86 3.2 Magnecor KV85 Install Notes...

[Botman]

Installed my new Magnecor spark plug wires tonight. I know a number of folks have posted some great info on the subject, most notably "Dickster" here back in February. Thanks for the info- you made my project much easier!

I believe I can help a few "wannabe mechanics" like myself by adding a few notes.

1. Allow plenty of time. Since I can change my '72 BMW 2002 plug wires in 5 minutes and it's a 4 banger, a six should take exactly 7.5 minutes, right? Wrong! The routing and wire management issues you need to deal with make this a 2-3 hour job.

2. Five of the seven wire managers are bolted to the car, some in hard to get to places.

3. You should obtain a drill press before starting the project. It makes the job of drilling out the 7 plastic wire managers alot easier. (They have to be drilled out because the new wires are fatter than stock.)

4. A 5/16 drill bit is the perfect size, you will still be able to close the plastic mangers, yet the wires won't slip back and forth.

5. Do not try to put the wire managers onto the wires out of the car, you will just have to take them apart again to adjust the slack once you try to fit everything up.

6. The plastic coil cover does NOT have a screw holding it together, it's just a built in plastic knob that snaps into a hole on the other side. (It took me a few minutes to determine this, I didn't want to apply any force until I was sure.)

7. Watch out for that dang latch on the decklid, I wacked my head on it every time I tried to admire my work!

The car idles smoother, and I no longer seem to have a flat spot at 3600 rpm. Overall, I am happy with the wires and the results of my Saturday evening project.

I'll add some pictures in the morning, too dark now.

Good Luck, Botman.

[Botman]

Here's the pics I promised...

After the install...



Drivers Side...



Passenger Side...



Coil Cover...



Doesn't she look happier?



Later, Mike

[dickster]

they look much better don't they?

nice looking car.

[zuerchers]

great post botman. i started to install a set on Sunday and just had one concern...the original wires had some "extra" insulation that was wrapped around the wires at variuos points (where the wire makes contact with the fan housing and areas where it was very close to the heads). mine was so old that it had become brittle and was crumbling off. anyway, are you concerned at all about these "hot zones" and how it may reduce the life of these wires without any additional insulation? i emailed another member who used these wires awhile back and he told me so far the wires are doing great as is. good job on the install, looks great.
mike

[Argo]

Did this a while back myself - only thing I did differently was to use a Dremel to widen the holes in the looms. There is a grinding attachment shaped like the nose of a rocket ship that is the exact diameter of the 8.5 magnecores. I liked this better because it slightly melted the plastic as it widened the holes and left them nice and smooth with no edges to cut into the wire sheath.

PS - nice ride, especially the polished wheels and painted crest caps. A lot of work to do but it sure looks nice when you're done!

Argo
88 Targa

[KTL]

Porsche has a bracket & clip that holds the #6 cyl. (pass. side closest to front of car) wire in place on the valve cover. You put the bracket & clip (#31, 32 in diagram) on the stud where the orange arrow is pointing and place the #6 cyl. wire in the clip. You can also move the loom shown in the picture to the spot with the red arrow and circle. Just a suggestion as it keeps the wires from flopping around a bit. You can kinda see the arrangement in the picture of my motor, but not really. Sorry, that's all I got.

[ZCAT3]

Hey Guys - thanks for this DIY write up. I just installed Magnecors on my 87 and as the Bentley Manual doesn't cover this, your instructions were a great help.

[BW911]

Very nice job. But here's a dumb question. Do you really need to reinstall all those looms or wire managers as you call them? Obviously you want to use the ones around the fan shroud, and you don't want any of the slack wire to get where it shouldn't, but is it critical that the others that just separate the wires be reused?

[RoninLB]

Hey Kevin...

I want to upgrade to wire managers on my '77 fan housing. mine doesn't have them.. so I call Stoddard and they tell me there are various systems to do this [new female clerk, I think they dumped her already].. different part numbers, etc.. are there various wire manager types on the fan housing?? Which one should I get? and I don't have any part numbers for even your '87.............. Ron

[Jim Smolka]

One Sweeeet looking 911.

[ZCAT3]

I think the main reason for the wires managers (other than to keep the wires out of the fan and to keep the wires tidy) is to keep them away from very hot parts on the engine - like the cam oil lines. As the Magnecor wires are rated for 600 degrees F I would think this is less of an issue.

As an aside, the rotor, cap and wires I took out all look to be in very good shape. Is there anny value to these?

[Trakrat]

Thought I'd resurrect an old thread with a question...
Do I need to remove the A/C compressor to route the wires?
Stock ones currently route underneath my compressor and was wondering if there is a way to do the same with the Magnacore wires?

Also... curious what drill bit I need to use to drill out bigger holes for the wire brackets?