Pure5.0

Was just performing a standard car tune up procedure and of course famous FORD proves it famous acronym of F.O.R.D.

Well I was changing my spark plugs and wires and pulled the first wire from the dist and I heard a "crack"...I was like uh oh. Well I managed to break not only the plastic cap but also the actual metal on the rotor. Where the plastic bolts into the rotor in the back it took a chunk out of the metal and on the front took a chunk out of the plastic.

So I have to get another dist assembly and was curious to see what you guys think. Should I buy a dist from MSD or just go to an auto store and get a OEM replacement?

What are the advantages I can see if I get a MSD dist....since I have a stock motor?

And if you are thinking I pulled too hard on my plugs you are wrong. Just as hard as I pull on the dipstick I pulled on the wire and CRACK!!!

Pure5.0

Also one more question. Looking at Summit I find that there are two dist from MSD that will work on my year car. The difference is one specifies a "289/302" and the other specifies a "TFI"? What is TFI?

Which model do I want? Thanks

1990mustanggt

I bought the MSD-8456. It cost me $290.83 from Summit racing. I installed it on my buddy's 1993 just to see if we could see an improvement over his stock dist. I was surprised to see that you could feel a little difference in the way it drove. It also helped smooth out his idle.

I say it's worth the extra money.

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Tims 88GT

yea the msd is good, i will be getting one sometime, also i think it advances the timing sooner than the stock dizzy. dont get anything other than msd, like mallory and accel they only last so long and the performance gain is not as much.

Pure5.0

Just bought a MSD-8456 from Summit. I 2nd Day air it so I could have it by this Thursday or Friday and then get it installed this weekend.

Well....guess my exhaust and 5.0 shifter will have to wait.

Thanks for the help.

silver91gt

okay, when you say the plastic broke, do you mean just the distributor cap, and rotor?

the rotor just presses onto the shaft inside the distributor, as long as the electronics in it are undamaged you can just get a new cap and rotor, for probably under $25

92stang

TFI stands for THICK FILM IGNITION thats all i know about it and its what ur car uses.

92hatchLX

IMO ACCEL is a poorman's MSD. ACCEL makes some great products and you can't beat their prices.

Pure5.0

Well I broke the rear upper part of the distribution (metal shaft) and that cracked traveled up into the plastic of the cap (base cap).

It's about $60 for a new distributor and $20 for the cap.

If you look at the back of your distributor and see where the bolt hole is on the metal to hold down the plastic cap....I cracked it below that.

silver91gt

ouch, sorry to hear that, I would go with msd.
you need a tfi one.