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Tips

wires from local auto parts?

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J

JonnyRotten

Senior Member
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can I get spark plug wires at local auto parts or do I need to order triumph wires.If so does anyone have crossover #s.1960 tr3a.
 
You can get them at mostt local auto stores. They will have to order them or you can get a set of wires and cut them to lenght. Bring in your dist. cap for the proper dia. Thays is what I did, I got the pretty blue color, with high proformance written on the box. It makes your TR go faster. The best part is you do not have to wait.
 
The last set of wires I bought for one of my LBCs was an 8mm Accel brand kit (black wires) for a Chevy V8. The kit was purchased at my local Advance Auto and came with enough wires, terminals, boots, and the crimping dies to make at least two complete sets of wires... plus some left over. I've been very happy as the kit allowed me to make the wires the right length for neatness.
 
The 8mm wires are too big for the TR3 cap. I recommend the Bosch solid core 7mm universal wires.

Peter
 
If you are using the original style TR3 distributor cap, I would recommend staying away from the common "carbon core" wires. The TR3 cap uses screws that pierce the insulation and conductor, which work great with the original copper core wires. But my experience has been that the carbon core wires don't like being pierced that way, and will eventually start to burn out around the screw. The damage is invisible, and makes the engine run poorly for no apparent reason (especially in damp weather).

The holes in the cap are also too small for 8mm wires like those Doug mentions.

You also need to pay attention to what kind of terminal is on the ignition coil. The original coil uses a screw-in connection that needs a plastic nut on the wire, and a flat washer soldered to the end of the wire. A push-in terminal may appear to work at first, but won't make good contact with the coil terminal, leading to more poor running problems. However, most replacement coils do have push-in terminals.

One workaround for these problems is to substitute a cap from a 66-70 MGB, which fits the TR distributor perfectly, but takes ordinary push-in terminals for the plug & coil wires.

Sorry, I'm no help with what to buy. I got a set from JCW several decades ago now that still work great, but they are apparently no longer made.
 
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