Extenders finally gone…

Extenders finally gone…

Author
Discussion

Fez887

Original Poster:

334 posts

81 months

Thursday 19th September
quotequote all
Finally decided to remove the extenders and add socks, and result is much better! Got rid of a slight misfire and car running great.

Anyone else found this a positive move?

PS - kept the extenders for any future owner wanting to reinstate to stock.

BritishTvr450

416 posts

6 months

Thursday 19th September
quotequote all
I’ve had socks for over 8 years now having read about the many failures contributed to the extenders.
I’ve not regretted it and my plug caps are still intact as I’m still using the same leads that were fitted by Powers as part of an MBE Ecu upgrade in 2016 although the car has covered very few miles over the last 4 years.
I did around 16000 miles from 2016-2020 though so they clearly work.
The only caveat would be you need to keep the leads tied up and not sagging which will cause the socks to lean on the manifolds and bleach them.
I bought some cheap plug lead separators which also helps and still use the original separators mounted on the rocker covers which do a good job in keeping the leads tight and pulled up.


Belle427

9,747 posts

240 months

Thursday 19th September
quotequote all
Id agree with not letting them touch the manifolds, i had the fancy msd leads and dei industries heat socks which cost over £200 and were supposed to be the dogs but one was touching the manifold and still scorched the lead boot.
I like the idea of the accel ceramic ended leads but have heard they can seize on the plug so need regular maintenance removal and maybe lubricating to stop that happening, they are a quality product though.

pwd95

8,402 posts

245 months

Thursday 19th September
quotequote all
Best solution I've had were J E Developments prepaired Magnecore leads with angled boots...
Keeps them well away from the manifolds...


Zeb74

409 posts

136 months

Thursday 19th September
quotequote all
I have put angled lead plugs (from https://mrretroleads.co.uk/) and socks on mine and this is working fine.
After a full renovation with bodyoff, the Chim was going crazy once a bit hot, idling was odd, the accelerator had no effect, exhaust manifolds were super hot... As we had just stripped the whole car, we were wondering which mistakes was done. I don't remember why we tried to remove the extenders, but it was the issue.

Belle427

9,747 posts

240 months

Thursday 19th September
quotequote all
Magnecor leads are not well regarded online im not sure why, ive seen a set on an RV8 and they did look like a quality product to be fair.

Sardonicus

19,111 posts

228 months

Thursday 19th September
quotequote all
Belle427 said:
Magnecor leads are not well regarded online im not sure why, ive seen a set on an RV8 and they did look like a quality product to be fair.
Over priced IMO and a tad high in the resistance arena , but never witnessed any failures on cars fitted with so ....... I tend to use US sourced big player brands (Accel,MSD etc) big block Chevy or big block Mopar lead kits (lots of length) then cut them to length and terminate them with proper crimp tools


Edited by Sardonicus on Thursday 19th September 11:54

mk1fan

10,652 posts

232 months

Thursday 19th September
quotequote all
Angled plug connectors, thermal boots and ceramic coated manifolds. Sorted.

Mutley00

279 posts

130 months

Thursday 19th September
quotequote all
These chaps have never let me down

Andy70

1,301 posts

166 months

Thursday 19th September
quotequote all
Mutley00 said:
These chaps have never let me down
Where did you get those from?

Fez887

Original Poster:

334 posts

81 months

Friday 20th September
quotequote all
Belle427 said:
Id agree with not letting them touch the manifolds, i had the fancy msd leads and dei industries heat socks which cost over £200 and were supposed to be the dogs but one was touching the manifold and still scorched the lead boot.
I like the idea of the accel ceramic ended leads but have heard they can seize on the plug so need regular maintenance removal and maybe lubricating to stop that happening, they are a quality product though.
Isn’t the whole point of socks to sit between the manifold and the connector so they will touch to a degree?

Belle427

9,747 posts

240 months

Friday 20th September
quotequote all
They are not really designed to be in contact with the manifolds, they will take a fair bit of heat but it's better to try and keep them away
if you can.

Englishman

2,237 posts

217 months

Friday 20th September
quotequote all
I am another owner (Griff 500) to have replaced the extenders with angled lead plugs from https://mrretroleads.co.uk/. After talking to him, I took his advice and didn't fit socks. The leads have been fine for several years.

sawman

4,963 posts

237 months

Friday 20th September
quotequote all
I ditched my extenders earlier in the year, replaced with some straight booted leads from motoclan, and heat socks. the boots seemed a bit tight on the plugs and kept popping off. so I swapped them out for some much cheaper angled leads from craddocks, which have been fine so far - I planned to put the heat socks over these, but they wont fit over the angled boot.

Mutley00

279 posts

130 months

Sunday 22nd September
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Andy70 said:
Where did you get those from?
They were on the car when I got it Andy. I checked on evilBay amongst other places in connection with a previous post on the subject and couldn't find owt I'm afraid.

Rako

99 posts

261 months

Sunday 22nd September
quotequote all
Mutley00 said:
Andy70 said:
Where did you get those from?
They were on the car when I got it Andy. I checked on evilBay amongst other places in connection with a previous post on the subject and couldn't find owt I'm afraid.
Looks like these after a quick search...

https://pertronixbrands.com/products/pertronix-808...

Belle427

9,747 posts

240 months

Sunday 22nd September
quotequote all
I would guess they are a copy of the Accel ones, Pertronix stuff is difficult to find in the UK.
Summit racing used to stock them but import taxes these days make them an expensive proposition.

Andy70

1,301 posts

166 months

Sunday 22nd September
quotequote all
yeah I might research those a bit, thanks

Belle427

9,747 posts

240 months

Monday 23rd September
quotequote all
I think the Accel part number is 9002C, Tvr parts places will charge you £150 for them but they are available for around £100.
Just be aware if one breaks you need to buy another set so not liked by everyone.

BritishTvr450

416 posts

6 months

Monday 23rd September
quotequote all
Ceramics, the ultimate in lead tech at this time but very expensive and recently a number of Tvr owners have mentioned the leads have split where they go into the ceramic caps when not very old.
I think you have to change plugs to something like old Fiesta type ones which are narrower to allow removing the leads as the caps have been known to break trying to remove them.

Very nice if you can afford them, look great but any issues will cost you dearly replacing them.
Not being able to buy individual spares puts me right off and I like the socks as they look good and do just as good a job at protecting the rubber caps and if these ceramic caps aren’t kept tight up and they rest on the manifolds the result is likely to be the same as letting socks sag onto manifolds so I’m not sure what you really gain by having them.
Kudos mostly smile