I'm in the process of replacing the spark plug wires which on first thought sounds easy but its the first time i've done it and the old ones are threaded through the steel plate protection on the side of the engine. Does anyone have any hints on how to do this easily and quickly??

At the moment I'm thinking I'll have to remove the starter which seems extreme!!!!

Thanks

 

a guy on here (forgive me for not remembering who) used electricians tape and pulled them thru with that... makes sense.. i just used patience and debated trying to grow a 2nd elbow!

 

AAAAAALLLLLRIGHTY....have no fear, James is here. ......anywho, I did this about 2 weeks ago, the way I did it was I took the boot off of the spark plug wire and I fished it through the end of the heat shield. I put it through the side of the heat sheild that was not next to the motor mount. By sliding it through, it popped out on the other side of the heat shield and cleared the motor mount. MAJOR PITA, but I did the number 1 and 2 wires in about 30 minutes, the rest were pretty easy. The trick is taking the boots off of the wires. Good luck hope this helps.

 

For 1 and 3 I removed the boomarang-shaped channel, but on 2 and 4 I taped a draw-wire to pull through. My headers added to clearance issues. 5,6,7 & 8 went fast. Several hours for the job, including jack stands cuz I just couldn't reach some spaces.

 

Mein Gott!

Is that the nonsense required on the standard heat shields and such?

Wow.



I am IMPRESSED!!!

I hate to tell you I ripped all 8 of mine off in about 45 secs a couple of days ago, with only another minute and a half to pull both valve covers.

Well if I wore one, my hat would be off to you guys for perseverance.

 

How long did it take to install new ones????????

 

Pull the motor, it makes it much easier!!

 

I have done this more than a dozen times over the years on both C2's & C3's. It is a major pain, but the results are always worth it. Not only does it look good when done, but I have never had a wire short out (or burn) doing it this way and I have when not routing them through the shields. I highly recommend taking the time to route them this way unless it's just impossible.

The last two cars I did this on, I purchased a set of the factory style 8mm (HEI) wires even though they were for points ignition. These were both street cars where I was looking for reliability and durability. These wires are outstanding under normal circumstances and last a very long time, and they're pretty darn good for high performance applications as well.

I remove both the distributor-end boot and the contact, then feed them through the motor mounts and shields one at a time up to the distributor. I usually remove the shields to do this as it allows me to clean & detail them at the same time, but this isn't always necessary. By removing the boot and contact, I can trim the wire to the exact length for each wire and this makes securing them (tucking them) in the shields that much easier. (1 or 2 out of 8 will be the exact length I want them.) Re-attaching the boot and contact is easy. Use a little silicone spray on the wire before slipping it through the boot, it works like a charm.

Take your time and you won't find it too frustrating. In the end, the results are worth it. Good luck...

GUSTO

 

I really don't know what this is about since mine are out in the open.

Would taping the new wire to the old one work for a fish? Seems like the old is already in place and could be used to pull the new one into place.

 

Yes, I had to do this with 2 of mine. I believe the small blocks had the shielding maze but the 454's did not (loom over valve cover). By the way, I saw no reason to rush through this and it was time well spent.

 

If yours are out in the open you don't have the factory shielding installed. Replacing the plug wire is a simple but time consuming process with all the factory shielding installed. When I did mine the lower "V" shielding got pulled off and then reinstalled after I ran the plug wires. It should only take about two hours if you take you time... Drink some BEER and clean up also... Dave..

 

BBs I guess don't run the same kind of shielding. I did put the Braided wires on mostly for looks.
If I had to do that I doubt I would. I would run them out in the open and see if they interfered with the radio. Seems too much problem to do and could just introduce wear to the wires, but I don't care much about the originality of the engine appearance.
The only good thing about this hidden thing is at least you don't have to do it often!