Spark Plug Wires

[RalphG]

Plug wires on the 52 Merc date to the 1960s at least and are the solid core wire type. If I was to consider replacing them would it be better to go with carbon fibre or try to keep the original style? These wires put out a tremendous amount of interference on am radios and the older type tvs yet are not visibly damaged.

[corvette8n]

I guess the question would be how often do you listen to the radio or watch tv with the Merc running nearby?, I’d probably go with the wire thats most original.

[RalphG]

Originally Posted by corvette8n

I guess the question would be how often do you listen to the radio or watch tv with the Merc running nearby?, I’d probably go with the wire thats most original.

Interesting side note on that. Back in the sixties when we'd ride in the Merc to visit Grandma in town the neighbour across the street used to say he always knew when my dad was driving up in the Merc by the lines on his tv screen.
I'm still running those same spark plugs and wires today.

[18tillidie]

Originally Posted by RalphG

Interesting side note on that. Back in the sixties when we'd ride in the Merc to visit Grandma in town the neighbour across the street used to say he always knew when my dad was driving up in the Merc by the lines on his tv screen.
I'm still running those same spark plugs and wires today.

Where do I buy me a set of spark plugs and leads nowadays that will last me 60 years???

[Merc Cruzer]

Originally Posted by 18tillidie

Where do I buy me a set of spark plugs and leads nowadays that will last me 60 years???

I think Carpenter still sells an origional set. Not cheap is I remember right.

[sidevalve8ba]

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I have agree with Tom T. I have had very good luck with Brillman Co.

[34fordy]

Originally Posted by RalphG

Interesting side note on that. Back in the sixties when we'd ride in the Merc to visit Grandma in town the neighbour across the street used to say he always knew when my dad was driving up in the Merc by the lines on his tv screen.
I'm still running those same spark plugs and wires today.

When I was dating my wife in 1964 my father-in-law said he could tell when I was coming as the TV went whaco. They lived on a farm about 3/4 of a mile from the highway. Probably gave him time to load his shotgun. LOL. He actually liked the dumb kid from town!

[19Fordy]

If you don't mind the static, keep the solid wires.

[tubman]

One thing I've found that if you run solid wires, replacing the coil to distributor wire with a piece of suppression wire helps a lot with interference. Every spark impulse goes through the suppression wire, but the long runs to the plugs are unimpeded by extra resistance.

[52flthed]

Originally Posted by tubman

One thing I've found that if you run solid wires, replacing the coil to distributor wire with a piece of suppression wire helps a lot with interference. Every spark impulse goes through the suppression wire, but the long runs to the plugs are unimpeded by extra resistance.

Can replacing just the hot wire with a suppression type of wire cause any staring problems like hard starts? Have you ever heard of that?

[tubman]

Originally Posted by 52flthed

Can replacing just the hot wire with a suppression type of wire cause any staring problems like hard starts? Have you ever heard of that?

By "hot wire", are you referring to the coil wire? If so, I haven't had any problems currently. However, the car (a '51) came with a factory coil wire that had a black "thingy", about 1/2" in diameter and 1 1/4" long, in the middle of a couple of pieces of regular solid core spark plug wires. It came on the car when I got it and the car was very original. The car started to run badly after a couple of years, and replacing that funny coil wire fixed it. I figured it was a factory suppression device that had gone bad; which is where I got the idea of using a piece of suppression wire as a replacement, that seems to have worked. Dissecting the black "thingy" without destroying it proved to be impossible.

[52flthed]

Originally Posted by tubman

By "hot wire", are you referring to the coil wire? If so, I haven't had any problems currently. However, the car (a '51) came with a factory coil wire that had a black "thingy", about 1/2" in diameter and 1 1/4" long, in the middle of a couple of pieces of regular solid core spark plug wires. It came on the car when I got it and the car was very original. The car started to run badly after a couple of years, and replacing that funny coil wire fixed it. I figured it was a factory suppression device that had gone bad; which is where I got the idea of using a piece of suppression wire as a replacement, that seems to have worked. Dissecting the black "thingy" without destroying it proved to be impossible.

Yes I meant the coil wire. I had head scratching problems with antique Ford radio that had been converted to an Aurora digital radio, bluetooth, USB, AM, FM with running non-supression wires but not with the radio signal, with the modern features of it playing songs from your iPhones library it would skip songs like crazy, even off a USB plug in it would skip the songs to the next so fast all you could hear was a jumble of snippets of sounds. Switching all wires to suppression cured it as did keeping the old style solid core wires and just replacing with one suppression wire on the coil wire but also tying that suppression wire in a figure eight loop as they show in the directions from the radio kit. It was a frustrating but interesting learning experience. Then recently someone told me that using suppression wire on proper 6v systems was a no-no and that it could cause starting issues. Like hard starts when engine is warm, almost mimicking of vapor lock. I wonder if anyone has heard of using suppression wire causing starting problems on 6v cars and trucks?

[ford38v8]

Where else are you going to find that old classic static these days? Keep the static for the memories it brings.

[Ronnieroadster]

If your car is still 6 volt running any type of suppression wire is not a very good idea from what I have experienced in the past. Carbon fiber suppression wire works great with 12 volts for sure. But at six volts the actual spark potential compared to the original style solid core type plug wires may be reduced.
Ronnieroadster

[RalphG]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like I'll stay with steel core wires if I do change any. What I needed most was a new end on the coil wire where it plugs into the distributor. I was able to salvage one off a old wire today and attached it. Should be good.

[tubman]

Originally Posted by RalphG

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like I'll stay with steel core wires if I do change any. What I needed most was a new end on the coil wire where it plugs into the distributor. I was able to salvage one off a old wire today and attached it. Should be good.

Ralph, in case you missed my post, changing just the coil wire to suppression wire really helps with AM interference. Try it; it's easy and cheap, and works.

[RalphG]

Originally Posted by tubman

Ralph, in case you missed my post, changing just the coil wire to suppression wire really helps with AM interference. Try it; it's easy and cheap, and works.

Thanks. I'll give that a try if I can find one to experiment with.

[fredM]

Not only neighbor's televison sets, but while sitting at red lights or when a car passes you, their radios will have static too. Not many folks will know why though.

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by fredM

Not only neighbor's televison sets, but while sitting at red lights or when a car passes you, their radios will have static too. Not many folks will know why though.

Now, that right there is more than enough reason to get rid of any suppression wires you may now have!

[GB SISSON]

I think that static escaping from my solid wires must be good for my pacemaker as I always feel recharged after driving one of my old fords.