If you run a grid the instructions have a note recommending the use of crank trigger for more precise timing and rpm control. Not sure what the OP has, but MSD seems to think a crank trigger is more precise. For the OP, how much of the bracket is in the way of your steering? Could you cut it off and still have a small range of adjustment? You may have to use differnet holes on the wheel to get the alignment in the upper section of the slotted adjustment if so. Probably wouldnt be to hard to fab up a bracket For a differnet location. Just have to make sure you can ajust it a few degrees either direction.

MSD is in the business of selling electronic components, the more expensive the component, the high profits for them. They also want everyone to throw away their 6 and 7 boxes and replace it with a grid.

I get it, a crank trigger looks...racy, sexier than a distributor on our bracket engines but the fact remains that it will provide no performance gain, no consistency gain, no reliability gain over a race ready distributor.

I've made 2 custom crank trigger mounts for different blower setups. The first I used aluminum flat stock and the msd trigger holder piece. The 2nd, I started with a piece of 1/4 inch t channel and made a 1 piece unit. The first piece took me about 45 minutes. The 2nd about 4 hours. All with the most basic shop tools. Mock up what you need out of cardboard and either make it yourself or find someone that will.

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Hughes:
If you run a grid the instructions have a note recommending the use of crank trigger for more precise timing and rpm control. Not sure what the OP has, but MSD seems to think a crank trigger is more precise. For the OP, how much of the bracket is in the way of your steering? Could you cut it off and still have a small range of adjustment? You may have to use differnet holes on the wheel to get the alignment in the upper section of the slotted adjustment if so. Probably wouldnt be to hard to fab up a bracket For a differnet location. Just have to make sure you can ajust it a few degrees either direction.

I run the grid with no crank trigger and it runs just fine.. As Ed said its not needed.

RacerVX54...KNOWS!

I also run a grid controller with a 7AL3 with no crank trigger....and a Pro Power coil.

MSD distributer triggers spark and signal goes to Grid controller.....than to 7AL3

Works fine and timing is as rock steady as with a trigger. I can add a launch retard, start retard or manipulate timing anyway I want.

I don't use any of it most of the time and just run it as if the grid was not there but it does make the timing more stable, I believe anyway....

I have had more issues with crank triggers, from difficulty mounting one to damaged pickups.

I carry a spare pickup for the distributer.....never needed it since I have had my current car and that's 10 years...

The TRUTH and the FACTS!

I carry a spare pickup as well and have never needed it unlike friends and competitors with crank triggers.

SCDIV1...KNOWS!

Nobody including the OP said anyone NEEDS a crank trigger. Is it ok with everyone that he does what he wants to do with his car?
He asked for advice on mounting.

and no one has offered him a viable solution yet so again, WHY waste his time, $ and effort?

quote:

Originally posted by Bucky:
Nobody including the OP said anyone NEEDS a crank trigger. Is it ok with everyone that he does what he wants to do with his car?
He asked for advice on mounting.

It's okay with MOST everyone.

quote:

Originally posted by 1320racer:
and no one has offered him a viable solution yet so again, WHY waste his time, $ and effort?

3rd comment did.

quote:

Originally posted by TOP38:
You can mount it pretty much anywhere you have room,,, just a custom bracket is required. You may also have to drill new holes in the wheel depending on where you locate the pickup to line up the wheel with the magnet! If you fix mount the pickup, (No slide mount as provided) then have the wheel holes slotted so you can both adjust and change the timing!

that would be the 2nd reply and he stated as I did, it will be a custom installation and he stated again in the 9th reply it will require a one off custom bracket so again why bother for something that provides NO benefit?

quote:

Originally posted by 1320racer:
that would be the 2nd reply and he stated as I did, it will be a custom installation and he stated again in the 9th reply it will require a one off custom bracket so again why bother for something that provides NO benefit?

Why does it matter? That's not the advice he is looking for. Would you say your setup wins you more rounds/races/championships? I won a track championship with a crank trigger. But I'm ok with you winning nothing without one. It's a (mostly) free country still.

it doesn't but this is a discussion forum. I realize there's no helping the OP but maybe we can help others considering this swap/install that until this thread believed the myth, rumor and hearsay they've read or have been told was true, stating it's needed on a bracket engine/provides some type of advantage.

quote:

Originally posted by 1320racer:
it doesn't but this is a discussion forum. I realize there's no helping the OP but maybe we can help others considering this swap/install.

The op got the help he was after. Plus some useless jabber from you.

he and everyone reading got the FACTS and the TRUTH, from myself, from RacerVX54 and from SCDIV1 regardless of who refuses to agree.

I started using crank triggers in the early 1980's.

Had one small block that had ridiculous cam walk and timing moved so far it was crazy when you revved it.

Ran the old Moroso stuff and one day a washer must have bounced up and wrecked pickup. Can't recall if I had a spare or not.

Fast forward to late '90s and my old dragster.

I went to a Terminator after a couple years on gas carb.

Mounted fuel pump stacked on top of trigger bracket.

I had the Holley Annihilator ignition in that car and it took 3 of them to get one that worked right ! And their crank trigger I believe.....


First day out with Terminator I'm going rounds but car starts to shutoff at times. I am into rd 3-4 or something like that and scrambling around trying to find whats causing the stalling.

I mess with pump and in the process the trigger pickup gets to close to wheel.

I redlight after car stalls on burnout and has me rattled....

Turns out pump pulley set screws were not real tight and drive pulley was slipping losing fuel pressure.

I find it and fix it......

The next 2-3 outings or more I am chasing phantom missing and I eventually changed the entire ignition system....wasted weeks of chasing it!

The culprit was without a doubt the crank trigger pickup. It was rubbed by the wheel and clearly damaged.

I should have checked it first but wound up overlooking it until I changed everything else. Dumb me.....

When I put my next dragster together I skipped the crank trigger but did intend to install one.

I have had flawless results without it and way prefer NO pickup that is vulnerable to outside issues.


In the business I work for the same type pickups are used as engine speed sensors that send that pulse signal to a controller. They are in close proximity to the teeth on the flywheel and we change them regularly for loss of function.......Often they are visually fine.....

It's just a matter of preference and maybe past experiences with any of this stuff on a racecar.

You get bit by something and it leaves a lasting mark.....

Been racing 25 years without a crank trigger. NEVER has my timing moved or failed to start or run well.. Plus i do not want the extra head ache or cost of a crank trigger. I set my timing and it never changes... So why bother. There is ZERO E.T gain or power gains from using one. KEEP IT SIMPLE....

same here. 25 years without it and never an issue with a distributor, unlike the many bracket racers that have had ignition issues and lost rounds due to a crank trigger failure.

quote:

Originally posted by 1320racer:
that would be the 2nd reply and he stated as I did, it will be a custom installation and he stated again in the 9th reply it will require a one off custom bracket so again why bother for something that provides NO benefit?

Ed's just against doing anything that requires fabrication skills because he has none. Making a scary "custom one off bracket" sounds like voodoo magic so the Ed's of the world run and hide with a different option. It would take like an hour to make a custom bracket, and that's if I'm trying to make it fancy and cool.

It's a piece of half inch plate with 2 holes and a curved slot, find a location that works for the pickup, and make something that holds it there...