School me on spark plug wires

[garment]

I've got what I assume to be the original spark plug wires on my '83SC, 156K miles. They're braided on the outside and have a set of integrated grounds (I assume this is what this is) that are attached to the fan shroud.

Replacement wires (Clewett, Bosch) are silicon or rubber outside (no braid) and don't have the built in grounding, seems like they just have the spark plug to distributor connection for each plug. Why is this? What can I expect (in terms of performance and spark plug/rotor/distributor cap life) moving from my ancient original wires to rubber-insulated? Do I want anything other than standard copper core Bosch/NGK plugs if I switch? And any recent recommendations? Bob Kontak seems to like Clewett wires, saw some others who like Bosch 09259...

Thanks, Pelicans!

Michael

[jason2guy]

i think the braided wires were an attempt to squelch some radio interference or something like that. you dont need them, i went with the 8mm magnecor wires and they work great.
before i got those i went thru 1 set of braided wires that performed well but i upgraded the ignition system and went with a better wire set.
there is a set of nos bosch wires on ebay for your car for 75 bux i just saw this morning, not a bad deal
as far as plugs go, ive been running the ngk's for a couple years and i like them

[silverc4s]

Clewett wires & NGK plugs will be all you need. All that other stuff was a failed experiment.

[Reiver]

I've read the braided/grounded wires were an attempt by the factory to lessen the amount of exploding airbox's as one train of thought was cross firing....this turned out to not be the case.

I still hear that from an older P mechanic once and awhile but many pro's have discounted the braided wires as being required.

[tirwin]

The factory Beru wires are also solid core wires.

If you ever change your CDI, some brands (like MSD) require that you change to a braided wire like Clewett or Magnacor.

EDIT: when I say braided here I mean the inner copper wire and not the outer sheath.

Just remember to look at the whole ignition as a system. Plug wires is only part of the equation.

[stormcrow]

I bought a 7mm resistor wire set from autozone for $23.00. I took out the plug connectors, gutted them, installed a brass rod for continuity and reinstalled them.

Replaced the boots that connect to the distributor with the ones that came with the wire set and installed a rotor with a brass terminal instead of the resistor terminal.

Since I did the change over the P-car has never run so great - more power and my gas mileage on trips went to 21 MPG. The plugs are the original resistor spec plugs. Made a big difference in overall performance.

New radios don't have problems with radio interference as older ones did so doing this didn't add any noise to my radio.

[garment]

Amazed, as ever, at the collective wealth of knowledge here. Thanks for the input!

I took another look at my original wires - when I go with replacements, will I be routing the wires the same way?

[john walker's workshop]

I buy a 100ft roll of 7mm solid core and make my own. If they deliver good spark and don't leak through the insulation, what more do you want? The fancy stuff is just bling IMO.

[Trackrash]

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

I buy a 100ft roll of 7mm solid core and make my own. If they deliver good spark and don't leak through the insulation, what more do you want? The fancy stuff is just bling IMO.

What is the source of your wire? I haven't been able to find plain wire for years.

Do you re-use the connectors?

[stormcrow]

You can buy bulk wire from summit racing, autozone, oreilly auto parts napa - the list goes on - however you have to search online. But you can buy spark plug kits at the stores.

[manbridge 74]

Originally Posted by stormcrow

I bought a 7mm resistor wire set from autozone for $23.00. I took out the plug connectors, gutted them, installed a brass rod for continuity and reinstalled them.

Replaced the boots that connect to the distributor with the ones that came with the wire set and installed a rotor with a brass terminal instead of the resistor terminal.

Since I did the change over the P-car has never run so great - more power and my gas mileage on trips went to 21 MPG. The plugs are the original resistor spec plugs. Made a big difference in overall performance.

New radios don't have problems with radio interference as older ones did so doing this didn't add any noise to my radio.

I've always wanted to do something like above if my stockers ever fail. The stock wires are really good if in good nick. My test is a dark garage and some diluted salt water to help see ignition leaks.

[stormcrow]

The problem with stock plug wires is not the wires but the spark plug and distributor boots. Over a period of time the resistors begin to fail and the spark becomes weak.

The wires themselves aren't the problem for they are solid wire core. You have resistor distributor boots, resistor spark plug boots and a resistive rotor. So as you can see just a matter of time before things start to go wrong.

Now I am not saying the OEM wires aren't good, but if they are 15 or 20 years old they do need replacing. I am sure the design parameters of the spark plug wire set meet the electrical design specs to work properly.

[rswannabe]

Be sure to also check your plug connectors. They go "bad" over time and their resistance can increase from the intended 3kohm to infinite (no continuity). You can test them with a basic multimeter. You can then either rebuild them or replace them. You can see my thread on this here - Rebuilding Beru plug connectors

[c0metdot]

Dont search. Nobody has ever asled b4,

[manbridge 74]

Originally Posted by rswannabe

Be sure to also check your plug connectors. They go "bad" over time and their resistance can increase from the intended 3kohm to infinite (no continuity). You can test them with a basic multimeter. You can then either rebuild them or replace them. You can see my thread on this here - Rebuilding Beru plug connectors

Yeah I've had a few bad resistor ends over the years. I believe my 74 wires only have them on the spark plug side. Having a bunch of old parts around, I've just replaced them.

Funny thing is I've never noticed much of a running difference even with infinite resistance measured on wires with bad ends. Maybe engine start-up was easier but I don't recall.

[manbridge 74]

Here's a good idea from Ed Mayo. An old time guru if ever there was...

I make the plug wire sets because there aren't any aftermarket ones that I like. I solder the brass ends on for the distributor cap end. The store bought crimp on ends are a bad connection waiting to happen, in fact we just ran across that again not three hours ago on a 914/4 with crimp on ends. Porsche soldered on the ends on 356's and early 911's ,,,,they knew what they were doing!

[jlex]

Does anyone know what the resistance should be on the wires for my '88 3.2?

[7783911]

manbridge..can you provide some pics of your soldered set up..really makes senses!

[Chuck.H]

I am very happy with the set of Beru wires I just got for my '89 - all the connectors really snapped on the plugs and cap with real authority. Way better than anything else I've had on there.

Chuck.H
'89 M491 TurboLookTarga, 446k miles

[7783911]

can you post picture of ground connection for me...thanks