I am looking to buy 2 new coils, mostly as the stock merc coils I have now are ugly but also to have new parts as well as any possible added performance/reliability.

Anyway, I was just wondering what you guys are runnning and what you would say the best one is. MSD blaster, high vibration, accel????

i think the msd high vibration coil is a good choice,they are fairly cheep,and seem to hold up well in the rough marine application,i also like the msd blaster ss coil.

call me old fashioned but if what you have works fine then clean them up and paint them or worst case, replace like with like. i have never seen ANY aftermarket coil perform better than the stock hei stuff in what are essentially stock applications. its the zoom factor marketing... spend your money on important stuff like women and alcohol and leave the aftermarket junk on the shelf

Ive been running the MSD Epoxy Filled High Vibration coils for years. No issues and they're affordable.

so are you saying that the parts that come stock are the best,and all the aftermarket parts are junk?

in broad strokes, yes. in the vast majority of cases , and i would put that number at 95 % , on engine combinations that have been done by real oem manufacturers and barring some bizzare and crazy modifications that then require some alternative system,
yes. the factory stuff is best every single time. i have run hundreds of different combinations from esentially every manufacturer on earth at one time or another and in every case have yet to see an example where some aftermarket part was BETTER than stock... and by better i mean either a quantifiable increase in power or torque on the dyno or in the cases where the dyno wasn't available and we did back to back race track testing, i never saw a single instance where the lap times were better.

i include mercruiser in that list of oems. there isn't a thing wrong with that gm system nor will bolting on any msd junk.. and their stuff IS junk, make any difference at all in performance.


an addendum and an example... i ran a catagory of sports racers that required a 2 litre for motor. those came with point distributors. so everyone went to aftermarket relucter systems of some sorts and MSD 6 's. i ran a distributer pack and coil from a nissan b210... an econmy 4 cylinder nissan. aside from wing any number of championships, i never had an ignition failure of any type ever. the msd guys all carried 2 spares in the trailer and a spare prewired into the car...

why do you want ignition components where you have to have a spare on your key ring just to get home ?


now... just so that i am not misunderstood... i am NOT saying that all stock ignitions are best for all combinations. clearly that is not the case... a AA fuel dragster making 5000 hp at christ knows how much boost and 15 gals of fuel in a 1/4 mile needs a different system than your motor...

but what your motor, barring supercharging, or some other extreme set of modifications will work better with a properly operating stock system than anything the aftermarkert has to sell you.

actually one correction about oem stuff... the british stuff was and remains complete garbage no matter who made it. even msd stuff is better but then again having a ligtning rod taped to your roof was more reliable than both of them

i had the best luck with mallory, the black plastic promaster oil filled race coil..25 + yrs and counting..

here is the newer marine version..
http://www.jegs.com/i/Mallory/650/29...oductId=748657

i cannot agree with you,for example,the best cylinder head from gm is junk compared to a dart machine head,and all other aftermarket head made in the usa.and you cannot compare a gm crankshaft with a callies magnum crank,it,s not even in the same league.i could go on and on,i dont know anything about aftermarket parts from your part of the world,but here in the good old usa,the best aftermarket parts are made and sold.

well... with thought process like that, it is not hard to understand why you don't agree.

we are not talking about fundemental structure or components. he didn't ask " gee if i take my oem 502 and replace it with an aftermart illmor, will i have more power ? "

we are talking about ignition coils. and in deference to you i will use small words and short sentences while i explain my position...

in my experience the aftermarket ignition industry rarely , if ever, has produced anything better than stock oem components.

i am not talking about cylinder heads , crankshafts , or any other component manufactured in any way by anyone else.

if your limited intelligence keeps you from grasping that concept , get your 6 year old to explain it to you.

and yes... in case you are wondering , i'll make it clearer...

i think you are stupid.

I've been told you can't run an aftermarket coil with a TB IV because the resistance will kill the box,, any thoughts on that???