Duraspark Mounting Location?

I am running a duraspark in #5357, and have had no heat related issues with the box in the engine bay.

I have had a box fail (along with my ecoil) when I left the key in the run position with the engine not running for a long period of time.

In that case swapping and testing the box would have been easier if the box was in the cockpit, but I would still have had to go in the bay to replace the coil.

Doesn't seem to be a bad idea, though. There's enough space behind the panel.

I placed my Duraspark II module in the engine bay below the mounting bracket of the coil, regulator & starter solenoid to ease the wiring process since you will be wiring into most of the aforementioned components.

The Ford modules "can" take some heat, Ford mounted them in the engine compartment, wherever it seemed convenient. But I really have no good concept of how hot the Pantera engine compartment gets in comparison to an old Ford engine compartment. However, no one can argue the cooler the better, right?

I kinda like the idea of mounting the module in the passenger compartment, on the bulkhead behind the passenger (right hand) seat. With a spare module mounted next to it. No doubt the passenger compartment is cooler than the engine compartment. And if the module fails, you pull the bulkhead cover, & plug the spare module into the 2 harness connectors, and you're back on the road.

Nothing revolutionary, just my thoughts. Have a great weekend.

quote:

Originally posted by George P:
I kinda like the idea of mounting the module in the passenger compartment, on the bulkhead behind the passenger (right hand) seat. With a spare module mounted next to it. No doubt the passenger compartment is cooler than the engine compartment. And if the module fails, you pull the bulkhead cover, & plug the spare module into the 2 harness connectors, and you're back on the road.

Actually, George, That's EXACTLY what I have in mind...

I think the idea should be that you locate them where you can get at them "in a pinch".

In the engine compartment you would need to put them on the passenger side of the bulkhead and generally speaking that means access is either through the right rear wheel well or under the car.

The interior bulkhead panel isn't that easy to get off in the dark along the roadside.

That is where you would put it in a race car though.

The location is for quick, easy access. The thing is made to mount in the engine compartment. It doesn't care about the heat in there.

quote:

Originally posted by PanteraDoug:
I think the idea should be that you locate them where you can get at them "in a pinch".

In the engine compartment you would need to put them on the passenger side of the bulkhead and generally speaking that means access is either through the right rear wheel well or under the car.

The interior bulkhead panel isn't that easy to get off in the dark along the roadside.

That is where you would put it in a race car though.

The location is for quick, easy access. The thing is made to mount in the engine compartment. It doesn't care about the heat in there.

I hear you PanteraDoug, and I appreciate your and everyone's comments as usual, but in the dark on the side of the road, I think I would rather remove the two bolts holding the firewall cover in place to gain access to the modules with the interior light right above. Otherwise, I'll have to carry a jack to lift the car enough to be able reach into the HOT firewall area to, say, switch over to the backup Duraspark module should the primary module fail. That's not an easy area to access even on jack stands in the garage.

I've never had a problem removing my firewall cover. So, in a pinch, I think I could simply remove the firewall cover bolts and lift and lean the top forward a bit to access the modules.

Of course, this all depends on whether or not I decide to mount the module(s) on the cockpit-side of the firewall. The MSD box that failed was on the car when I bought it 13 years prior. Duraspark and other boxes are designed to live and survive in a hot environment. Thus why I'm still on the fence on where to install the modules since they rarely fail.

BTW, When my MSD failed, I jerry-rigged a Duraspark module in the same location just to get me through to the end of the cruise-in season. It worked, but it's time to clean up that wiring mess.

Enjoy,

Ron

If you are listening to recommendations, I would suggest the Pantera-Electronics ignition rather than the Duraspark.

It has a bunch of features the Motorcraft doesn't . The one I like and is unique is that it will fire a fouled spark plug and clean it up.

As far as I know, NO OTHER IGNITION does that EXCEPT the P-E. Certainly for all it's supposed hot ignition, the MSD can not.


It also will not cook the coil if you leave the ignition on while working on the car like the Motorcraft unit will. For me, that's a plus. I like Rocky have cooked coils forgetting that I had the ignition on while working on something.

Both are REALLY excellent ignition modules. The P-E just has more features and yes, it costs more too.

I agree with your decision to clean up that "situation".

Could you not wire up the boxes with high quality DPDT switch (or multiple contact relays) to wire up both boxes, and then, just throw a switch to go from one box to the other?

I (sort of) see the logic in multiple boxes, but planning to have to pull the bulkhead, or climb under the car to disconnect those connectors and swap them around (in the dark) when one goes on the fritz.... Maybe another investment of $50 for wires, switches and a multi-contact relay makes sense.....

Think about it.

My spare Duraspark box is in my toolbag. I plan a 30 minute downtime if mine craps out. I don't regularly drive the car at night all that often...

quote:

Originally posted by Rocky:
I agree with your decision to clean up that "situation".

Could you not wire up the boxes with high quality DPDT switch (or multiple contact relays) to wire up both boxes, and then, just throw a switch to go from one box to the other?

I (sort of) see the logic in multiple boxes, but planning to have to pull the bulkhead, or climb under the car to disconnect those connectors and swap them around (in the dark) when one goes on the fritz.... Maybe another investment of $50 for wires, switches and a multi-contact relay makes sense.....

Think about it.

My spare Duraspark box is in my toolbag. I plan a 30 minute downtime if mine craps out. I don't regularly drive the car at night all that often...

Personally I think this is just MSD (might suddenly die) ignition paranoia?

Trying to fix something, anything out on the road is very difficult to do.

On a car this low, as inaccessible this is kind of a fantasy.

One of the strong points of using the Duraspark is that you will be able to get a replacement at virtually any parts store in the US for even the extended foreseeable future.

You are more likely to have an ignition switch fail on you where the engine turns over and fires in the start mode but won't stay running in the run position.

That ladies and gentlemen is an ignition switch failure. More than one person has been confused by that initially, including myself.

The Duraspark is as dependable a part as was ever made. Having a second installed already is redundancy on top of redundancy already.

quote:

Originally posted by PanteraDoug:
The Duraspark is as dependable a part as was ever made. Having a second installed already is redundancy on top of redundancy already.

Yep. I'm starting to lean more and more in that direction. Leave the Duraspark box where it already is on the firewall, clean up the wiring, and get the beast ready to drive when the winter weather breaks.

quote:

I would suggest the Pantera-Electronics ignition rather that the Duraspark.

FWIW, I had a Mallory 6AL box in my Pantera mounted on the firewall in the stock location next to the coil. It failed due to heat. Upon researching possible causes of the failure I found countless cases/posts of other heat related failures of both the MSD and the Mallory boxes. I went with the Pantera Electronics box and love it! As others have already pointed out, it will fire and clear a fouled plug, it's 100x faster than an MSD, it's impervious to the temperatures it will see in a Pantera engine compartment, does not need to be removed/disconnected when welding on your car, and has a ton of other great features, not the least of which are the indicator lights that are great for diagnosing any ignition issues - they will tell you if things are hooked up properly, etc.

And, Jon Haas provides the BEST customer service available, bar none!!!

quote:

Originally posted by rlee63a4:
Hello, Is it worth the effort to mount the ignition box on the cockpit side of the firewall? I'm planning to replace my failed MSD box with a Duraspark ignition module, and it gives me the opportunity to mount the module away from the proximity of the headers and out of heat of the engine compartment if it makes sense to do so. Any words of wisdom will be appreciated. Thanks.

Ron

MY Mallory and now my MSD ignition box is mounted in my front trunk behind the battery. Running the wires for the unit wasn't that difficult and neither unit ever gave me any problems in over 30 years of driving. Just my two cents.

In mounting heat-sensitive things in the engine compartment, inches matter. My Duraspark control unit has survived being mounted on the right firewall where the voltage regulator once sat, but a few inches away, a plastic coolant recovery tank MELTED on a not-very-long road trip, at almost-legal speeds!

Over the years I've learned not to rely on logic to much of the time?
First of all, the bulkhead is held in place by four bolts, not two.
The other thing is find those four bolts in the dark behind the seats? I don't know?
Now if everything was held in place by a bra hook, that I could get open and apart in the dark behind car seats, yes. Absolutely.
A guy has to have some talents?

My MSD is in the passenger footwell... No problems to report.

The only part I've ever had fail on a DS is the pick up. The wires flex as the vacuum advance functions, which can cause a hard - to - find failure. YMMV.