Installing a MSD 6A in a '72 Volvo 164
Aug. 27th, 2009 02:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
enoch_zembecowiczExcept the '75 model, all Volvo 164s came with points ignition. We all know how much points suck, and why, so it's understandable that the owner of any car equipped with them would want to get rid of them.
A while back I picked up an ignition system from a '75 model year car. I also had an MSD box and coil sitting in the garage from an old project.
I decided it would be advantageous to use the MSD over the factory Bosch ignition module. This is because the factory ignition has a dropping resistor, while the MSD does not. The MSD coil is also "hotter" (although the effect of this is debatable).
I mounted the MSD on the passenger side of the firewall (if you have a LHD car). It's held to the firewall with #8 machine screws, and there are rubber grommets between it and the car. This was by far the most difficult part of the job.
Here's the electronic distributor. It's a drop in replacement for the points model, including the d-jet pickups. If you have a carburetted car these won't do anything.
The green wire has a two pronged male plug that goes into a female plug on the factory wiring harness.
I cut the plug off the wiring harness. Inside the insulation there was a brown wire and a green wire. I spliced the green wire to the green pickup wire on the MSD, and the brown to the purple pickup wire. Then I plugged it into the distributor.
I put the coil in the same spot as the factory coil. It is slightly smaller than the factory coil, so the bracket did not work. I used another bracket I had, which I think came from a Volvo 240 (although it might have been from a VW Rabbit).
The MSD needs to be connected to a 12 volt power supply (probably for a relay of some kind). The #4 fuse showed its self to be a worthy candidate. There is a splice connector under the electrical tape (shrink tubing to come).
That's really all there was to it. The car now starts much more readily than it did before. I haven't tested the road performance yet, as the car's tags are expired and it's currently uninsured. It's also going to stay that way until I fix the brakes.
A while back I picked up an ignition system from a '75 model year car. I also had an MSD box and coil sitting in the garage from an old project.
I decided it would be advantageous to use the MSD over the factory Bosch ignition module. This is because the factory ignition has a dropping resistor, while the MSD does not. The MSD coil is also "hotter" (although the effect of this is debatable).
I mounted the MSD on the passenger side of the firewall (if you have a LHD car). It's held to the firewall with #8 machine screws, and there are rubber grommets between it and the car. This was by far the most difficult part of the job.
Here's the electronic distributor. It's a drop in replacement for the points model, including the d-jet pickups. If you have a carburetted car these won't do anything.
The green wire has a two pronged male plug that goes into a female plug on the factory wiring harness.
I cut the plug off the wiring harness. Inside the insulation there was a brown wire and a green wire. I spliced the green wire to the green pickup wire on the MSD, and the brown to the purple pickup wire. Then I plugged it into the distributor.
I put the coil in the same spot as the factory coil. It is slightly smaller than the factory coil, so the bracket did not work. I used another bracket I had, which I think came from a Volvo 240 (although it might have been from a VW Rabbit).
The MSD needs to be connected to a 12 volt power supply (probably for a relay of some kind). The #4 fuse showed its self to be a worthy candidate. There is a splice connector under the electrical tape (shrink tubing to come).
That's really all there was to it. The car now starts much more readily than it did before. I haven't tested the road performance yet, as the car's tags are expired and it's currently uninsured. It's also going to stay that way until I fix the brakes.
