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To all the Sherpa gurus (Chris, where are you Chris? :P)

Just wondering how I'd go about getting a better, stronger, more efficient spark out of the Sherpa for that bit more performance and economy.

I'm a bit of a n00b when it comes to this kind of thing so anything you suggest you'll have to spell out to me, or point me somewhere that I can learn it.

I've heard that having 2 seperate coils in parallel will not work for some reason. Can this be confirmed? Otherwise, the best idea might be to get 2 MSD Blasters or similar?

Or would I be looking at one of those Crane/MSD big fat CDI units?

Budget is better remember! Anything I can score from a wrecker is good!

two methods here.

drive the OEM coil with an MSD6
or
Find a chrysler IGN module then drive the OEM coil

OR

build a crank triggered IGN for it. ( not cheap!)

best option would be to inject it using a 1227808 and a EA falcon TB. then use a CDI on it.

that option would be the best part of a grand or so properly setup. the ECU needs to come from a n13 pulsar as it uses TB injection and has that ECU driving it. you would also need the harness and sensors as well.

tuninig it would be best done by someone who had access to kalmaker.

the MSD will do a better job IGN wise. separate coils won't work as this engine runs on waste spark and unless you fire them at the same time it will not run.

MSD did pose a few issues as well on its own. if you started teh car there was no gaurantee it would stop. shorting the points to ground with a relay fixed this. problem was due to the points arcing on shutdown and the condenser holding charge. I removed the condenser and used the points as a trigger for the MSD. that worked.

what condtion is the car in?

What cars would one find a Chrysler IGN module? Are they hard to find?

One option that was suggested to me was a VN (or similar) Commodore coil pack. They are a dual post item too.

And another I just thought of then, what about an RX7 coilpack. Although they have onboard igniters, I could remove them. Then in theory these could work too yes?

valiants and cars of that generation used them. not sure on the mazda idea.

So would a MSD 6A do the trick if I am unable to find a Chrysler unit? Don't happen to have one spare do ya?

So you say the stock coil will be fine when driven by one of these bigger units?

yes & yes.

Just bought an MSD 6A unit. Will see how it goes! Might change the leads too...

new leads and plugs would be a good idea- if you have any mony left get splitfire V groove.


ring me ( click sig) if you run into dramas.

xaymaca wrote:Just bought an MSD 6A unit. Will see how it goes! Might change the leads too...

Whats a ballpark price for one of these? A quick google says they are pricey new.

I got mine for US$96 off eBay and then postage was a bit more. All up it's going to be $175 landed. It's 'as new'.

I paid less than that new-(146USD) mind you I bought one off summit racing before I came out here from the USA.

if you are contemplating using this on an Injected L series you will need an adaptor. the car will not run without it as the distributor will not trigger the MSD unit.

I meant to put AUS$175. Shipping wasn't THAT much! lol

Would it be worth investing in a new coil? MSD sell motorbike coils Part#8204 I think.

Also, if I keep the same coil, do I keep the ballast resistor in there?

keep the OEM coil. and leave evrything as it was made. take teh trigger wires from the MSD unit and tie them to the coil wires. the tie the output wires of the MSD to teh coil and them the power leads directly to teh battery.

have a relay handy as you may have trouble getting the car to turn off.

Chris_Rogers wrote:If you are contemplating using this on an Injected L series you will need an adaptor. the car will not run without it as the distributor will not trigger the MSD unit.

Chris is the trigger adaptor a MSD part or something else?
I am contemplating getting a MSD 6A in the future.

its an msd part. it will work in a normal EA82 but not the 82T

Chris_Rogers wrote:..if you are contemplating using this on an Injected L series you will need an adaptor. the car will not run without it as the distributor will not trigger the MSD unit.

All that may be required is a 5/10Watt resistor 68-100ohms connected btw the points wire and +V (essentially replacing what was the coil in the ignitor circuit), as the points drive to earth, there is no signal until you do this.

But there is another problem, the electronic dizy(ED) does not behave exactly like a mechanical points type (MP), which is usually what cdi's trigger is designed for. The electronic dizy controls dwell quite well, and the problem is usually when starting.
The MP,when no rotation is capable of sitting with points closed, ie charging the coil. The ED doesn't do this, it will always switch off the coil, this presents a problem for a CDI trigger because it doesn;t get a chance to charge its capacitor for the first few triggers in the startup rotation.
It makes a big difference in how easy it seems to start.

the one that came with teh kit was a big coil. they use the field in the coil to charge the cap. from there it runs fine.

you explained it better than I could

Ok Chris you said keep a relay handy if the car doesn't shut off.

The car with the MSD installed hsa slight run on. In the manual it says to install a 1A/200V diode in the field wire to the alternator.

Is this what you did? What did you mean by relay? Install it where?

when I did it I shorted the coil inputs (-ve side) to ground. that would shut it down imediately.
never did the diode on the alternator. try it that could have been my problem.

what you should notice is that it has more power on hills. mine used to drop off when I went up one with the MSD the drop off wasn't that bad. it meant that I would drop back one gear instead of two.