Gsmblue Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 I have a nice new set of Ford 9mm leads I want to put on the Bronco. I have never tried to get the leads looking good or route them well. With the leads being different lengths, is there a recommended way to put them in so the group up nicely? Currently my leads look like a mess of spaghetti.. Any advice or better yet pictures would be appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 I always took them off one by one and matched the lengths from the set. But if your wires are already a rat's nest that may not work. Do you have a set of wire dividers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 ...is there a recommended way to put them in so the group up nicely? Any advice or better yet pictures would be appreciated! I have a newer set of Ford 8mm wires, and I basically routed them in the stock location(s). This may not be possible for you, but I'm currently still running stock valve covers and I have the valve cover bolts with the little posts on them for the plug wire retainers. If you still have these valve cover bolts but the clips are all broken (like mine were), Dorman makes a decent replacement clip for only a couple bucks each. Below is the best picture I have access to at the moment, but you can see how the wires are routed in front of the valve covers. There is another style of factory valve covers that have little tabs on top of the covers for plug wire retainer clips...I'm sure sure what engines had them though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve83 Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 With the leads being different lengths, is there a recommended way to put them in so the group up nicely? Currently my leads look like a mess of spaghetti. Any advice or better yet pictures would be appreciated!Follow Ford's recommendation precisely: https://supermotors.net/getfile/470416/thumbnail/sparkwireroute94up_5l.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 Pic's would help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 Pic's would help. I know Ford was very specific regarding the left (5 - 8) wire routing, the Windsor engines before the firing order change routed them through the one 4 lead separator and valve cover clip in the 7568 order, FE and 385 series were 5768 to keep 7 and 8 from being adjacent. FWIW, GM engines did the same on that side with 5 and 7 having a wider gap between them in the separators. Chrysler's solution resulted in a 7 foot long plug wire for #7, partially due to the exhaust manifold design and plug location. Even my old 312 had the #7 and #8 diagonally across in the square 4 wire rubber holders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 I know Ford was very specific regarding the left (5 - 8) wire routing, the Windsor engines before the firing order change routed them through the one 4 lead separator and valve cover clip in the 7568 order, FE and 385 series were 5768 to keep 7 and 8 from being adjacent. FWIW, GM engines did the same on that side with 5 and 7 having a wider gap between them in the separators. Chrysler's solution resulted in a 7 foot long plug wire for #7, partially due to the exhaust manifold design and plug location. Even my old 312 had the #7 and #8 diagonally across in the square 4 wire rubber holders. 9mm is supposed to help with crossfire (induction) I still have my 460's #7&8 wires seperated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Blythen Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 With the leads being different lengths, is there a recommended way to put them in so the group up nicely? Currently my leads look like a mess of spaghetti. Any advice or better yet pictures would be appreciated!Follow Ford's recommendation precisely: https://supermotors.net/getfile/470416/thumbnail/sparkwireroute94up_5l.jpg 'Follow Ford's recommendation precisely' is good advice. My truck had a history of pinging issues from when I first bought it in 2008, & there were multiple causes......plus a previously disabled EGR, which I didn't reinstate. 1. A badly recurved distributor without a vacuum advance canister..... This was the single biggest culprit, & was a learning curve. Once I learnt enough to map the advance, correct the mechanical advance springs, & install an advance canister, I was able to go from 4 ATDC base timing (from the PO) to 8 BTDC, gained power, gained 16% on mpg, & reduced the pinging by probably 90%. 2. Plug wire routing (as per factory diagram)..... Second to the recurve, this was the biggest other correction, allowing me to bump up the base timing slightly further, & bring up the vacuum advance (for cruise & mid-throttle) several turns without pinging. It also eliminated a vague miss that you could feel, but not hear at low RPM.....almost so vague you weren't sure if it was real......until it suddenly disappeared! 3. Incorrect plug heat range..... This was a lesser, but still noticeable, factor that corrected with the proper plug (one heat range cooler). 4. Leaking valve stem seals..... About the same benefit as the plug heat correction. But, definitely worth following the Ford wire routing diagram to prevent cross-firing & pinging from induction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gsmblue Posted July 9, 2019 Author Share Posted July 9, 2019 'Follow Ford's recommendation precisely' is good advice. My truck had a history of pinging issues from when I first bought it in 2008, & there were multiple causes......plus a previously disabled EGR, which I didn't reinstate. 1. A badly recurved distributor without a vacuum advance canister..... This was the single biggest culprit, & was a learning curve. Once I learnt enough to map the advance, correct the mechanical advance springs, & install an advance canister, I was able to go from 4 ATDC base timing (from the PO) to 8 BTDC, gained power, gained 16% on mpg, & reduced the pinging by probably 90%. 2. Plug wire routing (as per factory diagram)..... Second to the recurve, this was the biggest other correction, allowing me to bump up the base timing slightly further, & bring up the vacuum advance (for cruise & mid-throttle) several turns without pinging. It also eliminated a vague miss that you could feel, but not hear at low RPM.....almost so vague you weren't sure if it was real......until it suddenly disappeared! 3. Incorrect plug heat range..... This was a lesser, but still noticeable, factor that corrected with the proper plug (one heat range cooler). 4. Leaking valve stem seals..... About the same benefit as the plug heat correction. But, definitely worth following the Ford wire routing diagram to prevent cross-firing & pinging from induction. Thank you for the feedback so far! I found this diagram for routing, is this what you regard as the ford standard? I do have some separators laying around so I will dig them out. The complication now is which length lead goes where, I guess that is trial and error. This is a little more complicated as I have a HEI disty at this time. I do intend on going back to the Duraspark 2, but that means buying more stuff.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 Thank you for the feedback so far! I found this diagram for routing, is this what you regard as the ford standard? I do have some separators laying around so I will dig them out. The complication now is which length lead goes where, I guess that is trial and error. This is a little more complicated as I have a HEI disty at this time. I do intend on going back to the Duraspark 2, but that means buying more stuff.. I sometimes take a sharpie and write the firing order on the cap if I have to sort through wires by trial and error to find the best fit. Remember, the set is never going to be perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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