VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 1929 Spark Plug Wire Set

Wondering what was Authentic/ Original in way of Spark Plug Wire Set for the 1929 ??

I know that The Filling Station sells a Generic Kit, and then the Kit with Bowtie, Early Chevy Parts carrys both of these as well, then Marx Sells sets, Tygart, Rhode Island Wiring, YnZ's, etc...

Just wondeirng what Type/ Style of wire covering was used ?? Black PVC, Black Laquer Coated, etc... Seen many pictures and the wiring varies, guess owner preference. Even seen some that used the Oak, red, or yellow wire with tracers, stnads out and looks nice but understand that this was more common in the 40's - 50's era ??

Need to order a New Spark Plug/ Ignition Wire kit... Trying to keep it as Authentically Original as Possible, using modern Availability ;-)

Black lacqured covered wires were used. The Chevrolet Bow-Tie was stamped on the brass spark plug terminal ends.

Thanks Junkyard Dog... That is what I was thinking. The Set I have now is PVC, SOME of the 90 deg ends have bowties, others do NOT. Bad part is whoever put the set together cut the wires for EXACT FIT !! meaning now that I am tuning it up and reordered the Wires to the Correct Firiing Order on the Cap, I have one of them that is NOT long enough, and 2 others that barely reach, so when I try to turn the Dist for timing they pop off or I can not turn the dist !! Oh The Fun . . .

So looking at ordering a New Complete Set, of Proper Vintage and Lengths :) Bob over at Marx Parts LLC Looks like the guy that has what I want... Also YnZ & Rhode Island have the Black laquered Wire as well

One more quick one...

In regards to the Black Laquered Covered Wiring, how does that stand up and handle over time ?? Does the laquer crack & peel/ chip off ?? Threaded Covering start fraying and coming apart ??

Knowing that it may be handled from time to time.

I made all of my own spark plug wires because I wanted them a little longer than the wires that are pre-made. You can get the wire from YnZ and the brass Bow-Tie ends from the Filling Station and then make your own. I always add at least a couple of inches to each wire, and I also make the coil wire longer too because the coil wire that comes in the set tends to be too short.




You probably won't live long enough to have any issues with the black lacqured wire.

Thanks...

I pulled my wires off and Measured Each Wire, then Compared to the Kit Lengths

Current Lengths: 7, 8, 10, 10, 14, 14, & 17 long

Marx Parts Kit: 2 ea. 10 inch, 2 ea. 13 inch and 2 ea. 17 inch, The coil wire is 20 inch for 1929-34.

This gives me 3 More Inches then I have now, and these are complete kits assembled and ready to install, saves me a little time and assembly :) Total Kit with Black Laquered Cover is $40, Guess drawback is NO Bowties on the Connectors :/ Those can be had from The Filling Station GR-273 for $31.50 plus shipping.

Those wire lengths sound good to me. I also use a 20" coil wire.

In the early '70s I removed original spark plug wires from several '29-'32 Chevys in a junk yard. I still have a few of those wires and suspect that they would work even though they are much more inflexible and brittle than new ones.

The period parts books give lengths of the wires. Have found that using those lengths gives enough to fit into the distributor cap and onto the spark plugs with plenty extra to allow adjusting timing.

Junkyard Dog, that makes me a little more confident in the lengths offered. Just want to know that I have some play room.

Chipper, did you get lengths of these Original Wires, as that would greatly help as well.

Both of you guys rock, and have been a great help to me !!

Also Anyone know what the lengths of the 7 Wires in the Filling Station Kit are ??

Hi All
Figured I would tune in here as you are talking about something I put together. The spark plug wire lengths that I use for making 29-40 spark plug wire sets come out of a 1940 Autolite spark plug wire specification chart. The only difference in the sets is the length of the coil wire. It also shows in the 1941 Chevy master parts manual the spark plug wire lengths. Here is the link http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/parts/1929_41/41cp040.html to the manual on Old Online Chevy Manuals website.

From what I have learned from my suppliers and others, black lacquered cloth is probably what was originally used. The other wire colors were introduced by the aftermarket years ago as basically hotrod colors I think. The spark plug wire I use is high quality made in the USA. The wire consists of copper stranded core encased in PVC insulating material. This wire is then covered by a heavy lacquered cloth (glossy black) or a light lacquered cloth (satin black) which exposes more of the cloth covering. This wire would probably outlast your vehicle. I install chrome plated spark terminals on all my lacquered cloth sets. These may not look original but complement the wire. I can also make the set with galvanized or tin plated ends.

The Bowtie spark plug wire ends I do not have and wish I did. I checked with one of my suppliers that I get most of my terminals from and he said he could make the ends but it is the same story as always. Tooling cost and demand. He said he quoted prices to all of the major suppliers of Chevy parts but no takers. I got a set a while back from I&I Reproduction which I believe is the same place that the Filling station gets them from and sent them back. They were so crude that I wouldn't put them on a set for my worst enemy.

Bob@marxparts

Bob, Thanks for the reference info & details !!

I personally APPRECIATE all your time and efforts in regards to the vintage cars and their parts, as I am sure a lot of the people here do.

Any advantage/ disadvantage in regards to the end ocnnectors and material ?? Chrome is so pretty and shiny, but not really my thing. how about galvanized vs tinned ?? WHAT material are the Tinned ones ?? Brass/ Copper ?? I take it the other ends (Distributor) are the standard Copper with Boots ?


Thanks Once again for all your time and Efforts... Also shot you an email, and can call you if needed.

I have the lengths of the original wires in the file somewhere. Seems that a few were shorter than lengths listed in the parts books. There was very little extra wire as I remember. Think that the wires had to be in the factory holes in the cap to all fit. I go with the parts book lengths as they fit all the engines and distributor combinations. Gives plenty of slack.

After finalizing my tune-up and having to turn the distributor one more gear, i realize even more that i need to get new wire set, because the two that were short are now even further away from ther plugs they go to.

Got an email from Bob over at Marx Parts with great info, so plan on giving him a call and having him build me a set. In doing so what plug ends would be better, as he offers Chrome Plated, Bright Steel, and Galvanized. I want to make sure that it will last and not rust/ corrode and need to be replaced in a year or two.

Spark Plug Connector Pict

Seems that everyone leans towards the Black laquer Wire for the 1929 era, or should i look at something else ?? My current set is the pvc with copper ends, however 2 have bowties, the rest are plain.

Since you are not going to use the connectors with the Bow-Tie you can probably use any type of spark plug wire that you want to use.

On the connectors themselves, I like the galavanized type. They would look more natural.

For best results the spark plug wire must be a solid strand.

i have used the ends from the filling station and had good results . i have some original and cant see any differance at first i installed them backward and the judge caught it right off i dont know how many experts looked at it including myself and did not catch it

Well got my Custom Wire Set in from Marx Parts last night. Looks very nice. I was going to do the Bowtie Ends, however no one has them in and no one knows when, let alone IF they will be getting any more in stock.

I decided to go with Black laquered cloth wires, with the galvenized end, and upgraded to the Antique Style Boots. They look really sharp:

Wire Set
Boot Close-Up
Spark OPlug Connector Close-Up

Will get them installed here in a week or so, other work to tend to for now...

Many thanks go out to everyone here especially Bob over at Marx Parts for his assistance with this. Also ordered a few other parts when I ordered the Custom Wire set. Everything arrive promptly and all in one piece.