I'm running a Pertronix unit (since 1998 - shhhhhhhh) with a 40,000 volt 'Flame thrower' coil. Should I get 7mm or 8mm wires, and who makes ones that would closely resemble a 'stock appearance'? Suppliers? Also, what would the best 'heat range' and best plug I can use. What gap? This is a street driven car (maybe once a year at the track). Here's the basic details of my motor - Engine - 1970 455 bored .030 over Factory compression ratio (which I believe is actually about 9.4:1) Stock Stage1 heads with no porting (I believe) Stock Stage1 cam (I believe) Stock cast iron intake manifold Ignition - Pertronix/Flame thrower coil Carburetor - 1971 800 CFM, 76 primary and 48 secondary Exhaust - Ported Gessler exhaust manifolds 2.5'' mandral bent exhaust w/ 2.5'' X-pipe Walker Dynomax mufflers - 17749 Thanks for any help/advice :TU:
Marco, I'm running the MSD 8.5 Super Conductor wires. They come in red or black with gray boots. I think they are hard to beat. They have 40-50 ohms/foot. The 31373 set fits a BBC with points. They fit fine on my Stage1. They are Spiral core design and will last you a good long time, certainly longer than the Pertronix. As far as a sparkplug is concerned, I keep going back to the Champion RV17YC. There is a very noticeable difference in performance in my engine when I use these plugs. I have tried Autolite, AC and other plugs, and I keep going back to these. The motor pulls harder with them, I can't explain it, they are equivalent in heat range to an R45TS, but they look different. They are an extended nose plug, and put the spark deeper into the chamber. I run .050 gap with my MSD system, I would stay with .035-.040 for yours. If you try these plugs, let me know if you see a difference. Here's a picture of the 2 plugs side by side.
Champion plugs Larry turned me on to the Champion plugs a few months ago. My car was having fouling probs with the AC's. My car runs smoother, crisper, and hasn't fouled any plugs since change over to the Champions. Works very well for me. Thanks again Larry! :TU:
I'll second the Super conductor and Champion setup. Very nice. Although, my MSD wires were trim to fit (no particular application) and came with Dist. clips for either points or HEI.
Re: Champion plugs Evans, Glad to hear you like those plugs. I switched over to an MSD Digital 6+ ignition. I tried the R43TS plugs and the MSD kept them clean, but I noticed a decrease in power. Went back to the Champions and noticed an immediate difference. Anybody else tried the Champs??
Wow! Thanks for the information Larry, and for the vote of confidence Evans and Jeff! I already located the wires - Summitt Racing for $65. Are there any better places (READ: cheaper) out there? Also, I'll guess that the 8.5 wires are OK for my 'stock', non-HEI, non-box set-up. Will the 8.5mm wires fit through the existing looms, or do new looms come with the package (or need to be purchased) that sit on the existing valve cover posts? Gotta keep things neat, you know :Brow: Anyone know what the resistance for stock 7mm wires is? PS - Larry, the vacuum leak turned out to be something within the carb.
Marco, That wire set will fit the small distributor. That's what I have(ignitionman MSD trigger). The wires will not fit the existing looms. It may be possible to enlarge them, but I bought the MSD looms(8843) and adapted them to fit on the valvecover bolts(like stock). I'll post some pictures later if I can. As far as resistance, the super conductors blow stock wires away. In the December Car Craft, on page 75, they have a tuning article. They compare the MSD Super Conductor wire to stock wiring. The stock used wiring registered 11,700 ohms and the MSD wire was 99.5 ohms. The MSD wire delivers 30X the spark energy to the plugs:eek2: Jegs or Summit will be your best price. Did you need to send the carb back to John Osborne?? Was it an internal vacuum leak from mismatched parts? Or a cracked casting?
Thanks Larry. I'd love to see those 'loom' pictures How hard was it to 'adapt' them to the valve cover posts? As far as the carb goes, Rob said he just took it apart, drilled out the idle passage to richen the idle, and cleaned it up a bit. I'll assume it was an internal leak, because all the other vacuum hoses were OK. He also replaced the base gasket. He said it was pulling way too much air, as the idle would increase (substantially) when your hand was over the primaries. Now, the car will stall :Brow: The car still seems to have a very slight miss at idle only, which is why I'm looking to replace the wires. Acceleration is fine. I was checking the exhaust manifold gaskets (was just replaced) and was shocked by the wire at #7. Turns out the boot was ripped. If one is bad, they are all probably on their way out. Also - Rob said he timed it. He claimed it was at 28 degrees total and he put it at 33. I explained that you put it at 32 two weeks prior with your dial-back light and it seems (to me) that someone's dial-back light is off. Is there any way to verify/calibrate these? Many thanks again Larry!
Marco, Here's a picture of the wire seperators from MSD. The set runs about 18.00, and comes with 2-4wire, 2-3wire, and 4-2wire seperators. I just cut some thin metal strips, drilled a couple of holes, made a right angle bend and attached them under the valvecover bolt so they would sit like the stock ones do.
Marco when I timed your car at Berwyn, I only bumped the initial up by 2 degrees. The total timing if I remember correctly was only 30-31 according to my light. How high did Rob rev the motor? I had to rev it up pretty high, and I didn't want to keep doing that at the picnic. What springs do you have in the distributor?(can't remember if I asked at the picnic). In any case, I'm not sure how accurate Robs light is. I know Doug Hecker ended up advancing his timing at Bowling Green because he thought he was at 34 and he was really at 31 or 32 when he checked it at the track. I think he used Robs light for the initial setup. I might be mistaken, but I do remember talking to Doug about it.
The car still seems to have a very slight miss at idle only, which is why I'm looking to replace the wires. Acceleration is fine. I was checking the exhaust manifold gaskets (was just replaced) and was shocked by the wire at #7. Turns out the boot was ripped. If one is bad, they are all probably on their way out. #5 and #7 are critical wires since they fire next to one another in the firing order 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2
Thanks for the pictures. I'm not sure how high Rob revved the motor I'm pretty sure it still has the 'stock' springs. The wires sound great, but I don't know about the looms. I'll do a little 'digging' and see if I could find 8 or 8.5 looms with the hole already there (like stock style). Did you look for 'stock style' looms before fabricating your own?
I was just looking in Summit at the MSD 8.5 Super Conductor wire set and was wondering if they come in a 135* boot, it doesn't mention it in the copy? Dave Berry
Welp.. I have been using the *stock appearing* black Pertronix wires on Mighty Mouse with a Digital 6+ and they seem to do real good so far. I was surprised actually, since the D6 has some power behind it. J
That's because the PerTronix wires aren't made by them, but are comparable to Borg-Warner "Select" wires, good stuff, surprizingly forPerTronix. Also, PerTronix has two levels of round coils, epoxy and oil filled. Their oil filled coils are good stuff, made here in the U.S., by the company that makes the best coils, but thjeir epoxy coils are made in Taiwan, same factory that now makes the "stops dead in its tracks when it gets to operating temperature" Accel round coil trash. Not all PerTronix stuff is bad, it's only the stuff that ISN'T made by someone else that is junk.
New to site and am still a little confused on wires, plugs, and gap. Have a '72 Skylark 350, 4bbl Rochester Q-jet, HEI and pretty much stock engine after that. SO, which wires, plugs and gap would be a good match setup? Thanks, guys.
