Hey Guys, I have just put a new Edelbrock Performer, a recond Holley 465 and a new MSD Ready to Run distributor in my recently rebuilt mild Blue 253 in my HZ van. It was running like a dream and I had it dyno'd but after about 50kays it backfired, surged a bit and then picked back up again and then shortly after, backfired again and ran rough ever since. It does different things at different times but at one stage it was running great when I had my foot down and the engine was under load but as soon as I eased off it would surge and run rough. I checked the plugs and they were very sooty so as they were old I replaced them all. Yesterday I was driving it back home and it died on me completely. I have 12v to the coil but no spark. I have checked the carb as I thought this was the rough running problem but after the no spark show, I'm leaning to the distributor/coil. Anyone had much to do with these MSD dissys? I was getting annoyed with the rough running but having a dead car is driving me crazy. Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Hmm 12V and no spark. Are all the electrics to the dizzy ok? Can you put in a points dissy for a while and verify that everything else is running fine ? Then if the car is sweet focus in the MSD, as spark, or a good spark is the issue.

Cheers John

Its strange but i have the same problem with my 253. I have an edelbrock manifold too but points ignition. After spending much time with my mate trying to get the old girl going we took it for a run and the same thing happended. A couple of bad backfires and from then on trouble eversince. New plugs,points,leads,changed distributor,checked balancer, done about everything i am capable of doing. Now my car is dead too.
If anyone can shed some light on what might be the prolem it would be much appreciated.

Are they pollution heads on both (I assume the Blue 253 are)?. Does the Performer have a centre bolt in between the two innermost ports on both sides? Just wondering if you are getting a crankcase full of exhaust and also burnt out the intake gaskets? Gra

Believe the heads are pre pollution, dont know how to tell the difference. Are they ok with the edelbrock manifold.

Wiring to the dizzy has been chopped and changed when immobiliser was installed.

Thanks Byron Rich.

Is it a 12V or 9V coil though? Wondering if you have fried a 9V coil with 12V?

Pre pollution heads don't have an exhaust port in the centre of the head between the intake ports.

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If we all had

Thanks for the quick replies fellas. They are pollution heads and yes, the manifold has provision for you to drill two or four holes depending on what kind of heads you are running. They are ASL head gaskets but I guess it could happen to any kind. Im running a Bosch GT40 coil with the dissy but Im going to put the points dissy and the original coil back on today and Ill get back to you with the results. Cheers!

G'day all, Just my thoughts, although I'm no mechanic, but a similar prob happened to me. My one behaved similar (points dizzy), backfiring, running out of puff after a few minutes. Tried checking fuel issues etc. My mate helping was trying to do the e

Thanks for replying guys. Hope you get your car running soon Chris.Walk past my Kingswood eveyday thinking how great it will be to take it for a drive again. Now i have more of an idea of what this gremlin could be. Cheers.

Thanks Ado. Got it running this morning with the old dissy. Runs well so it looks like it was the brand new MSD dissy adter all. Will send it back and get them to test it for me and hopefully get the problem sorted. Thanks very much for your help guys. Ch