WOLFGANG posted:I like a short 5" piece of rubber heater hose that fits tightly on the white ceramic of the spark plug. It greatly aids in installing the plugs without danger of cross threading them.
Thanks for that tip Wolfgang - I'll definitely give that a try!
Bill
I just thought I'd update how things went with the new plugs and wires. I
took off the old plug wires and looked them over. They're Bosch wires with the plastic ends.
It turns out those plastic ends were just screwed into the ends of the wires. I took one of the plastic ends and cut it in half length wise on my bandsaw. Here's a pic:
That little screw just screwed into the end of the wire _ there was no receptacle for the screw to screw into. Just bare wire contacting the screw.
As you can see from the cut plug end, there's nothing but plastic there. Those springs I found (yes, I found more) were inside to make contact with the screw head to the spark plug. It's a wonder that something so half-assed lasted the 1300 miles that it did. I'm assuming Bosch wouldn't sell something like that, but rather Vintage had a spool of the wire, and just put any old ends on there to get the car on and off the delivery truck.
Anyway, after getting the wires that Wolfgang suggested (and using the nifty trick he suggested to use a piece of old fuel hose on the new plugs to gently get them started in the holes), using the NGK plugs that Danny suggested, and recommended tools that Gordon suggested in a past thread, things went pretty smoothly. Once things were in place, the car started right up. I gapped the plugs at .026, as that's were the Bosch plugs that I took off were set. (and I never had any issues with the engine running poorly).
The only other thing I needed was penetrating oil to get the number 3 plug to break loose, and a small magnet to get one of the springs that was dangerously close to dropping in the hole after the number 3 plug was removed.
Thanks to everyone for all the help and advice - I used most of it, and it made things go much easier that it otherwise would have.
I bought the Pertronix electronic ignition module, so that job is next. I'm going to wait for a bit though - Fall is my favorite time of the year for driving the Speedster. If I screw something up, at least I'll have gotten some driving in before getting it to a shop for them to clean up my mess.
Bill
Slowshoes, I think this is one of those 'glass half empty vs. glass half full' things.
You could see the jury-rigged plug wire connections as an example of substandard, slapdash, get-em-out-the-door improvising on the part of VS.
Or, you could take pride in owning an automobile that bristles with unique innovations like this, that set it apart from nearly every other car on the road. I think it takes real ingenuity to come up with that spring-and-screw solution and real chutzpah to assume it will last long enough to be the next mechanic's problem.
It reminds me of the plastic zip-ties I found holding my brake lines to the car where a welded bracket should have been. Or the rear disk brake kit that was installed to allow an inch of suspension travel before the brake bottomed out against my frame. After all, a car will seldom need a full inch of suspension travel when being backed off the delivery trailer.
BTW, the ends on real Bosch wire sets aren't ordinary plastic - they're phenolic resin which is sturdier stuff and made to withstand high temps. Instead of a spring, they have a metal clip designed to grip the threaded end of the plug, without actually having to be screwed onto the plug. Nice pieces of kit that are probably the best solution for getting a positive connection on a plug that's hard to reach.
Bill,
So that wood screw is twisted into the stranded plug wire? Whoa!
Art
That’s awesome Bill. You made the wise choice and followed the well learned advice given here by others and your fix went as smoothly as it could have. Smart move with the magnet. That’s a tool I need to add to my collection.
Hapoy motoring. And I agree with you not to mess with the muddle until after you get some motoring in while it’s still a good time to do so.
Yes Mitch, I had the zip tied brake lines as well. Art - yes, that screw was just screwed into the end of the stranded plug wire. I tried to show the end of the wire with the second pic, but it was a crummy pic, and it didn't show.
Even though it can be disheartening to find such shoddy workmanship, I'm just going to try and take things as they come with this car, and keep trying to learn to fix what I can. I have the time, I don't depend on this car to get me anywhere, and the folks here are certainly generous with their knowledge whenever I've had questions. Also, I can be stubborn, lol. Hopefully that will help keep my car from getting the best of me, and keep it from going to the shop as often too.
One things for sure, if this forum ever closes up shop, I'm dead!
Yes Robert - the advice I got for this job was just great - it would have never gone as well as it did without it!
This was one of the only times in my life that any car I've ever owned has gone from not starting to running because of work that I did myself on the car. (I told you guys I'm no mechanic!) It was a great feeling - after I was done, and the car started right up, I spent most of the rest of the day trying not to break my arm while patting myself on the back, lol!
Bill
slowshoes posted:
...I'm just going to try and take things as they come with this car, and keep trying to learn to fix what I can...
...I have the time...
...Also, I can be stubborn,...
That's all it takes.
slowshoes posted:...This was one of the only times in my life that any car I've ever owned has gone from not starting to running because of work that I did myself...
What cars were like in ancient times. More problems, but a lot of stuff you could fix yourself with a few simple tools from Sears, a Floyd Clymer's manual, and some perseverance. The most important thing was the perseverance.
And strangely satisfying when you fixed what was broke on your own.
How long have you been on the left coast, Mitch?
Not a lot of people east of Nevada have heard about Floyd Clymer’s books! 
Poor Sears, one foot in the grave.
Gordon, I moved leftward in 1982, so it occurs to me I've now spent more years in California than not.
But I seem to remember seeing shop manuals like this in stores back east before I moved out here:
Art, I'm seeing some Craftsman tools (a very few) in Home Depot, but nothing like what's available in the tool department at a gen-u-whine Sears. Our local Sears is still open, but I wonder what will become of Craftsman tools when they turn out the lights.
Craftsman was to have been sold to Stanley Black and Decker, then I just saw somewhere that Craftsman tools will be sold at Lowes.
Our brand new Ace Hardware in the the metropolis of Freeport, Florida has a bunch of Craftsman stuff.
Uh, maybe it was Lowes where I saw them.
The thing about Sears was that, if you needed some obscure tool, they had the whole range, all in one place - nothing like what is stocked at a Lowes or Ace hardware.
These other vendors will probably stock only what sells in quantity, so will the bulk of the catalog just disappear? Or maybe be available only online?
Not what you need when something breaks at four o'clock, Sunday afternoon and absolutely positively needs to be fixed by nine o'clock Monday morning.
The Ace Hardware ads here in the Central Valley have been featuring Craftsman tools so it must be a new addition. Orchard Supply Hardware is closing 99 stores and they had been selling Craftsman ever since Sears bought them some time ago. Lowes must have started carrying Craftsman after they bought Orchard Supply in 2005.
No, Robert.
Who's on second, What's on first.
