what would be best for plug wires?

[dale]

I am curently building a 1940 willys gasser and want to detail my engine. I was wondering what i could use for plug wires? I tried using thread but it didnt work to well. I no that there are after market plug wires but i cant by them of the internet. I was just wondering if there was something that i could substitute that would work for making plug wires. Any help would be much appreciated.

[slant6]

I saw a tip on here about using the wire from inside a phone cord, I havent tried it, but it looks like it would be pretty accurate. Just make sure no one is using the phone you're about to destroy.

[rtcarey11]

Radio Shack has some different color wires you could use.

Ray Carey

rtcarey11

[935k3]

if you have a Radio Shack or similar electronics store near you then you can buy a roll of "wrapping" wire for a few dollars. Radio Shack has red, white and blue wire and i've even found some grey mixed in with the white before. the wire is prefect sized for spark plug wires and that spool should last you a long time. some builders like to buy the white wire and paint it different colors or even use Sharpies to color it.

Dave

It appears that Radio Shack has dropped this wire. It was 30ga Wire Wrap Wire. Wire wrapping is not really used in electronics any more. I recently went to a a supplier I got a 100' roll from years ago for $6 and it's now $20. It's getting scarce I'm afraid.

[Mooneyzs]

I personaly use 30ga wire for my spark plug wire on 1/24 & 1/25 scale kits. As others mentioned here I had got mine from radio shack years ago and I belive it was a roll of 50' or so for 2 to 4 dollars at the time. If you Can't find it at radio shack, I am sure you can find it at another electronics shop.

[935k3]

I just checked their website(Radio Shack) and they still sell it, it comes in red,white and blue. Here is the link Wire

Edited March 16, 2010 by 935k3

[diymirage]

i use beading wire

it is also 30 gauge and i buy it ebay in 6 packs (6 colours) for 4 dollar shipped

[crazyjim]

Telephone wire is too big! I order ignition wire from Scale Dreams. Comes in all kinds of colors and Rick has MCG wire looms too. Can't go wrong with there.

[whale392]

Take a trip to Hobby Lobby and in their jewelry section is bead chord. It comes in a variety of different sizes. 24,28, and 30 gauge seem to have the best scale size for the plug wire job, but it has to be painted. I have a butt-load of these spools in all sizes for various projects.

[MikeMc]

This style of motor? Or are you gonna run a magneto?

Kris Morgan (M.A.D.) sells prewired mags and distributors,like this

Edited March 16, 2010 by MikeMc

[MikeMc]

cool Willy's Mike, but what's with the fit of the velocity stacks?

Dave

I didn't know they fit!!!!

the air filters I planned did not fit......I never went back.....the stacks got stuck

[2002p51]

The most common size for high performance plug wires on real cars is 8mm.

8mm = .3149"

28 gauge wire scales out to .315" in 1/25, so 28 gauge is the closest to scale for high performance wires.

24 gauge scales out to 1/2", much too large for plug wires.

30 gauge scales out to .20", which is probably okay for stock type wires.

Can you tell I'm bored at work?

[2002p51]

the 30guage wrapping wire "looks" right on a 1/24-1/25 scale engine.

There are many times when something that is technically out of scale "looks" better than the correct scale size stuff.

I've got some old Detail Master stock type ignition wire that is probably the correct scale size but "looks" too small.

This is a screwy hobby!

[sjordan2]

The most common size for high performance plug wires on real cars is 8mm.

8mm = .3149"

28 gauge wire scales out to .315" in 1/25, so 28 gauge is the closest to scale for high performance wires.

24 gauge scales out to 1/2", much too large for plug wires.

30 gauge scales out to .20", which is probably okay for stock type wires.

Can you tell I'm bored at work?

That sounds pretty knowledgeable to me. However, I always recommend taking the kit or relevant assembly to the store with you so you can match the sizes of aftermarket parts with your eyes, side-by-side.

[Fuel Coupe]

do a search for kynar wire on eBay. there's tons of colors and it 30ga..

[crazyjim]

Does anybody know the gauge of wire the aftermarket guys (Scale Dreams, Model Car Garage, Detail Masters, pre-wired) sell? I usually use wire Model Car Garage wire looms and I need to make sure this 30ga wire will fit through them.

[MRCIVICWITHSTYLE]

I like using phone wire very easy to use

[crazyjim]

I checked with an expert (MAD) and he uses 30 gauge wire. Good enough for me, thank you Kris.

[Kaleb]

I know this is an olde post but some recent findings led me back here. Some guy here local that I was told about went to car shows and he used sewing thread for spark plug and other wires. I will not try to figure out the exact size what it comes out to be in 1:24 scale but I thought it may be worth a shot seeing that most of our wives may have different colors of thread

[Mark Brown]

i'm going to have to try coloring the white wrapping wire with a yellow Sharpie and see if it looks good. Detail Masters yellow race wire looks good and has that nice solid yellow look that matches up to Accel's 1:1 wires, alot of other companies yellow wire is transparent though

using the Sharpies certainly gives you alot of color options though. i had some flourescent orange Taylor wires on one of my 1:1 5.0 Mustangs back in the early 90's, i wonder if i can make that color! yes they were LOUD and looking back, they didn't look that great either. it would be cool, realistic and accurate in scale though.

Dave

You don't have to bother coloring it, Dave - I found this place online where you can buy 100-ft rolls of the wrapping wire in several colors, including yellow. I used the Sharpie method in the past, but found that CA cement removes the coloration, so I was very happy to find this place. The prices are great, too. One spool of each should last a lifetime.

http://www.web-tronics.com/10spof30awgw.html

[crazyjim]

I followed Txrat's advise and searched the web for 30 gauge Kynar wire. There's a guy on ebay sell 9 or 10 different colors. I bought 30 feet of each. I used the green the other day on my '67 Coronet Hemi engine. The wire fits through the PE wire looms perfectly.

Thanks for the tip Shane.

I also have about every color ignition wire sold by Rick over at Scale Dreams too. There is a difference in the colors from ebay and Scale dreams so I've been able to about double the colors I have available.

[Eric Stone]

...used sewing thread for spark plug and other wires. I will not try to figure out the exact size what it comes out to be in 1:24 scale but I thought it may be worth a shot seeing that most of our wives may have different colors of thread

That's a pretty old school way of doing it, and it doesn't look all that realistic. You're right about it being readily available, and there's no shortage of different colors.

[Mark Brown]

That's a pretty old school way of doing it, and it doesn't look all that realistic. You're right about it being readily available, and there's no shortage of different colors.

You got that right - I think the last time I used thread for plug wires LBJ was still president!

[Union Modelworks]

I checked with an expert (MAD) and he uses 30 gauge wire. Good enough for me, thank you Kris.

I know this is a really old post, but I'm wondering if the MAD distributor, with wire, are still the 30 gauge wire as you state? Or if anyone knows for that matter? I'm referring to this one on the site. If that's the case then it looks like we are looking at a 6mm 1:1 size, correct? From all the searches on this forum, most are recommending 8mm, but everyone seems to really like this detail part. Thanks!

[Blown03SVT]

I have some MAD ditributors, the difference of 6mm and 8mm is scale is visibly impossible to see. The wire gauge matches the wrapping wire I have. I am a DIY guy, but after hearing all the praise of Kris's product I pulled the trigger on a few and they are definitely as nice as everyone says they are.