Spark plug wires

[Gordon Rankin]

Ok.. Got a good question today. I am thinking about changing out my plug wires..Can I just buy raw plug wires and reuse the plugs connectors on each end? Or do I need to replace the whole set including the connectors? I used to do this in my 924's successfully but have not seen this mentioned in a long time!

[djnolan]

Are you talking about twisting on the plug connectors or distributor connectors on to new wire?

In the old days it was done this way. The spark plug wire was made up of three parts, the plug connectors, the distributor connectors and the wire. The plug connector had resistance. The wire was available in different types including straight copper for racing and shielded for civilian use so you could use your radio.

I have never seen the bulk "raw wire" for sale but I bet you could find it in Germany.

[Gawernator]

Just buy a new set of all new wires. K.I.S.S.

[GGX2]

Sounds interesting if it could be done. The main up side would be price, didn't look around much, but Summit Racing has lots of wire.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-881010/overview/
$30 to do a set of wires doesn't sound bad at all, might be even cheaper elsewhere too.

-George

[Capt Squid]

Buy a set of Magnecor wires from Pelican for $79. I have used them on my race cars for years.

Save yourself some grief.

[88Silver924S]

It seems like the expensive part of the wire is that fancy spark plug connector which just screws on to a standard "cheap" wire. I too suspect that the Beru connector has a much longer life than the wire and could be cleaned and reused. It would be nice to find wires with the screw ferrule on the end. I've looked but so far couldn't find.

I ruined a new #4 cylinder wire by leaving it off and starting the engine once (I like to make mistakes once in a while to feel human) which burnt a hole in the wire insulation; I didn't want to buy a whole new $80 set for one wire and the fancy end was still good. The single generic $6 wires at the auto parts store just laughed at me. I wonder about transferring the screw ferrule to a standard wire--can it be done successfully? Is it just a straightforward crimp on ferrule? That little screw ferrule looks like a 35 cent item if one can find them. Good luck.