Ignition Wires

[porsche0nut]

Hello Pelicans,

I want to replace the ignition wires in my '86 coupe (stock) as part of my "new owner maintenance".

Browsing the different available products it seems there is a substantial premium for the genuine Porsche wires (more than double the cost for the set).

What wires did you put on your car? Does anyone have good/bad experiences with particular brands?

Thanks,
Jonathan

[wwest]

Worth it, pre-cut, customized for the application

[James Brown]

i used magnacor wires, good fit and well made, could be a little longer on the right side but there fine.
oh, they conducted the spark just like the OEM ones.

[tobluforu]

Search, many ways to go.

[mnez]

I put in the Bosch set from my local parts store. Very reasonable price. Doesn't come with all the fancy separators and some are too long, but the spark plug connectors are correct and it runs just fine. There's no magic here.

[Quicksilver]

+1 on the Magnecors. Reasonable price. I got the 10mm a few years ago when there was a screaming deal on them. Have to hog out the wire spacers with a drill bit to fit the oversize wires.

[porsche0nut]

Thanks for the responses! Sounds like magnecors are popular.

Does a thicker cable have greater resistance and affect the spark at all, or is this just silly to even consider?

[gtc]

Originally Posted by porsche0nut

Does a thicker cable have greater resistance and affect the spark at all, or is this just silly to even consider?

Yes, no, yes.

[Quicksilver]

Originally Posted by porsche0nut

Thanks for the responses! Sounds like magnecors are popular.

Does a thicker cable have greater resistance and affect the spark at all, or is this just silly to even consider?

The thicker cable does have a slight tendency to reduce crossfire simply because the conductors are farther apart but I don't see that as a real incentive as they should be held farther apart then that by the wire looms.

The real bonus is you have to damage more insulator before you get to a point before the wire fails. If it is rubbed, cut, or burned it will keep working longer.


---
Oh and a lot of people think the thicker wires are cooler...

[wwest]

Originally Posted by porsche0nut

Thanks for the responses! Sounds like magnecors are popular.

Does a thicker cable have greater resistance and affect the spark at all, or is this just silly to even consider?

Don't know the brand but there is a HV wiring set that uses a nylon cord center with a nichrome (for resistance) wire spirally wrapped around it. That configuration required a somewhat thicker OD then normally seen.

[MarkRobinson]

nothing beats the factory Beru wires: 0 resistance regardless of length because they're solid-core.

PelicanParts sells replacement 3.2 leads for $89 where you can reuse your wire ends. I supply them for PP: great product, been supplying them since '05

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopcart/911M/POR_911M_ELignt_pg3.htm

Cheers, Mark.

[bullethole]

Other than our host, is there any other place (maybe less expensive) that one can source the plug ends. Because of where I will be mounting my coils (wasted spark) when i go dual plug, i'm going to need to make up my own leads (also needs to have HEI coil ends, so buying factory wires is kind of a waste).

[wwest]

0 resistance HV sparkplug wiring is not a good idea for several reasons, EFI/RFI generation plus sacrificing the distributor rotor resistor.

Plus I don't think the factory EVER suppled 0 resistance HV wiring.

[rayjak]

I am in Bowmanville, got the Magnecors from our host...very happy with them.

[zarl911]

i just changed mine went with beru wires and fits just perfect

[MarkRobinson]

Yes OE Beru are solid core 0 resistance; the resistors are within each wire end.

I can provide boots/terminals for custom wires too.

PM me for custom twin plug or coil Pack wire sets; there are a variety of inexpensive options. I'm even shipping a 12-plug coil pack wire set tomorrow.

Mark

[S2GART]

From our host, I purschased OEM Beru wires, no issues. They came with the proper wires spacers and everything fit as it should. Anything that has a car manufacture's name on it is going to cost alot more. Porsche does not make wires, oil filters, brake pads etc. So buy the brand that supplies Porsche, ie; Mahle, Beru, Bosch, ATE, Pagid, etc.

[Socbum]

+1 on the wires from MarkRobinson.

Great guy to work with, xclnt service and fantastic product.

[MarkRobinson]

Aw thanks guys.

I'm just an enthusiast like you guys are... I stumbled onto the wire issue about 10 years ago trying to make a "mega" set for a 928 conversion I was doing that didn't run for squat as the ignition system was so weak...turned out to be the 8mm MSD spiral core wires I was using. Probably took 40hours of efforts & some rare diagnostic equipment to come to that point.

Porsche/Beru/Bosch put a lot of effort into our wire sets: 3.2-3.6l NA, 3.3 & 3.6 965, all 32v 928's, all 944-based models apply.

Porsche used solid-stranded wire (solid core) with resistors in each ends to control resistance so every wire regardless of length (from 7" all the way to 52") has exactly the same resistance for a more even spark.