Turning out several thousand cars a day, Ford didn't bother with this. But I only work on one car at a time, so I polished my plug wire terminals. After all, it is a brass era car, so I think a little polish is OK.
Polish may be a bit much, but better than corrosion!
Looks very nice with the Champion X. I say if you like doing it, do it. I have a friend who restores cars to "the way they would have done it at the factory had they had the time."
Rich
I did the same thing, Steve. Had an occasion when my engine was missing and figured it wouldn't hurt to buff the heck out of all my connections. Unfortunately, when I screwed the nut back down on the magneto post, I overtightened and broke it. But you should have seen the shine on those pieces!
Bought a replacement, installed it and yeah, the engine ran way better. Lesson learned: You can tighten too much, but you can't polish too much.
Steve,
I bought a set of wires that looked like that. They were not soldered - really poor quality. The wires need to be soldered if they are not already. Made by a vendor in New York who supplied them to the vendor I purchased them from.
Yep, I soldered all these before I polished.
I agree with Royce completely. I've made several custom sets of spark plug wires, and it's always solder then crimp (if you do it the other way around, the heat can damage the insulation) Some pre-made sets just have the bare wire tucked underneath the insulated portion, then crimped. They'll work, but they won't last long!
But even so, they sure do look nice! Now we with all the love and care you put into them, we can only hope that they stay that pretty!
That looks Very Nice!! Do you hire out?? Bud.
I know Snyders wires are not soldered. They make them in house in their shop cheaply.
RJ&L also makes and supplies the wires and theirs actually are soldered. They been making the wires since the 70's. Rj&L comes from a long line of wire manufacturing family. The son n law does a great job on the wires compared to his competetor.
Bud, I don't even have time to get all my own stuff done.
Great job, I think it looks neat. Shiny brass makes everything really stand out
Here's Rj&l soldered spark plug wire. He does a better job than his late father n law who ran the business
OUCH...they hurt my eyes !!!
As usual Steve has a solution.
We black era guys are jealous of the brass guy showing off their polishing skills but now we have a solution, thanks Steve.
Steve, don't forget to clear coat them.
Smiles
Saying you over restored something on your Model T is like saying you spent too much time loving on your wife to create a healthy marriage. Both are labors of love and time well spent doing something you thoroughly enjoy. Keep up the good work...er... fun. Jim Patrick