Hi I’m Mike and on this installment of Summit Racing Quick Flicks we are going to discuss
assembling your own custom spark plug wire sets.
To assemble a set of custom spark plug wires, you are going to need three tools, you are
going to need a pair of wire snips, a set of crimpers or dyes which may be included
with the set of wires you purchase, and spray lubricant to get the boots on the wires.
There are three steps to assembling your custom wire set.
Step one is to cut the wires to length, step two is to crimp the ends on and step three
is to install the boots.
When you take the wires out of the box the wires are going to be pretty long to start
with and you are going to notice that the boots are already going to be assembled on
the wire for the spark plug ends.
The reason for this is so that you can cut them to the specific lengths that are necessary
for your application.
Whether it be you are running a set of wire looms or you are going to zip tie the wires
in place on your application whether you’re going to run them under or over the exhaust
manifolds.
It is best to go ahead and set up the wires and do basically a dry fit.
Meaning that because the sparkplug boots are already on the wires you can go ahead and
put them in place route them in the position you want them in for your specific application
and then cut them to the specific length necessary for your set up.
Now that your wires have been cut to the proper length, the next step is to crimp your wires.
Before we can do this, it is important to understand what type of crimped ends you are
using there are two versions available, you are going to have a single crimp end and a
double crimp end.
We are going to go ahead and explain how to crimp both of these version terminals on your
wire set.
The first style of a crimped end I’m going to show you how to install is a single crimp
type end which is probably the most common in the industry today that comes with most
type of wire sets.
The first thing you are going to do after cutting your wire to length is go ahead and
strip the end of the wire so we’ll take our crimpers here and you’re probably going
to want to leave three quarters of an inch of the wire lead hang outside the wire after
its been stripped.
Your crimpers will have a stripper attachment in the dye assembly to make this possible.
So let’s crimp down on here, you typically want to crimp down twice or you will end up
buckling it on the end and typically have to twist it off.
You’re going to want to see a lead something to this length.
Next you will want to fold the wire lead over and place the terminal end on the wire making
sure the wire lead coincides with the backside on the terminal then you will want to take
your crimpers and you will notice your crimpers have a defined end on them that are supposed
to coincide with the open end of the connector.
You place those on the terminal and crimp it down into place and what you will end up
with is a connection like that.
The installation of the dual crimp connector in comparison to the single crimp connector
is slightly different starting with the way the wire is stripped.
The dual crimp connector requires that less wire be exposed when the wire is stripped
to be placed in the connector.
Your crimp tool will have a dye in it that is designed specifically to show you the depth
of which the wire should be stripped.
So what you will do is take your wire assembly, place it in the dye crimper and basically
make it flush to the end of the crimper assembly, crimp it down into place and you will see
that is now only going to expose roughly a quarter inch of the wire in comparison to
about three quarters of an inch or so with the single crimp connector instead.
Unlike the single connecter type terminal a dual type terminal does not require the
wire end be bent over instead it is just placed right into the connector and you want it to
coincide with these two tangs here on the connector itself.
Then what you will do is take your crimpers and on the end of your crimpers you will notice
that you have these two jaws that are a little different than the rest and place them around
the end that is encompassing the wire, crimp it down and you will notice it caught the
wire assembly then you will take your crimpers and place them like your single connector
connection and crimp them in the normal location and that gives you the dual connector connection.
The final step to assembling your wire set is placing the boot on the wires to do this
it is best to have some type of non-flammable lubricant or maybe some liquid soap to go
ahead and lubricate the pieces so they go together very easily.
I’ll take some spray lubricant typically and ill spray the inside of the boot as well
as the end of the wire so they do not bind up against one another, spread it around here,
then we will go ahead and slide the boot over the end of the wire assembly to the point
where you will be able to see the terminal through the end of the boot.
Now that your custom wire set has been assembled they are ready to be installed on your vehicle.