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Well I found my missing cable and it looked like the end was missing. So I pulled one off the distributor and it also had nothing on the tip.
Am I breaking the tip off inside the dist by pulling? Is there some trick to it?
look for yourself:
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/5903/m715distwires.JPG
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/981...distwires2.JPG
I don't want to pull any more off untill I know I'm not breaking something.
Knave
Knave-
Some hippy in the past has performed "The Krob725 Booty-Fab Wire Swap" which is the ghetto way of getting civvy plugs onto your 7XX vehicle. They just cut off the end of the wire and stuffed it down into the hole. I bet you aren't gonna find an end on any of the wires on your distributor side, but the plug side has 6 nice Autolite civilian plugs that have nice wire ends.
You got 2 choices-
1.) you can e-mail Krob725 and ask him how he did his and do it quality-like, or
2.) you can get all new military wires and plugs.
I'd go for Option #2 as it is the more stable one.....but the more expensive (probably $150 total).
Luck,
-B.
Ok, this may be a really dumb question but if someone cut off the ends, Will it run like that? or even work at all?
Part of me wants to believe whoever cut off the ends did it for a reason.
Those are not the stock plug wires...the stock ones have:
a spiraly spring sticking out of the end of orange colored insulated wire that is wrapped in braided metal line with a hex fitting on the ends that screws to the plug and to the distributor housings lid.
The setup you have is a solid core ignition wire, available at a small engine shop, like lawn mowers small...., it should have a little round piece added on the end with a point sticking up into the wire...can get at small engine shop for a buck...enough for the whole motor....with that piece on the end, you shove it down the hole and put on a civvy wire type boot. On the other end, you put on a spark plug end, from the small engine shop again, and use an autolite #275 or equivalent....with another civvy boot...the long ones for spark plugs, and now you have a cheap civvy wire conversion that lets you put on a standard timing light easily and lets you use common wires and plugs that are cheap as well compared to the roughly $10 each spark plugs for the military setup and a set of special wires that make it harder to time but are waterproof...
In short, the wires you have were made to replace the stock ones....they are not the stock ones cut up....
brute4c
That little round piece...is it still in my distributor?Quote:
it should have a little round piece added on the end with a point sticking up into the wire...
Is there anything wrong with running it this way...especially if I just want to start up the engine?
I know it is getto, it sounds getto and I dont know any better. But if it works...
Oh and do I need to replace all the screws that are missing from the distributor? (you can see what I mean from the picture.
Thank you for the much needed answer(s).
They might be but from the looks of it, they werent used....the deal is...if you look down in the cap....the cap screws up to the bottom of the lid, which is the thing you see on the outside...at the bottom of the holes the wires go in, there is a small area at the bottom and just a little bit up the sides, where the power is transferred from the rotor to the wire....most of the walls are insulated....so you need as much conductor as possible across the bottom of the hole...the little round piece would sit flat in the bottom to do this...they also have 2 verticals, partial sides, that have little cleats that dig into the sides of the wires...they shouldnt come off that easy and it looks like they just werent put on at all.Quote:
That little round piece...is it still in my distributor?
Due to the above info, this probably reduces the spark energy some...if it isnt sealed in there good, vibration from running/driving could be enough to cause a miss in 1 or more cylinders...if they are really loose, even idling could be a pain....something you would have to figure out...if the conductors in the wires are down good in the bottom of the holes with good contact and they wires are pretty snug in the cap and have a good tension holding boot, running it for testing would be fine....driving may be ok too...Quote:
Is there anything wrong with running it this way...especially if I just want to start up the engine?
I may be the original source of this mod....back in the earlier days of the Zone, I had done this to my truck and ran it for 2 years that way....I posted a bout it and even bought the pieces for a few people and mailed to them so they could do it...it still to me is the easiest and cheapest way to set the timing on a stock truck....better mileage by a little than with the stock stuff and it was cheaper. I eventually went with the civilian distributor with its vacuum advance which gives an increase in power and mileage...much more than these wires did, but the civvy dist is hard to find...Quote:
I know it is getto, it sounds getto and I dont know any better. But if it works...
Bottom line, if done correctly, this will work...it has for me!!
The screws that hold the lid on would be good to replace....another source for water to get in...also due to the way the coil gives power to the distributor...that arm with the spring instead of a wire...the lid should probably be put on nice and evenly in terms of torque...it certainly couldnt hurt...Quote:
Oh and do I need to replace all the screws that are missing from the distributor? (you can see what I mean from the picture.
Glad to help!!
brute4c
Knave-
All Brute said is true.
The only thing I might add is the following- Don't worry about asking questions or asking too many questions, or be afraid or ashamed of booty-fabbing something. It's your truck and whatever works for you is the way to do it.
Good luck and let us know if we can do anything to help.
-B.
Hey b-,
So what cha think of my booty fabbing of the wires...since your the bootyfabkid...
brute4c
In that case, If I shove the wires back in the distributor will it work?Quote:
Don't worry about asking questions or asking too many questions, or be afraid or ashamed of booty-fabbing something
I figure that since I have civvy plugs and wires already that I'll try to use them before I buy new stuff. Now I do think I'll check out a small engine shop to find those lil round contacts, but until then If I try to fire it up will I get spark?
Thanks.
Knave-
That's a dumb question. How would we know? Why don't you try it and see instead of asking us. Sheesh.
BWAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! I crack me up.
Seriously though, it might. I got a feeling that the one you had missing spark might have just been loose or wiggled out a bit as the principal behind the system is sound...if not as sound as the screw terminal way that is stock.
__________________________________________________ ________________________________
Brute-
I agree. It seems to be not so much booty fabbing as just another way around the problems and cost associated with the stock set-up. I remember when I broke a stock wire and got the cost of replacement. I was amazed as I could buy a whole set of Accel wires for the cost of 1 NOS wire. Your way is good, but the problem is what Knave found where most people leave out steps in the process...to save the $30 it would have cost to do it right and put ends on the wires.
I find no fault here and award you the "Booty-Fabulous Award of Excellence In Booty-Fabbing".
-B.
Hey brute! You wouldnt happen to have any numbers for the civy distributor? or the year make and model of a truck that had it? I just ordered a NOS stock unit but I would like to try you're method in the future. John....
You ordered a 230 civilian NOS distributor.....from who for how much?? I ask cause NAPA lists one that is not for the 230, but they list it that way, and at least 2 members have bought one only to find it doesnt work.
The stock civvy unit is a prestolite IAT-4411 4AT...at least that what the metal tag on mine is stamped...as for original applications...the 230 came in 63-65 model year trucks....Gladiator or J series pickups, Wagoneers, and utility series pickups....these are a smaller size than full size....they have a front kinda like a smaller jeep but the doors are mounted at an angle outward and the bed is pretty much full width...narrow front, wide rear...mine came out of one of those type...it was dated 1966....though the 230 was not produced in 66, the truck was on the dealer lot and not sold in 65 and when it was sold in 66, the title reflected the year of sale not he year of manufacture....kinda weird, but you could have a 66 or 67 even that had a 230 due to this....have run across both...
Good luck!!
brute4c