Wes Schaffner

Hey all, I am in need of some advice.

I have a '96 Z28. Aftermarket mods are Hooker SuperComp Shorty headers, aftermarket muffler, and K&N CAI. Just replaced the Opti a couple of weeks ago and reran the vacuum lines. The previous owner didn't take care of the car, so I have spent the last year fixing all of his mistakes. Anyhow, the way my headers come off of the motor makes it just about impossible to keep #7 going consistently. They route so close to the head that every time I put a new wire on the #7 spark plug, the boot of the wire butts up against my header and melts through the boot. I've already gotten the $20 short plug for it from Accel to increase the gap between the plug and the header. I've tried 90º angled boots on it, I've tried straight boots on it, nothing seems to be solving my problem. Anybody got any advice for me? Thanks so much in advance!

TwoFast4Lv

iTrader: (8)

Run it from the opti to the brake lines and back to the master. Drop down behind the valve cover and to the plug from the back.

Done this many times

BTW we have not had any luck with heat shielding

guppymech

iTrader: (7)

Have you tried denting the primary tube to provide some clearance for the spark plug boot? Once you get alittle bit of a air gap that will help, maybe try using one of the factory metal boot protectors also.

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

Honestly I'd look into replacing those god-awful headers with something mid tube or preferably long tubes. You'll have all the space you'll need.

Wes Schaffner

Thanks guys for replying so quickly! I posted this thread in a forum on the LS1LT1 site as well, and a guy on there suggested some heat shields from SummitRacing, but I hadn't even thought of denting the primary tube to provide clearance. I'm a little low on fundage this week, but I'll definitely be giving it a try. Will let you guys know what happens.

Wes Schaffner

My wife and I were just talking about replacing the headers. I'm going to have to see what it's going to cost to get a set of long tubes. I've been thinking about doing that for awhile though. May have just found my excuse to do so

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

I think the Summit's and/or Pacesetters are something like $300-$400 nowadays.

Wes Schaffner

That's what I've been seeing, been looking on there for the last 15 minutes. I'm thinking a set of Pacesetter Shorties or mid-length might do me some good. I've heard that they make spark plug access much easier. And from the picture I can tell that the left header is routed so I won't have a problem with #7 at all. Thinking this may be my best bet.


Sadly, the Hooker's on my car were not coated, they were painted. So, as a result, they are pretty rusted. Do you think it would be okay to dent the tubing? I kind of worry that it would break or crumble. I mean, they aren't rusted through, it looks like mostly surface rust, but I'm not sure.

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

If you're going to be removing the shorties you have now I would DEFINITELY lean more towards long tubes. They should be the last set of headers you own since they can support big power. Go with long tubes.

Alex94TAGT

Two other possible solutions:

1) There are bolt holes above the spark plugs on the stock heads, between the primaries. I fabricated u-shaped metal brackets to screw into those and hug the wires away from the headers -- one bracket for the front two wires, and one bracket for the rear two wires. They help keep the boots angled away from the headers as well. Costs $5~10 bucks, and works great.

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2) My TFS heads do not have the aforementioned bolt holes. I had terrible problems with burnt wires, as my (even ceramic-coated) FLP longtube headers get extremely hot and leave little room. There is no better way to route the wires themselves -- the headers just suck for clearance. I even chopped and rewelded a few primary tubes to gain clearance, as well as dented the primary as guppymech mentioned, but nope:



I grew tired of messing with it. The eventual solution: Accel Extreme 9000 ceramic-boot plug wires, 2000-degree heat wrap, and fiberglass spark plug boot heat protectors.









This is a worst-case scenario, but I've had zero problems since, even with a few wires/boots literally touching the primaries. You could likely get by with less.

Be aware that they also sell non-ceramic-boot extreme 9000 wires, which are not as resilient. Also be aware that the ceramic boots do not flex -- so, with normal-length spark plugs, I have to unbolt my headers to remove the wires or change the plugs, but I don't mind. Part of the joy of having a high-hp supercharged car.

At this point, you're half-way towards the cost of buying a different set of cheap headers, however. I wasn't about to ditch my $1200 headers, so our situations are not entirely similar.

guppymech

iTrader: (7)

Header tubes are pretty thick, If it's just surface rust like sandpaper and they're not flaking they still should be pretty thick. If you're going to dent the tube try to make it a smooth depression to avoid creating a stress riser that may crack.

I also clamped my #5 and #7 wires like Alex did but I used the bolt hole on the block that the OE raceway for the #7 plug wire used for my clamp. That bolt hole is kind of centered between #5 and 7 exhaust ports a couple inches below the deck surface.

Wes Schaffner

I hadn't really looked into the high temp. wires yet. It seems like a great idea, I just hate the idea of having to pull the headers every time I change plugs. Definitely something I'll look into. But I am pretty sure I'm going to end up swapping the headers on it at some point, to something with a little more clearance for practicality's sake. Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I have learned a lot today! Definitely going to be using this forum a lot more for my questions.

Wes Schaffner

Here is the set that I found on SummitRacing. Anybody tried these?

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ps...t/model/camaro

Tbird232ci

iTrader: (4)

I can't tell you about mid length, but by the looks of them, you'll have just as many issues with clearance.

I got my ceramic coated Pacesetter long tubes with y-pipe for 500 shipping from Herron Performance a while back. With that, I did an over-the-valve-cover plug wire setup, and haven't burnt a wire yet. I'm using some junky Taylors without an issue.



I used a wire separator setup for a small block chevy and got a little creative with zip ties.

Wes Schaffner

I'm going to have to try the over-the-valve-cover setup. It wasn't like that when I got it, but like I said before, I've spent the last year fixing all of the mistakes the previous owner made. I kid you not, on the left header there were 3 bolts that weren't even on there. Had to pull the header and replace the gasket. I'm guessing the guy that put them on had trouble getting to the bolts so he just said the hell with it. By the way TBird232Ci, that is a gorgeous setup you have going there. The red on the intake manifold and throttle body really pops.

BigD383lt1

I used the ones in the last picture and at first thought it was just plain silly but they really worked... I am running pacesetter long tubes and had a problem with one as well!