I recently purchased a set of TA valve covers for my 350 and discovered that the stock valve cover bolts with the extended pins that hold the plug wire looms were not going to work with the cast aluminum covers. I really like the way the stock looms look and work, but the new bolts had a hex head, longer threads, and no extended pins to hold the looms. My solution was to purchase two cheapo (non-hardened) 3/16" Allen wrenches. I cut them at the "bend" and ended up with two straight pieces of hex material about 2 1/2" long. Then I marked off 1/4" on each end. Not having a metal lathe, I inserted one end into the chuck of an electric drill that was secured in a vise. Using first a coarse file, then a finer one, I held the file on the area between the two previously placed marks while the drill was spinning the hex material. You may have to turn the hex material around within the chuck to get all of the center area filed down to the same diameter as the original pins. Make sure you do not file down the 1/4" sections on each end, as they will fit into the new valve cover bolt. Once you get the hex material down to the desired diameter (all six edges filed off), cut the 2 1/2" piece exactly in half. Now you have two pins. Bevel the top of each pin like the originals, paint to prevent rust, and insert in the hex top of the new valve cover bolts. Slide the loom down over the new pin and you're all set. Oh, and don't forget to make two more for the other side with the second Allen wrench you bought!
Hey Jim, first, use larger font, its tough to read your post:eek2: Yes, you can use the factory wire looms, I do on my 350 with the TA aluminum valve covers. Just use the factory bolt/stud combos that hold the looms. The only thing I changed was to remove the "load spreader" at the base of the bolt/stud, not a big deal, no need to make anything fancy, they will work:beers2: Mark
Sorry 'bout the font size. I couldn't figure out what size is "normal" when doing the post. I felt that the original bolts were a tad too short and I wanted to have more threads screwed into the head.
Nice job, thanks for sharing. I went with a bolt on loom on my Poston valve covers. Went with some for a BBC and they did what I wanted them to do.
