Question about Wiring

[davyou5]

Hello all,

I have been reading and looking at many things on this site very closely. What peaks my interest this time is trying my hand at wiring Spark Plugs, etc. So can anyone tell me how to get started, and what is the best products to use?

[jbwelda]

well in most cases you will need a pin vise and some micro drills. then you will either need wiring, or a prewired distributor. lots of aftermarket offer the wire and the distributors prewired, i usually get wiring from detail master, but lots of people just collect up wire from whatever they come across: broken electronics, computers etc. i think detail master also makes a very cool multipiece prewired distributor that you have to build (so strictly speaking NOT prewired, now that i think if it).

once youve assembled the necessary material, you drill holes in the heads where the plugs would be located, and run wires from the distributor to the holes representing spark plugs. of course you have to build your distributor by drilling a hole or holes (depending on how realistic you want it to look and/or your eyesight because youre going to test it drilling eight holes in a distributor cap, i can promise you that!) insert the wires into the hole(s) in the distributor and super glue them lightly. then you can make little boots for the wires with a bit of larger wire insulation slipped over the ignition wire. next insert the wire with boot run up the wire a bit into the spark plug hole, apply a small drop of superglue and push the boot down onto the block. when youve done all eight (i assume) wires, you run a middle wire from the dist to the coil mounted somewhere appropriate.

the final step, and the one which really makes the wiring job, is to then work the wires to look like they do on a real motor, that is, kind of drooping into crevices, or kind of grouped together in a neat bundle to the plug holes. also remember on real cars exhaust manifolds melt wires easily so try to route the wires so they dont touch the manifolds (attention to detail counts!). what i do is basically use a sanded down toothpick to run over the wires and get them to sort of settle into crevices and try to create a graceful arc from the distributor down to the level of the plugs or however you are going to run them.

here are some examples of what i mean, some to more or less a level of perfection:

its really pretty easy and adds a lot to an engine compartment. take a look around or find detail masters catalogue on the net and do it!

[crazyjim]

Most of the stuff JBwelda said but I'll either drill out the kit distributor or make my own from 2 pieces of aluminum tubing. I get the ignition wire and wire looms from Scale Dreams. The boot material is from telephone wire - the kind that has 4 wires inside - I strip the covering off and toss the actual wire.

I've done several posts that are somewhere in this forum.

[MikeMc]

MAD.....prewired use them and you won't make them.....

http://www.madmodeling.com/store/index.php?app=ccp0&ns=catshow&ref=distributors&sid=wm4f5021wf1n0t247ls8u3t4d68h75ig

[Harry P.]

The previous posts pretty much cover it, but remember to run the wires so that they "sag" or droop realistically, like on a real engine. The biggest mistake people make when they wire a distributor, after using wire that's way too thick and out of scale, is that they run the wires between the distributor and the cylinder head in big round loops, which is not the way it looks on a real engine.

[davyou5]

Hello all,

Hey guys thanks for the information, I got an idea now, and I am going to try it as soon as I get the necessary tools to do so. I would really like to learn to do this kind of detailing, I will keep everything said here in mind, and try my best. Thanks again.

[jbwelda]

thats kinda what i said harry, but my pics didnt really illustrate it too well, mostly because they were "in process" shots for the most part and i hadnt finished the wiring. the first pic though, the hemi with the red wires, the wires turned out to be too short to droop realistically (measure twice, cut once, doh!) and the buick/rover/morgan/mg v8 the wires on a 1:1 really do arc more or less like that over the valve covers down to the head. the porsche motor was unfinished in that shot and once it was finished i went back and smoothed and drooped the wires more:

thats not completely finished at that stage either im afraid, i drooped the wires lower to attempt to cover the split seam in the cylinders.

i like those MAD prewired distributors, nice cap detail! please post a url for ordering them!

i typically use yellow wire to simulate hypalon or whatever its called ignition wire but i keep running out of the stuff!

[MikeMc]

i like those MAD prewired distributors, nice cap detail! please post a url for ordering them!

Bill follow this link to Kris...tell him I sent you!! MAD

[davyou5]

thats kinda what i said harry, but my pics didnt really illustrate it too well, mostly because they were "in process" shots for the most part and i hadnt finished the wiring. the first pic though, the hemi with the red wires, the wires turned out to be too short to droop realistically (measure twice, cut once, doh!) and the buick/rover/morgan/mg v8 the wires on a 1:1 really do arc more or less like that over the valve covers down to the head. the porsche motor was unfinished in that shot and once it was finished i went back and smoothed and drooped the wires more:

thats not completely finished at that stage either im afraid, i drooped the wires lower to attempt to cover the split seam in the cylinders.

i like those MAD prewired distributors, nice cap detail! please post a url for ordering them!

i typically use yellow wire to simulate hypalon or whatever its called ignition wire but i keep running out of the stuff!

Well even though it was not finished I thought that it was really cool! I want to try it one day when I get the proper tools to do it. Thanks for posting that and to the rest who posted here Thanks, it does give me an Idea of what to do and how to do it, and I did follow the link that was posted above and I found the Distirbutors with the options of many colors I think that I would like to start with red colored wire.