Murphy Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 I hate the word universal but I bought an 8.5mm plug wire kit from Jegs. It looks cool but I'm questioning the crimp? It states to just fold over the center core (once stripped back)so it is squeezed between the silicone jacket & the metal crimp.Doesn't seem real secure to me...........anyone with any insite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHAZBO1975 Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 Hi Murphy Get youself a set of automotive wire stripper/crimping pliers. some have plug wire crimping capabilty. I have two pair one has it one doesnt. I did a quick search and found these http://www.matcotools.com/catalog/product/MST47E/WIRE-STRIPPER-CUTTER/ if you look close to the handle you will see the crimp for 7 & 8 MM wire. You should be able to pick up a similar pair at some of the larger parts stores. You will get a proper crimp that wont come apart when you remove a wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted September 30, 2012 Author Share Posted September 30, 2012 Thanks for the info, I have several crimp tools. I was hoping to here from someone who has used this type of kit & if they've had any issues?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 I purchased the MSD crimper for doing plug wires, it's paid for itself, but I work on cars for a living Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 I have a little plastic crimp tool that clamps in a vise and you insert the wire and smack it several times with a hammer. It makes a very nice looking crimp...much better than using a narrow set of crimp pliers. Â I just did the process of making new wires. It took a while, for sure, but mine went together just as you described with the center conductor folded back over the outside of the wire before crimping on the terminal. Boy, some silicone grease is a must to get the wire fed through the boots before you strip them. Â There is an outer jacket, a braided fiberglass layer, and then an inner jacket...then of course your conductor in the center. The trick is to cut through the layers without touching the inner conductor. If you can cut just beyond the fiberglass layer, bending the wire will break the inner layer and leave the conductor exposed without damage. The inner conductor should look like a pencil lead sticking out: not like a bunch of strands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 Well, I've redone several of the crimps and ohmed out the finished wire, 8 times. Still it seems that I have NO spark when cranking. I put the timing light on #1 and don't even get a flash. Maybe this distributor is bad, I have 12.1v at distributor when cranking???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black07ss Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Is the 12v on the side marked batt? One side is for the 12 and the other is for the tach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Yes, there are two possible connections for wires on the cap. I'm going to assume you have the power going to the correct terminal: it's the one on the right marked "BAT". First you should verify that the distributor is rotating. Remove the cap and actually watch while the engine cranks. Step 2 is to inspect the rotor: it's common for those to burn right through the center and let your spark travel to the distributor shaft instead of sending it to your wires... take the rotor off and inspect the underside. Â I'd guess that most likely you have a bad module in your distributor. They are easy to replace, they just held in with a couple of screws and no adjustments needed. The module senses the rotating distributor shaft and sends a signal to the coil to fire. When the module goes bad, it never tells the coil to do anything. The coil itself is not prone to failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo's70MCs Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Just a thought could it be missing the carbon rotor button? Just below the coil or broken? Worst things have happen... though if you have voltage at the distributor and rotor is turning I would agree with Mark that it may be the ignition module. Â Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 Thanks to all for the assistance! Got her running last nite and she purrs like akitten. Here's what I figured out, or at least my assessment, when installing the HEI into the exact rotor location of the original points distributor she wouldn't fire and fuel was coughing up out the carb without even touching the pedal. Obviously, flooding quite quickly. Being flooded like that nothing was going to fire. The Haynes manual shows that the wire locations on the distributor are off one position between the 2 styles off distributor. So after letting the car sit for an hour, I pulled the HEI and dropped it in one tooth clockwise. Now she fired but running really, really rough,slightly improved by rotating the dist. But this did give me the opportunity to put the timing light on to see the timing mark was several inches above the timing plate. So I then decided to pull HEI again, and install back to original position (it's all by feel of course)then installed one tooth counter-clockwise. She popped right off as if to say 'thank you'! The timing light showed the mark really close to the mark and a slight adjustment had her purring!! So the question is...since the plug wire on the dist. have #1 wire towards cylinder #2 (points style diagram) vs #1 wire towards #1 cylinder (HEI diagram) must be the reason I had to rotate one tooth counterclockwise on the dist. gear??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo's70MCs Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 You got it! So tell us did'nt that upgrade just wake up that motor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted October 13, 2012 Author Share Posted October 13, 2012 OH BABY! Plus I just finished with headers and flowmaster 44's via 2 1/4" pipe. This was a single exhaust car. It's a different car! Tomorrow I'm going to open up the gap a bit as White Performance (HEI vender) suggested .042 to .045 for gap, then going for a cruse............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 It really doesn't matter where you want to put #1 plug wire, as long as the rotor is pointed to it at TDC, and the firing order is correct. Most manuals will tell you that #1 should be in particular spot, but that's mainly so you don't have fitment issues with spark plug wire lengths. I always set mine with #1 being in the first space to the right of the vacuum can. Â Nice job on getting it figured out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black07ss Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 It really doesn't matter where you want to put #1 plug wire, as long as the rotor is pointed to it at TDC, and the firing order is correct. Most manuals will tell you that #1 should be in particular spot, but that's mainly so you don't have fitment issues with spark plug wire lengths. I always set mine with #1 being in the first space to the right of the vacuum can. Â Nice job on getting it figured out. Â Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted October 13, 2012 Author Share Posted October 13, 2012 Good info, thanks! So you could shift the wire position one post on the cap and not affect anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 It really doesn't matter where you want to put #1 plug wire, as long as the rotor is pointed to it at TDC, and the firing order is correct. Most manuals will tell you that #1 should be in particular spot, but that's mainly so you don't have fitment issues with spark plug wire lengths. I always set mine with #1 being in the first space to the right of the vacuum can. Â Nice job on getting it figured out. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 Boy does she run nice!! I've gapped the plugs at .045 and timed at 6 BTDC, the book says 8 degrees? Any insight on the timing of a stock 71 SBC350? Doesn't this refer to the spark is just prior to the piston reaching TDC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 I have a 1971 350 4 BBL all stock numbers matching engine. For years and years I ran mine off the tab around 12 BTDC. Lately I've been getting some spark knock on regular so I backed it off to 8 BTDC at idle (set with with the vacuum advance hose unhooked). My mileage has gone down a bit. I wonder how different today's gas is other than the 10% ethanol and then there is the whole summer gas vs winter gas thing. Play with it and see what it likes! Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Good info, thanks! So you could shift the wire position one post on the cap and not affect anything? Sure, but you have to pull the distributor and reposition where the rotor is pointing. Â I think todays gasolines are less volatile than the old stuff...meaning it evaporats slower and is more resistant to detonation and pinging (it also ignites slower). I guess you could say it's less explosive. The main reason is emissions related to try and keep less of it from just evaporating into the air. Because the gasoline has changed, your timing should change also. I think you will find that it really wakes up the old girl to adjust it as Bruce said, with more advance somewhere in the 10-12 degree range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 actually Mark has that backwards, lower octane gas ignites easier, and burns faster, that's why you can/need to run more timing than with higher octane gas, it burns slower and resists pre-ignition, it is also why lower octane gas can result in spark knock and pre-ignition, it's actually igniting before the spark plug fires, do to higher cylinder pressure  anyone running higher octane than what is needed by your engine is actually losing power, your engine will perform better with the lower octane fuel  but it is a balancing act between fuel, timing and cylinder pressure (compression) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 Couldn't find in the service manual the recommended octane for these cars back in the day, just curious............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 It's altogether possible that I don't know what I'm talking about, but I was trying to compare a regular grade fuel of the 70's with a regular grade fuel of the present. The octane ratings may be the same but the recipie has changed. For example, in the 70's lead was a common additive to supress the flash rate and raise the octane rating, but that isn't used in todays fuels...instead, chemicals such as ethanol are used. Â When comparing what is available today, Sam is correct: the higher octane fuels are harder to ignite and burn more slowly than the lower octane fuels. Here is a useful quote: "Octane ratings are not indicators of the energy content of fuels. It is only a measure of the fuel's tendency to burn in a controlled manner, rather than exploding in an uncontrolled manner. Where the octane number is raised by blending in ethanol, energy content per volume is reduced". Â It's a technical subject and I'm no chemist. I was just trying to suggest that vintage fuels from the 70's may have been a different animal than the fuel that's dispensed today. I still think his engine will be happier with more than 8 degrees timing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 there are so many variables that contribute to it, it's confusing, but as Mark said, I think it will be happier with more timing, add a few more degrees of timing and test drive, does it start good? any spark knock? no....add a few more degrees  how it starts and spark knock will tell you when to stop adding timing one sign that my 454 gives me is it will run-on (dieseling) when I turn it off, this usually happens when I mix premium and mid-grade, I could back off the timing some, but it runs so much better with all the timing it will take until it doesn't start correctly (slow cranking/hard starting) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 My last little test run (15 miles) really has sold me on the HEI conversion, anyway, I'm up to 10degrees with easy starts, no ping & and excellant acceleration! I must confess that I've left a considerable amount of rubber several miles back.....but that's why I have her. Too have some fun!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Sounds great! Are you running regular unleaded? IMO It's nice to be able to run regular unleaded gas and not premium or mid grade. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.