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So with this new project car of mine, I'm getting the little things that I have found first; fixed first. So I have started with oils and now doing plugs/cap/wires. I had to fix the exhaust first, I couldn't take it-all of it.
So the wires were todays project, who came up with those heat shields by the block??????? I don't know if the wires are suppose to be put behind the motor mounts but they were and someone had put tie wraps on to hold them together. Pain in the _____! So does everyone use the shields or run without them?
So what is more of a pain to do then the wires?
Last edited by buelldude; Dec 14, 2016 at 04:37 PM.
Hi b,
Originally the 2 forward plug wires ran through the opening in the motor mounts. It's easiest to accomplish that by starting to run those wires from the plug end so you're pushing the distributor wire end through the motor mount.
The 4 spark plug heat shields and 2 spark plug boomerang heat shields are a nuisance to mount but do protect the wires from the exhaust heat.
Regards,
Alan
This is left side looking from the front… you can see the path of the wire through the mount.
And the boomerang shield that protects those wires from the exhaust heat.
One of the tricks to routing the plug wires through the mount is to remove the plug wire boot and reinstall it after the wire has been fed through the mount.
I took the bottom shields off because I am running headers, bought wires that withstand higher heat and keep them away from the headers by running them as if they were stock wires, kept the chrome pieces in the back to hold wires in place back there.
So does everyone use the shields or run without them?
If you still have them....use them.
So what is more of a pain to do then the wires?
A lot more on this car is more of a pain than the spark plugs wires. I just do not want to begin the long list. The spark plug wires and routing is a 'walk in the park' compared to some other areas on a Corvette. And I am commenting from decades of experience on that.
2025 c3 ('74-'82) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2019 C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods)
If you have the old wires running through the boomerang remove a wire and the boot from the distributor end and tie a string to the end and pull the wire out from the plug end.
Remove the same boot from the new wire, attach the string and pull it back up.
route them any way you want
looks cleaner running underneath but honestly over or behind the valve covers doesnt matter to anyone except you
Not meaning to be a 'Killjoy'. Actually it 'kinda does' make a difference if a person is concerned about the heat from the cast iron exhaust manifolds. I personally/ professionally would not want wires going over the top of my valve covers and then have to go over the top of my cast iron manifolds to make it to the spark plugs.
Now with the Corvettes I work on with headers....if the tubes allow a clean path for the wires to make it to the spark plugs...then routing them over the top of the valve covers and coming down would be OK...because there is not a hot tube under the wires radiating heat upwards.
And also using the heat boots and sleeving material to further protect the spark plug wires and boots from heat does not hurt either.
Not meaning to be a 'Killjoy'. Actually it 'kinda does' make a difference if a person is concerned about the heat from the cast iron exhaust manifolds. I personally/ professionally would not want wires going over the top of my valve covers and then have to go over the top of my cast iron manifolds to make it to the spark plugs.
Now with the Corvettes I work on with headers....if the tubes allow a clean path for the wires to make it to the spark plugs...then routing them over the top of the valve covers and coming down would be OK...because there is not a hot tube under the wires radiating heat upwards.
And also using the heat boots and sleeving material to further protect the spark plug wires and boots from heat does not hurt either.
DUB
I gave up and put on ceramic plug boot ends, and sealed the wires with RTV against any water/corrosion, grenade proof for about ten years now....knock on wood.....
I gave up and put on ceramic plug boot ends, and sealed the wires with RTV against any water/corrosion, grenade proof for about ten years now....knock on wood.....
Once again I hear of something that I have never heard of before. I have never heard of using RTV on spark plug wire boots to seal them. Seems to work for you which is great.
I use dielectric grease which seals out moisture at my shop.
I'm just doing this on my 70 and after I had all the wires off I was thinking how the h--l am I going to re installed them . But I'm doing it by the book so wish me patience I remember doing this to my 80 and had a good swearing session at the engineers that invented this , but was glad when it was all done right .
The GM side covers (cant see mine very well in the picture below, retained on the rebuild of the L-82 in 2014) are a god sent to keep the wires off the manifolds or headers. I use Accel 9000 ceramic boot wires (not on in the pictures below) which are also head and shoulders above most of the wires out there, especially with headers which I have.
Last edited by jb78L-82; Dec 19, 2016 at 09:30 AM.
plug wires or ???
??????? I don't know if the wires are suppose to be put behind the motor mounts but they were and someone had put tie wraps on to hold them together. Pain in the _____! So does everyone use the shields or run without them?
