I have a 79 12a motor but the distributor has been modified for direct fire. I haven't got the msd setup yet. So can I run my the dizzy from my 83 12a in the meantime?

 

I believe the ignition system went from mechanical to electeic in 81. This means that you CAN use it, but you would basically have tonswap the entire ignition system to mmake it work. I'm not sure what that entails on an sa, but it CAN be done

 

The car is an 83 but I needed to swap the motor for the time being. So I should be running the later model distributor anyways then to match the cars ignition system?

 

actually the '79 was the only one with points.

 

As far as I know, yes but I could be wrong. Didnt know the 79 was the only one with points..thought the 80 had them too...but I've never really played with an sa

 

79 had points
80 had early electronic ignition (crappy)
81 - 85 had better electronic ignition

If you're going MSD, that will be much easier to go direct fire. Sounds like you just need a spare 81-85 dizzy and a couple of decent coils. But in the mean time you can use the 83 dizzy.

 

This will help.

Mazspeed's First Generation Rx-7 Club Page

 

use the 83 ... it's an upgrade of sorts ... Hectik1 posted the link

 

That's awesome everyone thanks!!!

 

I did a 79' to 85 ignition swap... way more awesomer. Lots of wiring modification that goes on, but it cleans up the engine bay a lot and has a noticeable performance gain. Noticeable NOT miracle.

 

MSD was SO simple to wire up, and made my car idle better (doesn't load up). I didn't notice a power gain but my engine is very tired. I am running an '83 dizzy in my setup (engine is from an '83).

If you need to replace your ignition system anyway why not just upgrade and be done?

 

You're right of course. I meant the only one with points that actually carried coil current. GOD I HATED FILING THOSE DARNED POINTS.

 

Does anyone have pictures of their setup. I'm trying to figure the best place to mount the box to keep it safe

 

I hung mine on the strut bar as a temporary solution that I think has become closer to permanent. There's a 2nd gen coil hanging right behind it. It works, and the wires aren't very long in any direction.

 

No pic, but I made a sheetmetal bracket that hangs off two of the strut bolts, down the side of the strut tower, and bolted my box and coils to it.

 

The 80 dizzy is great for MSD setup since it has the magnetic pickups required without the ignitors.

In the meantime the 81+ is super easy to wire up with only 4 wires needed from the coils to the ignitors and you have zoom-zoom.

-billy

 

You only running one 1 MSD box?

I have a 6A and was looking for a good second one for the "Stop Bullying" car I'm doing

Interesting the above car has the FB dizzy, I'd imagine the 80 is not easy to find

 

13x, I had the stock ignitor feeding the fc coil. The ignitor went to its maker and I replaced it with the msd. It's been great so far, 5000 miles maybe. I think ultimately I'm gonna have two boxes feeding two coils for what should be a better ignition.

With that said, I'm in no hurry, as my current ignition seems very very good. Knock on wood.

 

Well after reading this MSD 6A direct fire Ignition for Mazda RX-7 Rotary Engine - Dr. Scott M. Baker
we may only want to use 1

 

I'd read that, along with at least dozens of various ignition threads. I called MSD, the guy i talked to said it would push two coils, but they won't get full strength. So when/if I make the move to individual coils for leading, I am gonna get another box. I'm pretty happy with the fc coil for now.

 

Without a compression test is there a way to know for certain if you've blown an apex seal? would it be pushing oil into your spark plugs. When I turn the motor manually it seems to move smoothly.

 

^ you could remove one of the manifolds and peek through the ports as you slowly turn the motor by hand, or you could pull the plugs and the fuse for the feul pump and spin it a few times. You should hear three even "shoomp"s. If you have a bad seal you can normally tell because it will shoomp shoomp and then have a sound much different...hard for me to put in to words but you will hear it. Its impossible to miss

 

Thanks I'll try that right now

 

Thanks again for the help guys. Just got my msd all hooked up and car runs again. Yay!!

 

Glad you got it running now its time to hide some of those wires :p its like a spaghetti factory in there XD