Routing Spark Wires Through Distributor Cap

[LEAZER48]

Is there anyone out there that can share tips on rewiring spark plug wires through a 48 59ab distributor cap,rubber boot and conduits, its like fighting snakes.

[jrvariel48]

I'm not 100% sure on this and hope the pro's will chime in, but I believe the crab style cap will fit. It make things much easier!

[woodiewagon46]

I do not claim to be a pro but this is what I did. I started with the plug closest to the firewall. I taped a piece of strong narrow gauge cord to the plug wire and pulled the wire out leaving several inches of cord. I then taped the "pull cord" to the new wire and lubricated the wire with "pulling compound", this compound is used by electricians when pulling wire thru conduit, this can be obtained at any Lowes or Home Depot in the electrical dept., and reversed the process. This will make pulling the new wire in easier. Repeat the process with the other wires. It made it very easy to do a job some consider a nightmare.

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by jrvariel48

I'm not 100% sure on this and hope the pro's will chime in, but I believe the crab style cap will fit. It make things much easier!

I second that,you will need a cap w/matching rotor a hold down clip kit,most suppliers have them, much better setup my 2 cents

[Kube]

I have never used any cords or such and have yet to have an issue getting the wires through the tubes. The only issues I ever have come from the frustration of getting the wires though the outer cap and plugged in to the inner terminal plate. Then getting all of it together.
A pain in the butt kind of job but very doable with a little patience. I just did one last week - took about 45 minutes.

[Bassman/NZ]

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I replaced my 47 cap setup with the crab cap, rotor and clips. Good move! For the conduits, I put a little dry lube on the wires and they threaded through no problem. I started from the longest one and worked in to the shortest, putting them in from the spark plug end, not the distributer end. Easy job.

[Gary in La.]

I agree with Kube. As your problem area is at the cap and cap outer cover I usually mark each wire with a masking tape tag with the cyl # it goes to. Remember there are several lengthes of plug wires used so determine which length goes where. Draw a diagram of the side the wires go to in the outer cap from the main cap. Procede to plug them into the cap, as you get further along you will know which bundle goes where in the outer cap tunnels. It takes a lot of patience and pressing with your fingers but eventually you will see how best to locate the rats nest between the dist cap and the outer cap. Very time consuming and you will probably create some new verbage as you go. In the end it is better than a crab because of less possibility of water intrusion. Good luck.

[Bruce Lancaster]

I do this by sliding in slightly over-length unterminated wires, longest first, into the individual holes in conduit, out the front, and through the rabbit ears on the outer cap. Mark'em, and use a battery test light to keep verifying which wire is which!
Once they are through the outer cap, terminate the distributor ends and plug into proper holes. Once all are plugged, I start gently pulling on the other ends of the wires, going back and forth between all and getting some slight movement on each pull until everything is pulled up and the outer cap can be seated. Check from inner contacts inside main cap to ends of wires to again verify that each is still seated and you have them in proper holes...you sure don't want to discover a problem any later!
Once all is in there, bolt the conduits to engine, cut the wires to just the length you want, and put on your plug terminals.
Does not take all that long...but of course does raise the question of how they did it at the Rouge!
If changing to '42 you lose some obstacles, but need either to add a couple holes in your later conduits for the crossover wires across the manifold OR cross those wires at the front of the engine above distributor and find a good way to secure them so they do not get eaten by the moving belt stuff...
Ford went to the 59 cap, according to an announcement I found in a '46 magazine, to deter condensation that formed within the crab cap. This probably also closed off some points of direct entry for water.

(edit...not suitable for restoration, but I use bulk Packard 440 and Rajah terminals...easy to assemble and extremely durable, as well as highly traditional!)

[Old Henry]

I did it the same as woodiewagon46. An important test to make when you "think" you have it all together and all of the wires plugged in to the correct socket and the outer cap fully installed on the inner cap is to check the continuity between the spark plug end of each wire and the inner distributor cap terminals (with either an ohm meter or a test light). That not only assures that the wires are fully connected under that outer cap but also confirms that they are each plugged into the right socket.

I call that operation "Putting shoes and socks on the octopus"

I'm just about to replace my spark plug wires next week and will be doing it again. Not looking forward to it for sure.

[LEAZER48]

Thanks gentleman, I think I am going try a combination of your ideas, it would be interesting to find out how it was done and how long it took the assembler in Dearborn, had to be fairly quick for production reasons.

[Tom Walker]

I'm sure you've got more brains than me, but don't use over thick cable. It took me a while to realise I was struggling to get it through the conduit just because it was much fatter than original spec!!

Live and learn?!

[Graeme / New Zealand]

I've used the crab cap and 42 wire set from Dennis Carpenter ( colour coded wires).
Like Bruce Lancaster mentioned I crossed the wires over at the front of the engine above the distributor. I used some small plastic ties to tie some of the wire together to give clearance from the belts.

GB

[George49Ford]

My hat is off to all of you good folks who own and work on '48 and earlier "dizzys". Everything I've read and heard it doesn't sound like much fun. Good-on-ya!