I'm thinking it's time to replace my ancient Crane ignition (came with the famous Vortech s-trim gp years ago) and Digicon Smart Spark (no longer in business, I think). Since my boost will be in the mid- to upper-teens, I'm leaning towards MSD's 7 series to get the added spark energy.

The Programmable box has a bunch of wizzy features not found on the Plus, but I'm not sure they'd actually do me any good. Are any of you guys using either of these boxes? Any advice? TIA!
http://www.msdignition.com/ignition_20.htm
http://www.msdignition.com/ignition_21.htm

 

Why not go LTCC?

(not that that answers your question )


Chris

 

I read an article in Hot Rod about the Programable 7 a few months ago. I think its pretty much the best ignition on the market right now. Its already been outlawed by the NHRA and IHRA because it offered an unfair advantage. I guess the being able to program your revs all the way through the powerband ensuring good traction and consitant ETs was too much for them.

 

Give Joe Overton a call, he is an expert with the Digital 7 and 7 Programmable, as well as FAST. He will be able to tell you what you need.

 

Fair comment! I'm looking for a one-box solution that has a beefy spark, 2-stage rev limiter, programmable retard, and an rpm switch for my stealth shift light. A built-in window switch would be nice in case temptation causes me to add a touch o' the squeeze to bag an 8.

 

i dont know how much experiance Joe has with the MSD digital 7/programmable....but he is a wiz with Accel DFI Gen 7 and the FAST you mentioned....2 different systems.

the LTCC isnt bad,but a few people have had problems with it....im going msd 7 series box with my new combo,and probably no Opti.


friend of mine use's the programmable 7 on his nitrous drag radial car. that system is great because you can add timing however you want,he launche's on a 350+hp shot but pulls a TON of timing to get it to hook,and feeds more in as traction allows.

 

Whoops , got a little confused there, I was thinking the Accell Gen 7, not msd 7, my bad.

 

LTCC has the 2 step, don't think it has the window switch or retard ability. I did email Bob about the posibility of including an analog or digital input for adjustable timing control, but he said no (well, it was possible (digital) but not going to happen)


My main concern would be running the extra power through the opti - just from my experience this would *really* cut down on the life of the unit (opti-spark).


Chris

 

LTCC It has retard/RPM...

What problems have people had???

 

With blown combinations and higher boost/cylinder psi levels the OEM ind. coils with this conversion have a problem with keeping up and producing enought volt strenght to produce a strong enought spark at the plug. What's happened on the dyno is the spark kernal kept getting blown out and the reliabilty and power seems to end at around 750hp. This actually was even using OEM truck coils which are supposed to be a little stronger then the passenger vehicale coils.

Skip the LTCC and get the Prog Dig 7. Why take the chance if you don't have to?

 

sleeperz28 has them in his 950rwhp car... why aren't they capable?

 

Hey I'm only passing on what I know. If by chance someone is getting by with the LTCC without problems then great more power to them but it is a fact and has been proven the stock ignition system does not produce a reliable nor strong enought spark in higher boost or nitrous applications. The high psi boost levels will in fact blow out the spark at the plug thus not allowing the A/F mixture to completely burn. This is just one of the reasons there became a demand for amplifier ignition box's. The stock systems just was not up to the task.

Now if you want a further explination about the findings your going to want to call Kurt Urban at Wheel to Wheel. He was the person that tested the individual coil setup on a recent engine motor they dynoed. This guy is one of the top engine builders/tuners in the country. He just built a 1500+hp blown motor for a guy to run in his Firebird and its a street driver.

IMO it doesn't even make sense why a person would even want to consider going this individual coil per cylinder route in the first place when you have trick setups that MSD has on the market. Besides the advantage of the much higher voltage MSD creates and what not consider the fact instead of just one coil going bad you now have 8! This works great for stock but when you have such a great product out like the MSD 7 and has been proven to make more reliable power, like I said why consider anything else.

 

You may have a point.. but in reality there are a few reasons why I like it...

I just bought the coils, but I guess I have some reading to do now...

one of the reasons is the optical unit... im using a stock PCM and wont change in the near future. Too much hassle and pain for the gains I might get...

2) i certainly believe that 8 coils can fire a better spark with a shorter cable than one coil 8x, specifically when that high voltage has to pass thru the opti..

3) those coils rarely go bad and if they work 1/8 the time as the regular coil does well.. it should last longer.. Besides an ignition box fires 3x under 3krpm... which is a bit more strees...

Now I have some reading to do to see if Imade the correct choice...

Another thing... LTCC uses stock components ... just like the MSD uses the stock coil and ICM... but its not a stock ignition perse I think it should yield a bit more power than the ls1 directly... Just a speculation..

Let us hope and see.

 

A couple things with the LTCC etc.

The only issues we have had were due to MSD Superconductor Antennas (wires), or equivalent low resistance wires. Just a couple guys, not a huge deal, but we recommend using a normal style wires.

The Stock LS1 PCMs have a limit to the maximum dwell they can deliver to the coils, so the spark energy that can be produced on an LS1 can be limited by this. The LTCC doesn't have this limit. I don't know how much this actually affects the coil's output, since I haven't measured it, but many guys have made a lot of hp with the LTCC.

IMO, there is a limit to the power you can send thru the opti. So keep an eye on it if you are going to step the power up with a digital 7 or similar. There have been guys using regular style distributors on the LT1's, and this seems a logical step when increasing igniton power. I'm pretty sure the cowl on an f-body gets in the way though. (I'm an Impala man myself)

The LTCC has a 2-step rev limiter and a retard that is triggerable with the yellow wire. The retard is either constant or RPM-proportional. This format has been very successful so far, but could be customized if required. The high hp crowd is generally pretty well tuned already, so a fully programmable ignition system wasn't deemed necessary, just a **** for minor 'tweakage'.


Hth

Bob

 

What do we use to trigger it, that yellow wire??