Thread: plug wires for the 429

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hey guys, I don't know if this should go here or what.

I need to replace the plug wires on the hotrod, with two things in mind, one is 45 degree boots to clear the headers in spots (right now their straight) and the other is routing, on one side to keep them away from the linkage and the other to get them out of the way of the fuel pressure gauge. My friend said he has the tools to make them and suggested we do that so we make sure they are the right length and can route them however we want.

my questions:

1. what do you think about that?
2. what wire should I go with? there are a lot of frickin' options
3. where can I get the wire seperators/loom thingies like these (mouse over 427)
http://www.roushperformance.com/engines/engines.shtml

4. and last, truck will be cream and chocolate paint in the end, engine is blue with chrome, stainless and blue and red AN fittings. I'm thinking yellow wires, your opinions?

thanks all

red

I used Taylor Pro Spiro (or some similar name). They come in various colors and end configurations. The spark plug end is molded on, but the distributor end is left off so you can cut to length. About $ 70 a set.

As for the color, I don't like plug wires that jump out at you, I much prefer ones that blend in. I think the yellow ones were popular at one time,but have run their course a little now. I would do black, and in fact that is what we also did on the blue engine in my Kid's T.

Don

my distributor cap is a puddy color. I looked and originally it came with a cap that went over the wires, but the guy that we bought the truck from must have taken it off. do you know if I can change that cap? it would look ok with the paint, but I don't think it'll look good with the wires. I like the wire routing you did. I don't know about black, I'll have to look at the engine and think about how it'll play off the other stuff. what about red? blue would probably look pretty good too.

do you have protectors over the boots by the headers?

Red

Mine's not a Ford, but I used Taylor "409" wires and Taylor wire seperators

I generally use the black Taylor Spiro-Pro but this time I did want some contrast with all the aluminum The separators/loom is Made For You

Red, both of our cars have Mallory distributors that come with a red cap. We masked off about 1/8 of an inch around the 8 spark plug wire sockets and one coil wire socket, and spray painted them black with a bug bomb. Paint won't cause any shorts, especially if you keep it back a little from the contact. The boot hides the portion we masked off. Point is, you can paint your cap any color you want.

Don

Don, you just gave me a great method and saved me money. if you ever get stuck in central california for some reason let me know, I'll buy you the savings in beer.

I'll wait on cap then and have it sprayed when we get the truck done, exact match. black might look good after all. gonna have to think about it and maybe ask my uncle if I can get ahold of him, he went back to asia.

Red

oh, what does wire diameter matter? how do I know which wire I need? many variables.

Beer??????? You might see me sooner than you think!!

8MM wire is the most common anymore it seems. The Taylor set, if you go that route, comes as a complete set, and they give you waaaaaaaaaay more length in each of the 8 wires and one coil wire than anyone ever uses. I probably cut 12 inches off of each one and still had plenty.

Taylor wants to sell you a nifty crimp tool to put the ends on, but I just used some regular pliers to pinch the little prongs into the wires. They also give you some silicone grease that makes it easier to first slide the boots over the wires. The whole job is a piece of cake, the toughest part is routing the wires so they look nice and clear stuff.

Don

Originally Posted by Dago Red

do you have protectors over the boots by the headers?
Red

You shouldn't need anything with Taylor's. IMHO some of the best wires for the money with very low impedance per foot at 500 ohms or less.

ok guys, I ended up with the pro reisistor set, was going off the web and didn't realize I wasn't ordering the spiro pro. should I send these back and get the others, its just a 12 buck difference it looks like, and the hassle of shipping. will I see a difference? engine is about 425hp (with cam specs in an online calculator, not counting any port and polish work on the heads). going to have a radio/mp3 player inside, that's about it.

thanks a ot for the help. I got the black ones by the way.

Originally Posted by Dago Red

ok guys, I ended up with the pro reisistor set, was going off the web and didn't realize I wasn't ordering the spiro pro. should I send these back and get the others, its just a 12 buck difference it looks like, and the hassle of shipping. will I see a difference? engine is about 425hp (with cam specs in an online calculator, not counting any port and polish work on the heads). going to have a radio/mp3 player inside, that's about it.

thanks a ot for the help. I got the black ones by the way.

If you have an MSD ignition, they recommend the spiro pro - theirs of course but from what I can see, the Taylors are fine - at least they had best be fine !!!!

I agree, you should be fine.

Don

update, I did end up getting the spiro pro, started running the wires on saturday. got three done (two and the coil) was slow going because of the damn boot and not having the right crimper, I was using lineman's pliers and am pretty certain I still got good crimp and contact but fortunately my uncle called from asia on sunday and had remembered that he had bought the right kind of tool for those ends and knew right where it was. then wednesday my mechanic friend came by and showed me how to use it the right way. going to try to finish it up this weekend, get the new steering box on and run it for a little while.

Red