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Coil and Ignition Box Location |
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WesternRed 
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Joined: Aug/03/2010 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 5808 |
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 Topic: Coil and Ignition Box LocationPosted: May/13/2021 at 6:05am |
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So I've just bought the fancy Sniper coil and CDI box to upgrade my system, looking for thoughts on where best to mount these bits.
Coil seems to like being on the driver's side inner fender near the spring tower, makes for a nice short HT lead.  CDI box could go nearby either on the flat as above or n the side as below:  Same sort of options on the passenger side where most of the other engine related wiring lives at the moment:  Radiator support:  On the firewall is also a possibility, especially since the heater fan motor has been deleted:  Could also put it inside the cabin, but might need longer wiring for that. Any thoughts, pros or cons for different locations? It's a race car, so functionality is the primary concern, but also helps if it looks tidy.
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I've finally given up drinking for good...........now I only drink for evil.
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Trader
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Posted: May/13/2021 at 6:22am |
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Inside the cabin, agree it seems to long of wire.
Firewall is bad as if your hood seal leaks or you open the hood in the rain, it will get wet. I like to mount the boxes high, just behind the passenger side inner well. Reasons are - they will not get damaged or "sprayed" from anything coming off the belt, it's a large cooling area well away from exhaust heat, Little chance of water infiltration, easiest place to work on everything else. I'm sure others have their own ideas.
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Mopar_guy
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Posted: May/13/2021 at 8:16am |
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The best place to mount a cdi or MSD box is on the front of the radiator support beside the radiator. Heat kills them much quicker so anywhere behind the radiator support shortens their life. One of the worse places is the firewall. That's straight from MSD about 20 years ago and it still hold true. I've not had an MSD box fail yet that was mounted out front. Most of them are water resistant enough to be placed out there.
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troutwilly
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Joined: Sep/14/2007 Location: Carriere, MS Status: Offline Points: 994 |
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Posted: May/13/2021 at 11:49pm |
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Here's what I'm doing. Just now adding the MSD. The coil has been there for eons, no issues, but changing it to a Sniper coil.  |
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Bill O.
70 AMX |
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Steve Obertanec
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Joined: Nov/26/2012 Location: Lodi Ohio Status: Offline Points: 246 |
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Posted: May/14/2021 at 7:03am |
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The coil should be mounted as close to the distributor as practical. The shorter the coil wire the better.
The igniition box should be mounted inside the car away from engine compartment heat & elements. Most are tucked up under the dash on the passenger side. |
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Steve Obertanec
www.stevandracing.com |
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Trader
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Posted: May/14/2021 at 8:03am |
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I agree with the short coil wire. The factory location of the coil is just fine.
An ignition box dissipates heat through the case. It should be mounted were air can circulate and on bare metal. Under hood temperatures may get up to 225 F in stalled traffic. The ignition boxes are designed to work in these temperatures with proper heat sink and not mounted near any 1000 to 1200 F exhaust pipes. If your ignition box is hot to the touch, the likely cause is the coil insulation breaking down. This is the cause of most aftermarket ignition box failures. Those HEI distributors are integral coils and ignition box all in one unit operating under the hood. The base is the heat sink for the electronics, basically your engine block temperature. If running any ignition box and it is too hot to touch - replace the coil or your ignition box will fail in short order. My MSD box never gets hotter then the alternator - that's my gauge.
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WesternRed
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Posted: May/14/2021 at 8:43am |
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The factory coil location probably only works with the old school canister style coils, not much chop with these modern square things.
Holley suggests the CDI box can be located in any option except for the wires existing upwards because moisture can collect in the plug socket. Firewall is out by the sounds of it, so I can scratch that off the list. I have been thinking of having a catch can made up to go in the battery location on the passenger side, mainly because I can make it fairly large and attach it from underneath like the battery tray. Some of our motorsport events require a 3 Liter (3 Quart) capacity catch can.
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I've finally given up drinking for good...........now I only drink for evil.
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Mopar_guy
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Posted: May/14/2021 at 9:11am |
For a race car that's fine but not a good ide on a street car unless you can have constant air flow across it.
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Steve Obertanec
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Posted: May/14/2021 at 9:31am |
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If that's the case then the roof in nice weather might be the best option. A little overcast so the sun doesnt hurt it.
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Steve Obertanec
www.stevandracing.com |
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Red Devil
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Posted: May/14/2021 at 11:29am |
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Stock AMC/Motorcraft box was mounted basically like troutwilly has his MSD box, except opposite side. I put it in the stock location when I fit the Motorcraft box & distributor to my Hornet and Javelin to change to electronic from points - if it was good enough for the factory, good enough for me. Also, best for connectors to point down not up. Gravity is your friend to keep moisture out, not so friendly when pointed up.
Later fit an early Crane Hi-6 box to my Javelin and put it in the passenger's footwell as that's what they recommended at the time as the box was not fully potted. Fine except when the heater core cracked it leaked onto it, but was a small leak so didn't get inside. Added a deflector shield later. Have a chassis brace running side-to-side across the fenders and bolted to the stock rad support braces. Mounted my coil to it - similar to Penske Javelin.  Hope this helps, RD.
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Steve Obertanec wrote: