The Rush a power adder can add to your internal combustion engine can be a fulfilling and fun experience. The surge of supercharged horsepower or the instant torque of a nitrous hit is sure to put a smile on any gearhead's face, so long as the sound of said power isn't accompanied by detonation or misfiring. To make sure that doesn't happen with our little black, nitrous-sniffing notchback, we called MSD to upgrade our stock ignition system with high-performance components that are sure to light the fire when the cylinder pressures are rising.
One of the great things about the 5.0 aftermarket are the numerous products that are simple, bolt-in pieces to make things work better. MSD's ignition components are just that, and they make beefing up your ignition system a relatively easy task.
In anticipation of an increased amount of nitrous oxide (we're going for the 150hp jets versus the 100hp ones we used last month), we called MSD and ordered a Digital-6 Plus ignition control, a set of Super Conductor spark plug wires, a Blaster TFI coil, and a TFI adaptor harness.
The Digital-6 Plus control unit ensures better combustion, quicker throttle response, and a smoother idle through a hotter and longer series of sparks. We liked its built-in features that would help us optimize our combination both on and off the bottle. The Digital-6 Plus features a two-step rev control, an adjustable start retard, and a single-stage retard. The single-stage retard will allow us to run increased initial timing while off the bottle, and once the nitrous system is armed, the 12-volt signal triggers the timing retard, so both operating modes are truly optimized.
Our path to a sparkling performance...
Our path to a sparkling performance was paved with MSD's Digital-6 Plus ignition control (PN 6520), Blaster TFI coil (PN 8227), TFI adaptor harness (PN 8874), and Super Conductor spark-plug wires (PN 31329). Make sure you order MSD's cap and rotor setup if you're going through the trouble of upgrading your ignition system. It's PN 8482.
Installation is fairly easy, and MSD includes excellent directions, with diagrams on how to connect it to a variety of ignition components. Since the control unit needs to be mounted in a dry place, we passed over the engine compartment and mounted the control unit in the trunk. The fact that our subject vehicle is a Fox-body coupe made the decision easy. MSD recommends stepping up one gauge in the wiring, which we did, and with using its adaptor harness, we didn't have to splice into any of the factory wiring, so we could take the unit out quite easily if we needed to.
The MSD spark-plug wires, coil, and cap and rotor were simple remove-and-replace procedures. After 80,000 miles of service, the stock ignition components had served their purpose. Last month, we installed a new Ford Racing Performance Parts Cobra intake manifold and shorty headers on the car, and upon startup, the owner had seen a slight blue flash near the header.
Our Mustang technician, George Xenos, sprayed the spark-plug wires with a mist of water, and we realized the spark was coming out of the No. 7 boot and arcing to the cylinder head. There was no visible damage to the wire or boot, but there was evidently a breach of the insulation, which was allowing the spark to divert from the combustion chamber. Not good, especially considering we're throwing nitrous at the engine and need every flicker of spark we can get.
The new Super Conductor wires solved that problem, and with the Blaster TFI coil and Digital-6 Plus upping the power output, we shouldn't have any issues with lighting the fire, so it's off to the track.
Last month, we headed to Bradenton Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Florida, for the local test-and-tune night and proceeded to drop elapsed times at the wheel of our little '92 coupe. Equipped with an AOD transmission, the Fox-body was less than stellar out of the box, even with a 3.55:1 ring-and-pinion gear change, FRPP underdrive pulleys, and Flowmaster mufflers. That led us to the installation of a Cobra intake manifold, DynoMax shorty headers, and an x midpipe. After those mods, naturally aspirated times dropped from 15.12 to 14.55 at 97 mph (thanks in part to some cooler air), and with the Nitrous Express fogger chilling the chambers, the coupe charged to a 13.06 at 111 mph.
We wanted to keep the Digital-6...
We wanted to keep the Digital-6 box high and dry, so we opted to mount the unit in the trunk. If you need to extend the wiring as we did, MSD says you'll have to step up a gauge in wire, from 12 to 10 gauge for the power leads, and 16 gauge for the other wires.
Because we wanted to mount...
Because we wanted to mount the ignition box in the trunk, we ran the appropriate number of wires from the trunk to the ignition coil on the driver-side inner fender apron. We actually left a bit of slack in the wiring so we could remove the interior panel without removing the ignition box.
Installing the Digital-6 in...
Installing the Digital-6 in the trunk necessitated a trip to the local Advanced Auto Parts for a few items. Half-inch wire loom, heat shrinkwrap, and some new pushpins for the rear interior panels had things looking spiffy. We already had the needed wire on hand from another project, but since we forgot to ask for a distributor cap and rotor when we called MSD to order our components, we picked one up at the store.
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.