Go Back   The Ford Barn > General Discussion > Early V8 (1932-53)

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-16-2019, 11:24 PM   #1
Newc
Senior Member
 
Newc's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,462
Default Spark plug leads; threading thru the tubes '48

Hi; I am pondering the difficulty of threading new leads thru the tubes for my '48 engine. I see that there is a cross over involved at the dist. and the fit seems tight. Our RG 9 is going to do a meeting nite seminar on this job. Any Ideas fellows? Newc
Newc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-17-2019, 12:06 AM   #2
deuce_roadster
Senior Member
 
deuce_roadster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Shelton, WA
Posts: 3,779
Default Re: Spark plug leads; threading thru the tubes '48

Yes, on those 46-48 caps, you need to hog out the inside of the outer cap where the wires come in and radius and smooth all the areas that make it hard to thread the wires through at the base of the "Y". A die grinder does the job easily. After you do that, the rest is easy.
deuce_roadster is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Old 03-20-2019, 11:25 PM   #3
Newc
Senior Member
 
Newc's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,462
Default Re: Spark plug leads; threading thru the tubes '48

Thanks all; Newc
Newc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2019, 05:31 AM   #4
johndee138
Senior Member
 
johndee138's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Atlanta GA
Posts: 505
Default Re: Spark plug leads; threading thru the tubes '48

a little silicone spray will ease your passage
johndee138 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2019, 08:01 AM   #5
51woodie
Senior Member
 
51woodie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Chelmsford, ON Canada
Posts: 524
Default Re: Spark plug leads; threading thru the tubes '48

Deuce has it right. When I did my '46, the outer cap I got from DC had sharp edges where the wires exit to the "rabbit ears". I radiused the sharp edges with a Dremel tool and as Deuce says, hogged the passages out. In my case, I coated the passages with dielectric grease to ease pulling the wires through. I took a photo of the original routing of the wires going in to the inner cap, and used that as a reference to get the wires laying in so the outer cap could be pressed up tight by hand to the inner cap. It is a tight squeeze. I also noticed that the two holes in the inner cap I got from DC did not have the "flashing" removed, so there was no passage between the inner/outer cap, like there was on the original cap. I don't know if that is important or not, but I took the end of a drill bit and removed the thin layer of "flashing". The people on the assembly line must have been artists at doing this job. One more thing before you start assembly. Make sure you number your wires, have them plugged it to the right places in the inner cap, and routed to the correct outlet in the tubes. After I assembled mine, I checked with a multimeter between the stud inside the inner cap and the end of each lead, and had to go back and move two leads to the correct location. It would have been a lot of grief had I installed everything, only to find out may mistake when I fired the engine up.
51woodie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2019, 05:55 PM   #6
RKS.PA
Senior Member
 
RKS.PA's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Marana, AZ
Posts: 1,192
Default Re: Spark plug leads; threading thru the tubes '48

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Thank you all for this post. I just "relieved" my outer cap in anticipation of the new brown solid copper core wires I'm getting from G&G. Right now I have the crab cap on, but I want to get back to the original rabbit ear set up.
RKS.PA is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2019, 10:47 PM   #7
ALmotoman
Junior Member
 
ALmotoman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Fairhope, AL
Posts: 28
Default Re: Spark plug leads; threading thru the tubes '48

I initially wanted to keep my '48 "rabbit ear" distributor original too. I spent literally hours trying to fit eight sparkplug wires, plus the distributor wire, through the ears into the cap. I get that Ford was trying to moisture proof the distributor, but I also think the two part system was a questionable design. I don't know why the ears could not have been made wider to better accommodate the wiring. But even then, all the wires still have to bend like 150 degrees back to pop into the cap. I finally gave up and took someone's suggestion to change to the earlier crab style cap. I like that it's flatter against the engine and super easy to work with.
ALmotoman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2019, 11:39 PM   #8
RalphM
Senior Member
 
RalphM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: North Pole, Alaska
Posts: 2,646
Default Re: Spark plug leads; threading thru the tubes '48

Electricians wire pulling lubricant works wonders too.
RalphM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2019, 12:09 AM   #9
Tinker
Senior Member
 
Tinker's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: MN
Posts: 7,053
Default Re: Spark plug leads; threading thru the tubes '48

Quote:
Originally Posted by ALmotoman View Post
I initially wanted to keep my '48 "rabbit ear" distributor original too. I spent literally hours trying to fit eight sparkplug wires, plus the distributor wire, through the ears into the cap. I get that Ford was trying to moisture proof the distributor, but I also think the two part system was a questionable design. I don't know why the ears could not have been made wider to better accommodate the wiring. But even then, all the wires still have to bend like 150 degrees back to pop into the cap. I finally gave up and took someone's suggestion to change to the earlier crab style cap. I like that it's flatter against the engine and super easy to work with.



Some good info already posted....



I have a 37/38 helmet, and I made up my own wires with spare wire stock. They fit fine. start at the contacts, then the covers. Wire looms next, off the dizzy. Leave the wires long. It's not easy but somehow they were done.



What size wires are you using?
Tinker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2019, 02:54 AM   #10
ford38v8
Senior Member
 
ford38v8's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 6,616
Default Re: Spark plug leads; threading thru the tubes '48

Back up a bit to the fit of the rotor: Turn it by hand to observe the relationship of rotor to cap contacts, from each side in turn. Make adjustments accordingly, to prevent breakage of rotor or cap during the first firing of the engine. If gaps are too wide, a little solder on the cap contacts will close those gaps, with excess solder being easily cut by the rotor contact itself.

Fish wires can be run through the conduit holes to attach to the correct plug wires for pulling all wires simultaneously. Distributor ends of the wires should be complete and installed before final adjustment of wires in conduit and plug ends completed.
__________________
Alan
ford38v8 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:19 AM.