Club 80-90 Forums

Am I right in thinking someone mentioned making up their own set of HT leads? I've done this before for 'bikes but a bit of advise on what to use would be very helpful.

Sorry i know its not helpful but im interested to know why would you bother?

There seems to be a lot of folk who end up with wrong sized leads; and it might be cheaper!

Have a look on the vehicleproducts website. They have various kits, terminals and cable. As the tools are quite pricey I can offer a loan for the price of the postage.

[url] http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/V ... mepage.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; [url]

Reasons for making your own:

1) Most lead kits are adequate quality at best unless you can get hold of genuine Beru
2) The metal shrouded plug caps are a particular weakness as they are prone to 'tracking'
3) As has been pointed out...some leads (in kits) are not long enough.


Difficulties.....well you will need the correct finishing ends to make the ends secure & reliable...available from Brickwerks.....later 'pin type' (84 onwards) You really only need the pin ends and re-use the old distributor plugs.
http://www.brickwerks.co.uk/index.php/h ... r-pin.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


A good soldering iron and ratchet crimping pliers (I soldered all of my terminal pins) although the down side is that you have to source parts from several places.
This method also uses your old distributor cap ends (although you can buy new but as they never break down there is no point) you just need the terminal pins....

I used high quality 7mm Lucas Hypalon tinned copper HT lead....much better than the lead used on OEM sets.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7mm-HT-Igniti ... 33759b45a2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And high quality NGK bakelite straight spark plug caps
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-NGK-Resist ... 4ac0970d44" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In my opinion, once made, they will be better than a 'brought' set (with exception perhaps to original VW or Beru).......and even if you don't want to go the whole hog and make them up yourself I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND a PART UPGRADE: by ditching the metal shrouded caps on your current leads and fitting the NGK caps to your existing lead ends....this will all but eliminate the tracking issues associated with the metal covers on OEM leads...a set of 4 of these caps cost just over £10.00 and well worth fitting for reliability and best part of all is they just screw on NO tools are needed to fit them.

Martin

Thanks Wychall for the offer of the loan of tools. That's very kind!

Thanks Martin for the advice. That sort of answered my concerns. I've had the HT leads set on for maybe three or four years and one of the metal shrouded plug 'caps' suffered from the tracking problem. I imagine that the others will start failing soon. So your 'upgrade' to the screw in plug caps looks like a way to go. Those are the sort o0f caps I used to use when making up motorcycle sets and I wasn't sure if I could use them in place of the metal shrouded thingies.

These NGK replacements have the exact same resistance as the original metal shrouded ones....they are a straight swap, just snip off the terminal ends, push on the seals and screw on the caps (making sure that the screw spike touches the copper core in the lead)..5 minute job.
In theory the metal shrouds help to shield radio interference, in practice you won't notice any difference what so ever apart from improved reliability.

Martin

Good advice; as always! Thanks Martin.

Martin, just to clarify, the NGk ends you mention, do you literally mean cut the HT cable, don't strip or crimp anything on, just push into NGk cap and screw it into the cable end?

Thanks

paulandchez wrote:Martin, just to clarify, the NGk ends you mention, do you literally mean cut the HT cable, don't strip or crimp anything on, just push into NGk cap and screw it into the cable end?

Thanks

Yup....unscrew and pull off the old caps....you will be left with the end of the HT lead with a terminal looking like these.




Cut off the terminal close to the lead, so you don't shorten the lead by much. (few millimetres)

Push the top seal from the new cap onto the lead.

Screw the NEW NGK cap onto the lead, applying pressure as you screw and making sure the point of the screw goes into the metal core of the lead (about 4 full turns)






Slip the seal over the cap

NOTE* don't go mad when you screw the cap to the lead, you will feel a slight increase in resistance to turn when the lead is all the way on.
Make sure you order the right size 'straight' caps (I'm sure I have given the correct part number on a previous page).

Martin

Thanks Martin

I'm having a go at my own. Regarding the cable link you sent, advice I read on Brickwerks was not to use silicone cable on Aircooled vans. Would you concur, and if so what would be the best alternative? The only option they have on their website is silicone!

Thanks

Paul

I found the Lucas Hypalon HT lead linked to in a previous thread, very good quality...I rang up the supplier who had over a dozen different lead types (some much more expensive than this) and it was what he recommended for reliability.

Martin

i think brickwerks do the leads for you to make up too

Indeed they do.....but as the HT lead sets sold are solid 'Copper' cored and not the fragile 'carbon impregnated' type, why is it that we keep seeing so many leads breaking down. The simple answer is those tin shields on the plug caps and hence my recommendation to replace 'just the plug caps' with the screw on NGK type before buying an expensive set of leads that you probably don't need...(copper HT lead does not wear out)

Martin