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MG TD TF 1500 - Brass washers on spark plug wires

Should the brass washers that go on the ends of the plug wires be soldered to the core wires or is it enough to place the inner wire in the slot in the washer. I’m thinking that solder would make a much more secure connection.

Bill
Bill Reid TD4618

My vote goes to soldering them, I like to poke the wire through and flare the end out evenly then solder it

Strange thing, I had a GT500 Cortina years ago and it would vibrate the leads out of the cap, it was a real pain and happened quite regularly-One time one came out and I lost the washer and nut and had to jam the lead in with a piece of stick to get home.
Because of this i decided to solder them on so i wouldn't loose them and weird thing was after soldering them they didn't undo themselves again---------

willy
William Revit

It makes sense to do so, but they often weren't, back in the day - the wires were just splayed out in as near circular pattern as possible. Never heard of one falling off.
Dave H
Dave Hill

After you put the copper core through the washer you fan them out evenly.

That is all that is needed.

Peter
P G Gilvarry

I cut the wires long, splay them out over the washer, and double-fold them back. Gives me twice the connectivity.

And tighten the nuts on the distributor cap tightly, because when they vibrate loose it causes the wires to break, reducing the current flow.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

After 55 years of driving an MG TD I have never had a problem with just inserting and splaying the wire.
Works just fine for me.
Rod Jones

I soldered them on my car.
Regards
Declan
Declan Burns

I am with Rod on this one. Just splay and forget. :-)
Christopher Couper

Never heard of anyone soldering before. I've run tens of thousands of miles just doing it as original - splay them out. Tightening the nut smashes everything together tightly, so I don't see the need for solder. Plus, solder has less conductivity than copper. I'm not sure what type of steel the wire is made of but I wonder if it too has better conductivity than solder.
Steve Simmons

The voltage is something like 15,000 to 30,000 volts. No need to solder.
J Barry

Thanks for the input.....

Bill
Bill Reid TD4618

Interesting information. I have always soldered mine. The car came to me in 1972 with soldered ends, so I assumed that is what was done.
Bruce Cunha

This thread was discussed between 07/11/2020 and 13/11/2020

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