After routing the wires behind...
After routing the wires behind the back seat, we tucked them behind the rear side panel, then brought them up the inside of the rocker panel, into the engine compartment, and finally terminating at the coil. The pink wire in the bundle stops on the way to the engine compartment right behind the glovebox to pick up the 12-volt signal from the nitrous system. Once the nitrous is turned on, the 12-volt signal triggers the timing retard in the Digital-6.
That was with the 100hp jets in the Shark nozzle. This month, we looked to use the 150hp jets and possibly improve our N/A time since we were now able to run 14 degrees of initial timing versus the 10 we had before the MSD. The Digital-6 Plus was set to retard the timing 4 degrees when the nitrous was armed. On Ford muscle alone, though, we managed a 14.67 at 96.59 mph. This was obviously slower than the last time we were out, but the ambient temperature was also quite a bit warmer. Seeing that performance had dropped off, we thought we should go back to the 100hp jets first, and then run the 150 shot for a better comparison. With the 100hp jets, the coupe cruised to a 13.21 at 108.99 mph.
Switching over to the big 150hp squirters, our first effort stopped the clocks in 13.06 seconds at 112.48 mph. Massive tire spin slid the back of the car sideways when the nitrous came in. The track surface was fading, but with the nitrous hitting about 80 feet out, the car was well planted when the nitrous engaged. We're guessing the relatively small 245 series drag radials we used just weren't up to the task. Despite the wheelspin, we picked up 0.2 second over the 100 shot, but that's not indicative of what the 150hp setup is capable of.
On our next attempt, we heated the tires a bit more. They spun, but not as much, and our second attempt logged a 13.04 at 111.84 mph. Unfortunately, we couldn't dip into the 12s, as our subsequent passes-13.14, 13.10 and 13.12-all blazed the tires at the nitrous hit.
On another recent trip to the track, we encountered a serious threat that we need to address in short order. We watched a black Nissan Titan run a 14.91, while its opponent in the opposite lane, a brand-new Tundra crew cab, ran 14.59. With our little ponycar barely running a headlight ahead of those two, we're definitely going to have to pick up the Ford muscle and hustle a little bit.
Next month, we'll install some low-buck bolt-ons, but we definitely have to do some-thing about the traction issue. We need it to stick whether the track is good or not, so we may look into a wider tire/rim combo and possibly some control arms. Stay tuned.
You'll need to solder all...
You'll need to solder all connections, as per the instructions. Just be sure to slide on a length of heat shrinkwrap prior to that to cover the bare connection. The end result is a professional-looking installation.
MSD emphasizes the need for...
MSD emphasizes the need for a good chassis ground. To make sure we had the negative side of the equation optimized, we sanded down the factory body coating before affixing the terminal to the chassis.
The stock coil found its way...
The stock coil found its way to the round file after we installed MSD's Blaster TFI coil. The Blaster is a direct bolt-on and uses the factory harness plug.
The bundle of wires was routed...
The bundle of wires was routed along the firewall and brought over to the ignition coil. Here, we connected them to the MSD adaptor harness. The black wire loom makes for a factory-like finished look. Refrain from using colored loom. There's nothing cool about accenting a crooked and meandering wiring harness.
To make things easier for...
To make things easier for the end user, MSD offers this adaptor harness that fits between the Blaster TFI coil and the factory harness. In between, it has the various spade connectors to wire up your MSD 6-series ignition box.
The wires on the adaptor harness...
The wires on the adaptor harness are conveniently color-coded to the wires you have to run from the 6-series ignition box.
The finished installation...
The finished installation looks great. The settings on the Digital-6 are easily accessed, and the unit is in a nice and dry location now. Special thanks to HP Performance's Tony Gonyon, who supplied more nitrous when our bottle ran out.
We set the first dial at 2...
We set the first dial at 2 for the eight-cylinder application, set the step retard at 4 degrees, and zeroed out the two-step function. We set the rev limiter at 6,100, which is right before the factory limiter cuts fuel at 6,250.
We're now ready for the big...
We're now ready for the big hit, at least regarding our little street-car application. No. 62 nitrous and No. 38 fuel jets offer up 150 hp, according to Nitrous Express.