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Spark Plug Wire Caps

BG 62AH

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I bought these caps from a vendor in the UK, one of the well known suppliers. When the caps arrived, I placed them on some Champion plugs. They do seem to “click” onto the top of the plug, but once in place they wiggle. The fit is a little loose.

I asked the vendor, and they stated theat the caps should work fine and are the right spec for an Austin Healey 3000. I have generally had good experience with this vendor in the past.

I have seen these caps on other cars at car shows. As can be seen, I use the recommended Champion plug.

I am curious if anyone else has had an experience with them. I have not installed them yet. I would like to use them, but not if it compromises the cars reliability.

I would appreciate any feedback. As always, thanks so much.
 

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SteveT3000

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I have them on mine and I agree that once in place they are a loose fit but don't come off without a tug and have never been a problem. I wouldn't worry.

steve
 

Keoke

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Well:
I use Bosh plug caps and they do not wiggle and work a treat.
 

Keoke

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One can take it on faith that Champion is not in the business of making spark plug caps that make their plugs perform badly.



]:iagree: They perform badly all by themselves------:friendly_wink:
 

DerekJ

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I once bought a set of 'bumble bee' wires with caps already attached, from one the UK major suppliers. The caps seemed too hard and plasticky and never fit as well as I thought they should. I removed them and now use NGK caps and plugs.
 

SteveT3000

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One can take it on faith that Champion is not in the business of making spark plug caps that make their plugs perform badly.

I wouldn’t assume they are genuine simply because they have Champion written on them. Like Lucas parts many are Chinese copies of variable quality.
 
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BG 62AH

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Actually one of my concerns is that, even though they have the “Champion” name ... were they really manufactured by Champion?..... or a knock-off with the vintage look.

I appreciate all the feed back, and glad this spurred some conversation. I have to say that I like the way that they look, but not too convinced that it is acceptable to have loose fitting spark plug caps from a performance/reliability standpoint.
 

steveg

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Actually one of my concerns is that, even though they have the “Champion” name ... were they really manufactured by Champion?..... or a knock-off with the vintage look.

I appreciate all the feed back, and glad this spurred some conversation. I have to say that I like the way that they look, but not too convinced that it is acceptable to have loose fitting spark plug caps from a performance/reliability standpoint.

You already own them. Why not install them? You can test each wire with a timing light and see if it has a miss.
 

Bob_Spidell

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FWIW, Champion plugs are the plug of choice for aircraft piston engines (engine performance is a matter of some concern in aircraft). Champion oil filters are widely used as well.
 

vette

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I have found that any of the hard plastic or bakalite plug caps do wobble after they have clipped on the plug. I have found no loss of performance due to that on a street driven engine. But one issue of the open hard caps is that they certainly are not water or moisture proof. When I was on tour this past summer in the Smoky Mountains I found that each morning after a bit of a night time shower, the Healey started and idled fine but sputtered around awhile till everything warmed up and dried off. I am still using the original style Lucas hard caps. No water proofness here.
 

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Michael Oritt

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I use 8 mm wires with a soft rubber boot that emits a suction cup-like noise when pulled from the (NGK) plug.
 

steveg

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I had the hard caps for years and had some issues with the wires occasionally coming a little loose from the screw threads.

Found a guy in upstate NY who has a business making wiring for classic cars (Duesenbergs, Packards, etc). He sold me some unmarked black metal-core wire and clamp-on clips inside of tight-fitting rubber boots. That's what I run now. Not sure it runs any better, but one less thing to fiddle with.

I've been using NGK plugs since my first motor vehicle (Yamaha Trail 80).
 
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