well as a 73 auto that has a dual point distributor (which i understand complicates the matter)

Howsabout keeping the tach functional? I assume i would opt for the $109 unit from Motorsport, but would appreciate any advise- Thanks!!

Jeremiah

[hmsports]

I have an MSD-6AL in my race car with an old Allison optical trigger. It works very well.

My 71 street car has a Crane Fireball system that I purchased from MSA. It was easy to install but I haven't put in the electic fuel pump so I dont' know how it will perform.

[skip260z]

After I picked up my early 74 260Z several years ago, I soon discovered that one of the POs had - among his/their many other hacks - removed the neo-HEI that was introduced with the 74 model year.

He replaced the stock mag-p/up dizzy with an obscure single-pt dizzy. My car is an A/T, when Datsun used pt-dizzies on A/Ts, they used dual-pt dizzies, so he even used the wrong type of dizzy in his swap!

Anyway, I have been plagued ever since with an awful lopey-idle.

Repeated tunings, carb cleanings/refreshes, points, condensers, rotors, caps, new/different plugs, wires, valve adjusts, etc., - the work being done by a "good" Z mechanic - still could not smooth out the lopey idle.

The cam appears to be stock (its an A/T, why would the PO swap the cam???) so my only conclusion is that the dizzy is long gone.

I asked the mechanic to swap in a ZX dizzy, but he basically refused!! So, after much research, I added the MSD6 myself, which is reputed to be tremendous based on the boards and readings.

Well, it wasn't.

The idle is still crap no matter what you do with the carbs and the timing, etc. (And, I had to pick up the reasonably priced MSD Tach Adapter to restore the use of the tach. Either that or do another hack to the tach.)

I have since just picked up a 74 260Z mag-p/up dizzy in good shape at a GREAT price, and will try that next - with the MSD. We'll see if I still need the tach adapter after that.

Anyway, all that said, since buying my MSD and discovering that it wasn't the great cure-all that I was expecting, I have been reading a ton where a good 280ZX dizzy with the orig brain-box or the GM "brain box" would have been the better way to go. Or at least would have delivered the desired results.

I realize that this doesn't answer your question exactly, but maybe if you know another Z person nearby who has an MSD, ask if you can swap it into your system - they are a piece of cake to install - and connect to your dizzy for an hour or two.

Try before you buy if at all possible, as they aren't exactly cheap and they may not deliver what you expect to get for the money.

Just my anecdote!