Chinaski

boy, i'll tell you what! i opened a big can of worms on this one...i didn't realize changing spark plug wires could be so tedious. first off, these things were routed underneath the engine mounts, i guess that is what it is....i don't see how a person could do that without disassembling the wires, or that is the way the rebuilt engine was installed....i have put all of the new spark plugs in, which was easy, and installed all of the new wires except 2...the ones that go thru that little heat shield thingy...this has turned out to be pretty labor intensive, then again, this is the first time i've done anything to my vette....i guess it is a learning process...i started her up with the new plugs and she still rumbles like before!

'74 pretty much stock L-48 coupe driver
needs more money :nopity
4 speed w/ no factory options

RATT7

I Will have to do the same for my 1980, apparently you should be able to pull the boots off the plugs and then run them through the motor mounts, its a pain but its the only way to do it. the worst thing was changing the plugs on the a/c side of the motor, not easy to get at.

vettfixr

Been there and done that and you're right, it is a PITA. When I had the engine out for rebuilding I made sure I put a new set of wires on it then because it was never going to be easier. The upside is that this past winter I put headers on the car and the stock wire routing worked very well in keeping the wires away from the pipes. Could it be that maybe GM actually knew what it was doing? :confused:

Tom73

Through the motor mount is standard for the # 1 and # 2 wires. I just pulled the distributor end boot off the wire and ran it from the plug back to the distributor. Without the boot on it will easly fit through the motor mount.

tom...

stickboy

Big PITA, but that is the way it came from the factory. Since my wires were preassembled, I unbolted the engine from the mounts and lifted the engine. Plenty of room to push the wires thru :cheers:

Chinaski

allright, i guess i better take the boot off from the distributor side and do this the "right way" -- besides, once i'm done i shouldn't have to mess with it for a looong time...hopefully, knock on fiberglass! thanks for your help guys....one more thing, is it that critical to pull those wires thru the motor mounts? :chevy

RATT7

I would remove the boots from the dist end and route them through the motor mounts and per factory, not sure why GM did this but hey it works. The wires regardless have to route from the bottom up I beleive that the going through the motor mount does shield it from certian area of the exhaust manifold, but how ever that is the way it left the factory

Noel Carboni

Are you particularly concerned about it looking original?

I ask because you can get the little wire holders that bolt to the valve cover hold downs (e.g., Accel) and run the wires quite neatly over the top. That's what I did. Much more serviceable. P.S., I'm on my 4th set of wires.



-Noel


[Modified by Noel Carboni, 4:51 PM 5/7/2002]

RATT7

I dont believe that the factory routing of the wires really mean alot, although when the wires go through the mounts then this eliminates getting wire looms and reconfiguring the whole thing - I noticed that on my car there where no wire looms mounted to the valve covers so it may be easier or just as easy to route depending on your personal preference

Chinaski

i don't have a problem with the way the wires are configured on the 4 cylinders closest to the firewall, it's just those 4 wires that have to routed thru the heat shield and motor mounts that are a PITA...Noel, i'm not that concerned with originality....I like the idea of routing, at least those 4 wires, down the valve covers...why have you been thru 4 sets of spark plug wires? were they going bad, or do you just like changing spark plug wires! :lol: if your wires are going bad maybe there is a reason for the original wire configuration.

Noel Carboni

Spark plug wires actually go bad faster than you think. Note that my car has 200+ K miles.

Okay, at least one of my changes was to change the color from yellow to a much :cool:er black, not to mention wire cores for better performance. :)

-Noel


[Modified by Noel Carboni, 7:57 PM 5/7/2002]

fontking1a

I go over the top with my plug wires on my car and it's got headers. Been doing it this way since 1970. No heat shields, no radio interference braided stuff. Keep it simple. Everything runs great and has for years.