OEM Plug wire stands/supports

[rechinca]

Kind of an odd request, and I can purchase most of the pieces as reproduced, but does anyone know where I could buy the top two stands for the plug wires? Looking for the two that are up top on the intake? My engine is out of a 72 Malibu and the nice EXTRA-LONG wires are driving me nuts. I want to go back to looking close to stock and the original rams horn exhaust manifolds are still in place from the original 350. Oh, and when I say extra-long on the wires I mean like well over a foot of extra wire laid out and up onto the inner fenders.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by rechinca

Kind of an odd request, and I can purchase most of the pieces as reproduced, but does anyone know where I could buy the top two stands for the plug wires? Looking for the two that are up top on the intake? My engine is out of a 72 Malibu and the nice EXTRA-LONG wires are driving me nuts. I want to go back to looking close to stock and the original rams horn exhaust manifolds are still in place from the original 350. Oh, and when I say extra-long on the wires I mean like well over a foot of extra wire laid out and up onto the inner fenders.

You might try the parts boards. You can't post a "Want To Buy" unless you are a Premium member but if you happen to see some for sale you can buy them.

Thanks,
LockDoc

[Mike C]

Is that an HEI in there or points distributor? Factory plug wires run along the oil pan and up to the plugs on a 67-72 and not over the top. I would get a set of MSD StreetFire wires that go underneath. Use small block Corvette wires (or truck replacements) for 69-74 'vette if socket type cap of use '75-'82 wires if HEI.

[rechinca]

Still on a points style distributor. I haven’t had the daylight hours to pull the cap and confirm that it wasn’t switched out to a Perteonix type unit and still has points, but betting it still has them. It needs some TLC but with the boy off playing college football, my spare (yeah right!) time has been on the road to watch him play most weekends.

Thinking of upgrading to an HEI, but I’ll have to do some more research on it.

Read up on the diagrams and plug wire routing as this looks like garbage can spaghetti eight now. Surprisingly it fires right off and runs good down the road!

[rechinca]

I have ordered up most of what I see to be the correct wire supports and stands for the plug wires. What I am finding to be conflicting is the correct ones for the intake manifold. I have seen a couple of different support stands for those two applications.

While I am waiting for my assembly manual to arrive (I hope that will shed some more light on the subject), is there anyone that still has their engine in original form and post pics of them? Or does anyone have the assembly manual and can take pics of the page(s) for that? My main concern is the LH side one. I have seen ones that cant toward the front of the engine and others that cant toward the firewall. Which one is correct?

[Mike C]

I linked to this picture on the board that I found through Google Images. This is what the routing is supposed to look like as I mentioned in my comment above.

[rechinca]

Mike that’s perfect! That is the one I saw in a diagram and I think I have a line on that style. I found a ton of other pics but that was not one of the images I came across. Time to order some more parts. Now if I could just find the time at home to actually work on this thing.

[Pro299]

Originally Posted by Mike C

I linked to this picture on the board that I found through Google Images. This is what the routing is supposed to look like as I mentioned in my comment above.

Are you sure? I've had several of these late 60s Chevy V8 motors over the years and I've never seen one that had the plug wires for the front two cylinders run outside the exhaust manifolds like this picture seems to indicate.

[rechinca]

Pro Mike was helping me with the upper stands on the intake manifold as that is ultimately the ones I couldn’t find an exact answer for or locate reproduced. Like you, the ones I have found for the fronts show being routed behind the exhaust in a small bracket attached via an oil pan bolt. Mikes wording was to help with the uppers though. Unfortunately many folks have thrown these out over the years.

If anyone has more pics or the assembly manual, let me know. Mine will get here after I’m already gone for the weekend on a road trip and it’s killing me to not know exactly what the good book shows.

[MJN]

Could try places like Corvettecentral.com or riksvet.com or zip-corvette.com, they all have period correct parts including some spark plug wire brackets and supports. I've had good luck getting the correct hardware from these places that others don't carry.

[Mike C]

Those two wires are not correct as you mention. They should run along the oil pan rail and then come up between the motor mount and the block. But that was the best pic I could find.

[rechinca]

So I found the assembly manual page and it shows both the forward and rearward cant. Are they both correct or is there more info to this page that I don’t see referencing different models of 67-72 for the different supports?

[Mike C]

Those drawings as good as they are are still drawing so could be wrong angle by artist. I haven't had enough trucks to speculate on whether both are right.

Here is a down under shot showing routing I found.

[FirstOwner69]

This might help...

[rechinca]

Mike and First, those are perfect! Exactly what I was looking for over the last several days. Hopefully this will help out someone else trying to find this info too. Always the fun part of buying someone else’s incomplete project is trying to figure out what needs to be done, undone, and re-done.

Thanks for the help everyone and please keep posting if you have some more info or pics for reference!

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by rechinca

Thanks for the help everyone and please keep posting if you have some more info or pics for reference!

Here are several more. Plug wire heat shields are missing on all.

[rechinca]

Thanks again First! Man that engine looks great!

[Ironhorse]

Not sure I have the complete upper set but I have some of the old original wire stands stashed away in the parts shed. Will be out of town early tomorrow am til Sunday evening but when get back I can look. Think I have the canted stand and a couple of the back of the block looms with the black plasti-dip wire protection on them.

Just a friendly suggestion, in the first pic I see the tri-angular air cleaner sitting on top of the carb. Never ran one like that but have read on several websites I belong to that that style is notorious for back fire/carb fires due to the foam absorbing gas fumes and igniting on a back fire. That can't be a good thing.

Just a suggestion, I would replace it with a good throw away paper filter and a nice looking breather. Maybe even an original GM factory style breather?

[Boog]

As far as the angle of the rear plug wire stands goes (toward the firewall or away from the firewall) that may be determined by what vehicle the engine is in . In a car the rear of the engine can be closer to the firewall than in a truck allowing less wire routing room. Or maybe in a 2wd or 4wd truck where the engine placement is close or not to the firewall.

[S_Gibson]

Thanks for the photos. They show everything more clearly than anything I've seen thus far. My wires are zip tied to the brake lines on one side and heater hoses on the other. Two of the wires was on the manifold and burnt pretty well. I have an HEI distributor so I ordered wires for a 74-77 Corvette per a few post I saw on this site.

None of the shields or retainers are on the truck so I'll have to find everything required before installing the new wires and plugs. No point burning up a new set of wires. Where is the cheapest place to purchase everything needed. Do they sell the shields and retainers as a set?

[35boulder]

OEM sets do come up for sale on the parts board occasionally.

[jaros44sr]

Post #16 has a pic of the stand mounted to the block, what a PITA, no room to work! I used a stud with a allen drive, that way you're not trying to line up bolt and hold bracket at the same time....good luck

The pics show it with out a firewall in the way

[rechinca]

Iron, I’ll PM you about those stands. If you want to part with them I’d be willing to take them off your hands!

Jaros, that is a great idea on the stud for the ones at the rear of the block. Definitely off in no mans land in behind the motor. I’ll have to make a run down to the hardware store for those!

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by rechinca

Iron, I’ll PM you about those stands. If you want to part with them I’d be willing to take them off your hands!

Jaros, that is a great idea on the stud for the ones at the rear of the block. Definitely off in no mans land in behind the motor. I’ll have to make a run down to the hardware store for those!

You may also have better luck coming up from the bottom!!! Get it started with your fingers as cross threading the threads would be a impossibile task to repair

I like studs in all the locations, just easier to hang the brackets and spark plug covers and then put a nut on, I'll post up a pic as soon as my camera is charged

[Bearhawg]

just rerouted my plug wires this weekend to the stock location. not that hard but had to install all clips, stands and heat shields so it took a while. also used un-assembled wire set to get the length just right. I was unable to install the rear stands. just to tight and at an awkward angle. I went behind the manifolds and around to the rear. I never found a picture that showed the routing around or behind the starter. Not sure if I got it correct but I'm happy with it and its well away from the exhaust heat.