Another chapter in the '88 Camaro epic
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...wner-88-a.html

Today, I was practicing my Zen studies by standing in a quiet road, and in the warm sunshine, staring into the engine compartment of the '88.

As I removed several nests of small furry creatures, and a good portion of some kid's sandbox, and enough caked sludge to nearly get me tagged for a Superfund site, I happened to notice something about my plug wires.

In addition to the "looms" (or I should say REMNANTS of looms) being not utilized, I found the routing of one of the wires to be most curious.

Focus your Zen.

 

That could not have been making it run as smooth as it should be. Some people should not even attempt automotive repair.

 

Scary the things ya find left over from previous owners !

My 89 Bird had the main engine wiring harness routed right next to the exhaust manifold and was toasted to a crispy crunchy mess . Tokk quite a while re insulating all of these wires , and now the car runs great

 

I liked to snake my plug wires between the engine lifting eye and the cylinder head. However, seeing as you have an 88, that may not be the wisest thing, and replacing the plug wire loom things with factory is a crapshoot at best.

At the least, you will need new plug wires. And maybe a new ignition coil as well.

 

Before I just go yanking on those old wires, somebody please school me on these metal collars that appear to support the plug-boots.

Also would like to know about the ribbed plug boots that seem to be purpose-built for the metal collars.

I have this fear that I'll pull on one of the boots, and it will tear in half inside the metal support collar, and then I'll be digging at it until next Tuesday to get the rest of the boot out in bits-and-pieces, and all the while the car will be disabled while I'm trying to figure out what parts I need to get.

Ideally, I think I'd like to get new boots and wires. It seems to me that it makes the most sense to get some sort of "universal" kit that will allow me to size the length of the wires to whatever loom arrangement I may concoct. I'm somewhat adverse to the idea of buying a set of wires that are "supposed to be for" a V6 Camaro. I just know the "supposed to be for" set will be length-sized based on somebody's impractical notion of how the wires are supposed to be routed.

Anybody have any thoughts/experience on building their own set of wires with these unique boots?

 

Ignition wires cannot touch anything that is oily, hot, or that vibrates (including the firewall). They also cannot touch each other.

If you cannot find the proper seperators, cheap plastic split loom and cable ties will do a great job.

 

Plug wires can touch eachother, well plug wires made in the last 30 years LOL! that's what the sheefing is for I just did a tune up on my 3.1 this past Sunday and had to have some of the wire touching/crossed and the car runs awesome!

W.E.G. I would do a cap, rotor, plugs and wires. I got a Taylor cap&rotor combo at Summit Racing for $25.00, got Taylor, high energy 8mm direct fit wires at Summit for $25.00, and got Bosch copper plugs at Autozone for $3.00 each. The tune up was not hard and my car run 100x better. Not sure about the 2.8, but the 3.1 plug gap should be .45, make sure to set them all as most were about .30 gap out of the box. Also stick with ciopper tip plugs, that's what the car came with and that is what your should put back in, don't let them sell your the super dupper quad plated BS plugs LOL! Don't build your own wires, just get a kit made for the car, It's really not that big of a deal.

 

Thanks for the suggestion for the Summit Racing product!

I’ve already got a new cap/rotor/coil thanks to the incidenton I-55 in Mississippi.
See https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/posts/history-originality/670075-about-new-owner-88/5474570-post63.html

Did you get part number 74024?

On the Summit site, I’m looking at part 74024 at $50.95
See http://www.summitracing.com/parts/tay-74024/applications/make/chevrolet/model/camaro/year/1988?prefilter=1

The difference of twenty-five bucks for the set ofpurpose-built wires doesn’t give me heartburn after all I’ve spent at thispoint. But, I am curious about your how you got yours for half the price I’mseeing on the website. What part number did you get?

The Summit site seems to be saying the part 74024 fits awide variety of GM’s 80’s-era V6 cars.
See http://www.summitracing.com/parts/tay-74024/applications

What kind of plug-boot did your Taylor set come with?

I would really appreciate some pics of the set installed onyour car. Since my original wire looms are kaput, I need some ideas on howfolks are routing these (somewhat) purpose-built wire sets.

Also very interested to see how the plug-boots on the Taylorset fit in those metal boot-supports.
Here’s what my existing plug-boots looks like:


Again, those metal sleeve-thingys around the plug-boots haveme a little concerned about fitment of an aftermarket product.

Any pics that folks can offer of their aftermarket wires onthe V6 motor would really be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

The metal things are heat shields for the plug boots. I don't think I've ever seen a set on a 2.8/3.1 (I would tend to guess they were added?). If you don't want to reuse them, I'll take them off of your hands (headers). Most of the stock replacement wire sets I've seen have the exact same plug boots, so you don't need to worry about them fitting.

 

Not sure when I can get underhood pix of my car,it's under 2 covers in the driveway and by the time I get home from work it's about dark out. The Summit Racing part nuber for the wires I got is TAY-64600 $25.95 direct fit, bright blue in color. The boots look the same as the wires you have now. Don't forget that my Car is a 92 3.1, so the wire listing might be differant for an 88 2.8. My 3.1 nor my LB9 has the metal covers around the plug boots. I'm sure the Taylor wire will work with them. Side note the Taylor wires have a longer boot than the Napa wires that were on my car, but that did not seem to pose an issue and they snapped on the plugs very nice..

 

them shields just get in the way and do nothing, makes it a PITA when you gotta remove a plug wire and can't get a pair of boot or reg pliers on so the boot just doesn't pull off the wire. Those long boots onthe 60* wires always do just that.

next time around Im getting a uni set with normal 45* angle boots for the plug end.

 

What's wrong with the long boots? I think it's makes the job better to do with them, the front plug on the pssenger side is kinda hard to get the plug wire to snaped on the plug, with a short 45* boot it would be alot worse IMO. Anyways I would do plugs on my 3.1 ten times in a row vs doing them once on my LB9 LOL!

 

I would of put a whole set of 90% wires on it, if they didn't touch, 45* would go easy, maybe I have less junk in the way but can get to them all fine.

 

Off topic here, but I wanted to thank you SO MUCH for the very first image! It helped me sus out an issue with vacuum lines I have had for almost a year! If I could I would buy you a beer! Thanks a ton again.

 

In case the question still concerns anyone, I bought Taylor Thundervolt wires for an 86 Fiero with the 2.8. This car still has the metal sleeve things like in the photo above, and some even have a paper insert within that (I have no idea what that's for). The boots on the Thundervolt wires fit perfectly with the metal sleeves.
I don't remember if it's the same kit number as for the 3rdgen, but I certainly expect the boots would be the same either way.