[DeTomaso] I love MSD...I hate MSD....

MikeLDrew at aol.com MikeLDrew at aol.com
Mon Apr 16 00:16:25 EDT 2007


Hi guys,

So, today was the big Capitol Panteras tech session, at Rick Carlile's shop 
in Sacramento.  My Pantera is really coming together, but there are a few jobs 
that are nice to have a second set of hands for, so this morning I fired up 
and drove up there.

Rick, Jim and Emilia Seiferling and I were the only Panteras in attendance; a 
couple of other people drifted in and out during the day.  Jim and I tackled 
a number of small jobs on my car (i.e. replacing the nuts securing the upper 
rear balljoints, lubricating my rear swaybar bushings, and cleaning up a rat's 
nest of wiring in the engine bay by the ignition components).  Most of the day 
was actually spent working on Rick's 1969 TVR race car; he is tearing it all 
apart to rebuild it one nut and bolt at a time.

So Jim and I wound up taking all four corners off the car, which wasn't as 
easy as it sounds, since most of the fasteners had never been off since it was 
built.

After a day well-spent, I jumped back into my Pantera, heading for Chris 
Difani's house, where we were going to do a bit of fabrication work on my car 
(making a lid for my sunken battery box).  The car started right up, I drove it 
two blocks to the freeway, and as I made a left turn, it suddenly died, then 
came right back to life.  Hmm, odd.  I went another hundred feet or so, and just 
as I was getting onto the onramp, it just quit, and quit for good.

Damn.

So, on the side of the road, I called PanteraStar, which in this case was 
Rick and Jim.  Soon they were with me on the side of the road, testing equipment 
and wires going this way and that.  Electricity is my VERY weak point, and 
ignition systems are magic as far as I'm concerned, so my duties were limited to 
turning the key on and off when told, and also standing around and looking 
philosophical.

Alas, it appears the MSD box has turned into an NSD, i.e. No Spark Discharge. 
 I had never really looked closely at its installation (another club member 
installed the whole ignition system for me at a tech day, while I busied myself 
in my element, rebuilding my umpteenth steering rack).  Turns out he had 
failed to rubber-mount it, so it's possible that it simply shook itself to death.  

In any case, there appears to be a new MSD box in my immediate future.  
Fortunately Jim is working a half-day tomorrow, and he has the Big Head on all this 
stuff, so I'm going to sic him on it while I go out and polish his wheels or 
something. :>)

Here's a photo, with Rick Carlile's Pantera just ahead....

http://members.aol.com/mikeldrew/NSD.jpg

Mike<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> See what's free at 
http://www.aol.com.</HTML>



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