Best source for sparkplug wires

Old Henry

Old Henry

Well-known member
I just installed a new set of sparkplug wires in my 47 V8 that I bought from CW moss. I haven't been able to get reliable spark through half of them. They seem defective because everywhere they are bent the outer layer of insulation cracks. (See photos)

Is there a better source for sparkplug wires than CW Moss? I want authentic stock style, not some modern incarnation.
 

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Angledrive said:
https://brillman.com/product/1946-1948-ford-car-1945-1947-truck-8-cyl-spark-plug-wire-set/
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TomT/Williamsburg said:
I heartily second Brillman …..
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Thanks for the Brillman suggestion, but, it looks like the wires shown in the picture of their listing for my car wouldn't work with the original stock rabbit ears distributor cap that I use, at least the ends that are inserted into the inner distributor cap aren't like the ones on all of the wires I've used before. I've contacted them for clarification.

Any other suggestions?
 
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I got the plug wires (brown) for my '46 Coupe from Carpenter, and installed in "rabbit ear" distributor. Been on the car for 5 years now with no issues.

I'd like to see a video of a worker at the Ford plant doing the distributor wiring, to figure out what the secret is to doing it in less that two hours!
 
51woodie said:
I got the plug wires (brown) for my '46 Coupe from Carpenter, and installed in "rabbit ear" distributor. Been on the car for 5 years now with no issues.

I'd like to see a video of a worker at the Ford plant doing the distributor wiring, to figure out what the secret is to doing it in less that two hours!
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Did the brown outside surface crack when you bent them like mine from CW Moss did? (See pictures in my first post.)

I, likewise, would like to see if original assemblers had a faster way to install those wires than I've been able to figure out.
 
I remember that for a time back in the mid to later 20th century that rabbit ear cap components were unobtanium. A lot of folks had to convert to the crab cap set up to keep them going. They finally started reproducing the rabbit ear stuff so that was a reason to reproduce the high tension conduit stuff as well. I just wonder where those high tension lead materials come from?

Old Henry's leads did some major cracking there. I hope that was just a bad batch. If all of them use the same materials then that could be problematic. I like the old Packard high tension leads. I just wonder how close to original those materials are now. We need good stuff to keep these old engines working.
 
rotorwrench said:
I remember that for a time back in the mid to later 20th century that rabbit ear cap components were unobtanium. A lot of folks had to convert to the crab cap set up to keep them going. They finally started reproducing the rabbit ear stuff so that was a reason to reproduce the high tension conduit stuff as well. I just wonder where those high tension lead materials come from?

Old Henry's leads did some major cracking there. I hope that was just a bad batch. If all of them use the same materials then that could be problematic. I like the old Packard high tension leads. I just wonder how close to original those materials are now. We need good stuff to keep these old engines working.
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I've had the Packard 440 wires recommended. The problem is they say "Packard 440" all over them. Not very authentic looking.
 
rotorwrench said:
I like the old Packard high tension leads. I just wonder how close to original those materials are now. We need good stuff to keep these old engines working.
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I bought a spool of Packard 440 (original stuff) about 10 years ago to make wires for my 32 Cabriolet. I also used original Rajay 90 degree ends. I made the wires to exactly fit my setup - Vertex magneto, angle-drive, etc.. I also ran those wires through stainless-steel wire conduits (with 4 individual tubes). I have had ZERO issues with this setup . . . even with the high-energy of the magneto.

I also recently made a complete setup (off the same spool) for a Harman-Collins dual-coil setup for my friends 302 cubic inch flatty. So far, they have ran perfectly.

Harman-Collins Dual Coils: Also, it is important to note that when running a HC dual-coil crab distributor, that the yellow-plastic mid-plate is VERY susceptible to secondary high voltage leaks if there is any real resistance in the wires. Four cylinders just won't run right. It is super important to use high-quality copper-core wires if you want all cylinders to reliably fire with most older HC dual-coils.

There are some "tricks" to know when trying to get these older HC ignitions to run correctly - you MUST be able to run the secondary voltage through your complete system to check it out. This is why I run these distributors on my "Frankenstein" modified distributor machine - with both coils and the spark plug wires that will go with the specific HC distributor being tested. You cannot just check the distributor out without doing the above - or you're likely to have 4 cylinders that don't fire correctly. In quite a few cases, I have to modify the yellow mid-plate to stop the voltage leaks and misfires.
 
I recently installed a set of the brown wires on a customer car. They are terrible in flexibility and yes they crack. If they are the brown wires they are the same from all the suppliers .
I’m very experience at it and they are a bear plain and simple. I’ve had an easier time doing V12’s.

I don’t know they answer for authentic brown wires unless you want to paint the ends and put the original style crimp end on packard 4-40 wire which is very flexible.
Please advise if someone has a good answer on this
 
larrys40 said:
I recently installed a set of the brown wires on a customer car. They are terrible in flexibility and yes they crack. If they are the brown wires they are the same from all the suppliers .
I’m very experience at it and they are a bear plain and simple. I’ve had an easier time doing V12’s.

I don’t know they answer for authentic brown wires unless you want to paint the ends and put the original style crimp end on packard 4-40 wire which is very flexible.
Please advise if someone has a good answer on this
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Yours is the best information I've received, to know that all brown wires come from the same place and all crack the same as I've got. I will do exactly as you suggest - use the Packard 440 wire using the end connectors from my brown wire set. I'll unsolder the distributor ends from the old wire and solder them onto the new wire. I'll remove the stock sparkplug connectors from the old wire and install them on the new wire. I'll paint the exposed section of the Packard wire with brown paint to match the stock wires. Hope it works.
 
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