Seeking FACTORY FIT factory Branded Spark Plug wires

[mytoolman]

Im a former Service advisor. Ive done this work for Ford, Chevrolet, Nissan and Toyota. i have also worked in my early years in Goodyear Tire retail stores. I have strong opinions about some parts. Ignition parts are one of those that fit my strong bias. I have argued with many customers who rolled into my presence  wih engine performance issues about their poor choice in choosing those substandard or expensive and still not correct parts. Then went on to drill home that  a "simple" removal of their brand new, pretty colored ignition components like distributor caps AND IGNITION CABLE or sometimes called Ignition wires or even spark plug wires and exchanging them for the factory original parts would solved the concern. I got so militant with this that about twice a year while at Toyota, I would meet :THAT difficult person who was more interested in showing how smart HE was. To combat this type of person, I  would tell him I was putting my money where my mouth was and would plunk a hundred dollar bill down and offer it to the arguing customer saying  that he could have it if the change I would do right there on the service drive,(against the managements rules to do this but....) In exchange if my fix worked the car owner had to apologize to me, pay the labor charge my tech would have earned and purchase the wires and cap. Further If my fix didnt work, I agreed that I would reinstalled his parts apologized to him and given him the Benjamin. I never gave away a Benjy. Got lots of bewildered apologies and won lots of loyal customers who went from doubting Thomas' who always needed slapping around at first to educated good loyal customers. It was not conventional by the book customer service but it worked for me AND THEM. Anyway fast forward to today where I am looking for new spark plug wires that will fit the way they should and have the correct shaped boots for each cylinder, fit the distributor cap tightly and work the way the engineer back in the day wanted them to. I have looked into the factory book I downloaded and dont see a part listing in this difficult to read reprint. Did I overlook something?...I am very prone to do that overlook thing...I am severely ADD etc so this can be the problem  with me reading that manualhere...Can someone give me the part number and where to buy the factory replacement set of spark plug wires??? I see plenty of choices for ignition wires on line. I dont care if they end up being purple or green with red polka dots although I prefer the factory colored ones. WHAT I DO WANT IS FOR THEM to fit perfectly with no too long slack or be too short. I want the cap end that fits over the distributor nipple to fit tight and not come in contact with the stock air cleaner housing. I want the end that fits on the spark plug to fit tight and have the correct angle for each cylinder. My 1973 440-03 engine is the first year of electronic engine offered and the wires on it now are orange in color and fit like I would want the new ones to. They are 7mm. I think they are the factory ones from how well they fit and route through the factory looms etc that fortunately are still in place and in very nice shape. At least one ignition wire is bad, I hear it sparking and there is a misfire. I dont want to make my own wires. I want factory sealed quality wires. I went into Oreilly yesterday and left in disbelief again to go try myself. After an hour on Google, I went to the parts manual here. Now i am asking you all.This should be easy right?

[Rickf1985]

Easy to find all original plug wires for a 47 year old engine?! That is going to be a tough call. Personally I never had much luck with factory Mopar wires and I always changed to either Accel or MSD. I don't really know what is out there nowadays for the 440 so I will not preach any one brand. I know what you are saying about factory parts but owning my own shop for years I saw my fair share of bad factory parts. Each brand seemed to have a weak area but Mopar had several. Electrical was a big one.

[Oz]

I bought MSD from JEGS or Summit, with insulated plug boots.  They fit but that was some years ago. 


At the time, you could on line chat or call either one and they American parts tech would actually give you the specs. I can't vouch for it now though.

[mytoolman]

Easy to find all original plug wires for a 47 year old engine?! That is going to be a tough call. Personally I never had much luck with factory Mopar wires and I always changed to either Accel or MSD. I don't really know what is out there nowadays for the 440 so I will not preach any one brand. I know what you are saying about factory parts but owning my own shop for years I saw my fair share of bad factory parts. Each brand seemed to have a weak area but Mopar had several. Electrical was a big one.

Thank you. You are a steady responder. Eventually when I know enough I will be that way also. When i find a fix I take the time to share so others can have that info...Maybe others will participate more.... Like you I have a lot of experiences mostly in the dealership arena as previously discussed. I didnt know Mopar ignition wires might be substandard never considered that just transferred my Toyota Bias to include Mopar....I guess Ill look for a set of MSD and hope not to have them spaghetti all over the engine if the Live Wire ones im super currious about prove not to work Live Wire  will build me a custom length set. They are sending me an example of their wire so I can see how a 10mm wire will fit in the looms that currently 7mm fit in. Custom made length wires will of course keep the wires positioned where they should be to keep things organized and running well....I was impressed with them for listening to me and offering to send an example. https://performancedistributors.com/product-category/performance-accessories/livewires/

[Rickf1985]

I have advocated Performance Distributors for a long time for their custom HEI distributors. They will take your vehicle specs and set the ignition curve in the distributor to match the vehicle. No screwing around with it when you get it. Drop it in and go. they are a good outfit to deal with. I have never talked to them about the plug wires but I am sure they are top notch. I probably should since I am due for a new set on mine. The 454 Chevy has a bad habit of cooking the boots and my last trip I got a bad load of gas that was close to 20% alcohol so I was flat on the floor for 400 miles and I had the exhaust manifolds glowing.

[mytoolman]

Ouch glowing exhaust manifolds on a 454 not a good thing....those things like to warp and crack as you know...sorry you had that issue....its too bad we dont have a way to test gas etc before we fill up...maybe we can develop a test kit like they do for swimming pools to know what chemicals to add to the pool...in this case whats in there to decide to purchase or not....there should be a gauge on the pump to show the ingredients and the percents etc there goes my pie in the sky  pollyannaish wishes again...Thanks for the heads up on the quality of Performance Distributors etc..they were great on the phone. I like to call...much more info is received that way...much more help also...there still is no substitute for a one on one conversation...and in person it is even better..the wires are a bit pricey but for such an important component I will pay and then not have to deal with that type of repair again for years....worth it...I just hope the wire isnt too thick to fit the looms I may have to break out the file to customize those looms....

[Rickf1985]

The pump was marked as maximum 10% ethanol but apparently the mixer was screwed up. I put 60 gallons in an 80 gallon tank and only went 5-6 miles and the power dropped right off. Felt like a clogged filter. I only had 20 miles to go to get to the rally I was going to so continued and once set up I changed the filter which is a nightmare to do because of the location and as soon as the gas running down my arm felt cold and burned I knew what had happened. One of the other guys at the rally had a test kit and we checked it and it came out at 23% ethanol! LOTS of octane but no power since I was jetted for gas not alcohol. So it ran lean all the way from Virginia to NJ in a 31 FT RV towing a 24 foot enclosed car trailer. Yea, they are warped beyond repair. One was already pretty bad but I had just replaced the other one.   I have a set of heavy gauge headers to put on it now.


The only way to test it would be to pump a few gallons into a can and then test that before filling the RV and that is what I plan to do from now on. May take a while but if it saves me from putting 60 gallons of alcohol in the tank again it is worth it!