MSD Ignition Coil Modification OBD1 KA's

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05-28-2007, 08:28 PM

jramosthe1st!

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Location: kennewick wa.

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stock coil => msd coil 8207

tools needed
phillips head screw driver
8mm and 10mm wrench
a metal cutting tool (i used a grinder)
wire brush/wheel
drill with 11/64" (or so) bit
3.5"x2.5" 16ga.(or thicker) piece of metal
volt meter
welder

1. coil removal and bracket dismantle
first you'll need to take the stock coil and bracket off of the car.remove the control module and grounding terminal. the bracket consists of two pieces, take the bracket apart and cut as indicated in the pictures.

once you've made the cuts use the wire brush or wheel to smooth out any sharp edges.

2. making your base
now get the 3.5"x2.5" piece of metal, this will be your new base for the msd coil. along with the coil there is a template that shows the proper location for the holes to be drilled. mark and drill out the holes on the 3.5"x2.5" sheet metal.

3.assembling your new bracket
now take the smaller section of the original bracket, this will be your support for the base. weld it to the bottom of the base. depending on the type of welder you might want to do a number of tack welds so you don't burn a hole through the bracket. remember this is thin metal your dealing with so you can turn the amps down and do a continuous weld or a number of tacks. now take the newly welded base and weld it to the larger section of the bracket. my welding skills have suffered some from lack of practice so don't be overly critical of them. now your done with the fabbing of your new msd bracket.

4.painting/mounting
the first part is optional but if you do paint it just make sure you don't paint the section where the control module goes. i don't care for bright colors so i went with left over black primer. once that's done and the bracket is put back together just mount it back on the car. now here i ran into a very minor set back, the base should have been slightly off center to the right no biggie though. once the two screws are in place go ahead and mount the coil but don't connect any wires yet.

5.coil wire modification
well you've probably noticed that the stock coil uses a female connection but the msd coil uses a male connection. not a problem, take your current coil wire and drill a hole through it and add the clip that came with the msd terminal. you could if you'd like replace the terminal with the one supplied by msd but this is better because if you don't know what you're doing you could damage the coil wire in the process.

6. wiring the coil
i read somewhere that nissan doesn't stick to color coordination when it comes to wires. so just because the + wire is one color for my car don't assume it's the same on your car.
with a volt meter and a friend check to see which wire is the +12v. have someone turn the key, with the negative probe touching a good source of ground take the positive probe and touch the coil terminal. the wire that gives you a +12v (or close to) reading is your +. therefor the other will be your - simple as that. another way would be to place both probes into the terminal but you'll get a mv reading. if the reading is +, you have the probes touching the correct wires. if the reading is negative you have them backwards. remember this for when you want to add a tach, why anyone would add a tach when the car has a perfectly good one already is beyond me. but anyways back on topic. i used a red(+) and black wire(-) to splice onto the factory wires. soldering the splice is what i recommend but if you have a better idea go for it. there is a good write up on soldering so i won't go into that.