I Forgot what a PITA is to deal with ignition wire's heat shields :/

[GerryLP]

What a PITA is to deal with ignition wire heat shields. And perhaps, the worse portion is the #6 and #8 heat shield :/ the left side of engine is not too bad, but the difficulty goes up a notch if you choose to not remove the air cleaner snorkel duct on the passenger side for #2 & #4.

I had to disconnect the battery, disconnect the starter's extension harness (except for the ground), loosen the screw that holds the heat shield (with a wrench. because the oil dip stick tube interferes with it , or loosen the oil dip stick tube bracket off the engine mount and work it away from the heat shield bolt madad ). And then disconnect the auxiliary cooling fan switch harness and wrangle the stupid heat shield off it's location...

This is abbreviated process because if you get involved in moving stuff out of the way, you'll have to drop the front Y pipe enough to lower the EFE valve and still wrestle that dang heat shield...ahhhggg ad

Anyways, I went ahead and installed new AC Delco platinum spark plugs and shot the wires to make sure the wires are not bad.

After all the work, the miss on number 1,3, and 2 are gone. Re-adjusted the air valve in the carb, and took a short drive around in hot weather, and she's moving nicely. Even the bog/stumble on acceleration is gone.

Alright! Now she is ready for receiving JRose into New Mexico for his Corvettes of Santa Fe annual gathering.

 

[Bob Chadwick]

on a well done PITA job.

 

[GerryLP]

Thanks Bob, but ever since I returned her original engine back to factory configuration (in the upper 90's percentile), I have dreaded to do this...that's about 3 years ago, so hopefully it will be at least another year and half.

I guess I am getting wiser. Back in the mid eighties, Gail was my only transportation, and I grew to dread having to spend the entire weekend to work her brakes or some other condition (plus not having the tools I do now), but now I am 51 and have other vehicles to carry my arse around and not have to burn the midnight oil with her...ha,ha,ha

L81's are sweet when they are tuned right, though

 

[Bob Chadwick]

I hear you. I took all the shields off when I changed the wires on the 77 and stuck them in a box in the shed.

 

[bill81vette]

Hey Gerry,We can still work on our 81's
and we don't need a computer to tell us what's wrong with it!!!!!

 

[Yoda]

Gerry

Better than that builtup 383 with that DAM Holly on it :dance ...

Tell Gail she is still number 2 in my eyes we all know who is #1 and it ani't ABBY


Bud

 

[GerryLP]

Hey Bill, you got that right! But she was not giving me any trouble codes, so I thought it had to do with ignition. I picked up a quick tip off power block TV where you can use a bottled water with a hole in the cap and squirt the exhaust manifold and tell which cylinder is missing (water runs off and not boils off on contact), and that saved me some troubleshooting time (like getting to each wire and reading its resistance). That's how I readily knew it was #1 & #3 of driver's side, and #2 on passenger's side.

Bud, I know that Rare is number 1 in your heart. It is good to hear from you. I hope that you are doing well. Are you still being kept to a short radius by your doctor? Please tell Nancy and Sophie I said "hi"

 

[Peer81]

Good to hear everything is oke Gerry.

I have to admit I also have the spark plug shield in one box waiting to get on. But as I was changing the plugs around the clock I wasn't in a hurry to do so.
Btw, besides water (and a little more expensive) you can buy a infra red temp gauge, that way you can more clearly see the difference.
Keep up the good work!

Greetings Peter

 

[GerryLP]

Good to hear everything is oke Gerry.

I have to admit I also have the spark plug shield in one box waiting to get on. But as I was changing the plugs around the clock I wasn't in a hurry to do so.
Btw, besides water (and a little more expensive) you can buy a infra red temp gauge, that way you can more clearly see the difference.
Keep up the good work!

Greetings Peter

Peter,

I understand why would you be waiting to install them...they are a PITA...ha,ha,ha.

The Accel wires (they are 8.8mm. One step below the +300 wire core ones [about $80.00 per set in Autozone]) I do have installed were a good investment, and are still averaging between 1K and 2K Ohms (on the longer wires like for the #1 and #2 cylinders).

And I am sure the shields are helping them last longer.

 

[Wajulia]

I try to keep th 81 as original as possible, so when I put new wires in mine I routed them in all the shields. What a PIA! Took hours, had to drop the starter. But it is all sorted now

I also put the distributor shield back on, it had disappeared before I bought the car, and now I know why. Another PIA to fit on right!