From the August, 2011 issue of Super Chevy / By Calin Head / Photography by The Author

Spark plug wires are one of those consumable maintenance items that occasionally need replacing. Over time, the resistance of the wires builds up and they becomes less efficient at transferring the electricity from the distributor to the spark plugs. Besides time, the other factor that can damage a set of wires is improper clearance from the exhaust system.

If the wires have the wrong terminal angle on them, it places the wire too close to--or in some cases on--the actual header tube. Such is the case with a '63 Nova into which we recently installed a V-8 under the hood. We employed a set of Sanderson headers and a set of spark plug wires that had 90-degree boots at the spark plug. Well, these boots had us doing all kinds of zip-tie magic to keep the wires away from the header tubes on almost every cylinder.

To cure this issue, we looked to MSD and got everything needed to build our own set of wires that would work with the Sanderson headers. The following steps will show you exactly how to build a set of wires, and once you know how to build the wires you can then route them any way your heart desires.



Read more: Chevy Tech: Custom Plug Wire Build - Get Wired - Super Chevy Magazine