Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

Would there be any HP and TQ benifits from going to the MSD 8 over the MSD 7al-2 box? Its on a 522 big duke motor on race fuel. 15 -1 CR. More info needed just say so.

The '8 is certainly an arc welder, but pretty basic. As I recall, a single rev limiter is all you get, although a two step module is available. To the best of my knowledge, there is no way to add in any MSD digital stuff.

Danny

I believe if you can't fire a plug with the 7 AL you won't fire it ever even with a bic!

HP! don't know.

Unless its an alcohol engine i couldnt see the MSD 8 helping much...

They are coming out with a MSD 8 plus soon, that will have more built in features than the old 8. For gas, you might be better off with a 7 digital box, has more spark the 7al, and built in features to limit spin off the line. The 8 can draw up to 36 amps, doubt you'll need quite that much spark!

Obsessed

We did some work last season with several customers doing an A-B compare of just what your asking about. They wanted a plug & play swap and did not want to go the Digital 7 route. First off the benefits dropped away on any motor under 12 to1. As mentioned above the current draw of the MSD 8 is much higher so the battery / charging system has to be stout for full kill !!! You have to plan on rejetting and resetting timing to adapt your program to the boxes output. Performance found was two fold, First: the engine would rev up quicker just as if you swapped to a lighter flywheel. Second: we were able to gain 10 to 15% improvement on the dyno once the jetting was right. These improvements were confirmed on the track by two drag cars, two circle track cars and one tractor puller. As mentioned above MSD has MSD 8 Plus coming out this season, it has the same toys as the 7AL2 Plus for Drag racing. I hope this helps you with your quest! Have a good one......

ep33510

ep33510 wrote:Obsessed

We did some work last season with several customers doing an A-B compare of just what your asking about. They wanted a plug & play swap and did not want to go the Digital 7 route. First off the benefits dropped away on any motor under 12 to1. As mentioned above the current draw of the MSD 8 is much higher so the battery / charging system has to be stout for full kill !!! You have to plan on rejetting and resetting timing to adapt your program to the boxes output. Performance found was two fold, First: the engine would rev up quicker just as if you swapped to a lighter flywheel. Second: we were able to gain 10 to 15% improvement on the dyno once the jetting was right. These improvements were confirmed on the track by two drag cars, two circle track cars and one tractor puller. As mentioned above MSD has MSD 8 Plus coming out this season, it has the same toys as the 7AL2 Plus for Drag racing. I hope this helps you with your quest! Have a good one......

ep33510

Thanx, My engine is at 15-1, also I dont need all the bells and whistles of the digatal or programmable stuff. As far as my charging sys I have 2 1000amp batteries hooked together along with a 100amp alt. Might be worth trying

OBSESSED,


If you have the money for the move to a MSD 8 I would consider it an option. With the spec's you mentioned about the battery & charging system, it is right on the mark for stout!!! Like I mentioned on my last post, if you do want to go this direction try and score the new MSD 7805 which is the MSD 8 Plus. The coil should be a MSD 8261 to get everything out of the box. My tractor puller customer moved from a Mag setup to the MSD 8 and had fun last season messin with the Big Kids Day!!! Catch ya Later!!

What kind and size of engine was that you found these gains on ?

How would 1 16V battery hold up to the MSD8.

If I remember correctly the MSD 8 is a short duration box only and must use a pro-power coil, the battery shouldn't be a problem. The 7 box can go for a long duration and can use either the pro-power(short duration) or the blaster coil

Hi can u send a 7al to get upgraded to an msd 8? Thx

Hi can u send a 7al to get hopped up t a msd 8? Thx

Another zombie thread. It's been dead for eleven years.

Yes, another zombie reemerges, but the Similar Topics feature can be very useful in bringing 'filed and forgotten' info to the surface. Granted, asking: "So how did it run?" 12 years after a guy's planned strip test is unproductive, but much of such thread content is of ongoing value to members old and new.
After double-digit years as a Speed Talker I still find numerous relevant posts there that I missed first time by...