Anyone make their own ignition leads?
Discussion
Yes only for classics though? Just bob along to autojumbles/trade fairs, bike shows, you can buy screw in dizzy caps for most classic british cars, as most use 25 or 45d dizzys, buy copper ht lead wire by the metre, buy plug caps and bob's your aunties husband!
As to do you need suppressed caps or not, well do you? Have you a radio? Are you using suppressed plugs?
As to do you need suppressed caps or not, well do you? Have you a radio? Are you using suppressed plugs?
This isn't for a classic but for my impreza (and subsequently for my bikes). It's all modern stuff so I imagine it'll all be suppressed. I know I won't save anything on one set but figure buying the tools and such will be handy for the future. It really irks me to pay 80-90 quid for a set of 'performance' leads frankly 
WOuldnt seperate resistors have went out in the 60's ??
Moroso, MSD and others will sell DIY lead kits. Usually for V8's, so you'll end up with some spare parts.
Summit sell them in the US, or Real Steel keep some in the UK. No doubt there are other UK vendors too.
They do come with a crimp tool, which works ok. But IMO, if you want a top quality crimp, buy a proper tool. Pity they are quite expensive though.
Moroso, MSD and others will sell DIY lead kits. Usually for V8's, so you'll end up with some spare parts.
Summit sell them in the US, or Real Steel keep some in the UK. No doubt there are other UK vendors too.
They do come with a crimp tool, which works ok. But IMO, if you want a top quality crimp, buy a proper tool. Pity they are quite expensive though.
dern said:
This isn't for a classic but for my impreza (and subsequently for my bikes). It's all modern stuff so I imagine it'll all be suppressed. I know I won't save anything on one set but figure buying the tools and such will be handy for the future. It really irks me to pay 80-90 quid for a set of 'performance' leads frankly
Then why bother when the standard leads work perfectly fine ? That is totally free.Lol a man after my own heart!
I'm unconvinced performance leads have any benefit, in some ways I can imagine them being a negative in some cases, as a lot of these things are snakeoily. But if they give any benefit it will only be 1-2 horse on a dyno, after a year they will be no better than normal leads, maybe worse as they may not be as well made as a bosch/standard lead, but leads do degrade over time, much better to change standard leads at £20 once a year then £80 everyyear!
And you'll never feel 1 horse on the road. Spend it on something usefull.....like furry dice now they increase power in a scooby
I'm unconvinced performance leads have any benefit, in some ways I can imagine them being a negative in some cases, as a lot of these things are snakeoily. But if they give any benefit it will only be 1-2 horse on a dyno, after a year they will be no better than normal leads, maybe worse as they may not be as well made as a bosch/standard lead, but leads do degrade over time, much better to change standard leads at £20 once a year then £80 everyyear!
And you'll never feel 1 horse on the road. Spend it on something usefull.....like furry dice now they increase power in a scooby
stevieturbo said:
dern said:
This isn't for a classic but for my impreza (and subsequently for my bikes). It's all modern stuff so I imagine it'll all be suppressed. I know I won't save anything on one set but figure buying the tools and such will be handy for the future. It really irks me to pay 80-90 quid for a set of 'performance' leads frankly
Then why bother when the standard leads work perfectly fine ? That is totally free.All I'm asking is where I can get the bits from so that I can make a set up for this car and for future cars using the decent grade lead cable for cost of parts. This is partly because I think most of the cost of a set of performance leads is profit which I don't want to pay and partly because I like making stuff... it's fun.
Edited by dern on Sunday 2nd March 12:44
wildoliver said:
Lol a man after my own heart!
I'm unconvinced performance leads have any benefit, in some ways I can imagine them being a negative in some cases, as a lot of these things are snakeoily. But if they give any benefit it will only be 1-2 horse on a dyno, after a year they will be no better than normal leads, maybe worse as they may not be as well made as a bosch/standard lead, but leads do degrade over time, much better to change standard leads at £20 once a year then £80 everyyear!
And you'll never feel 1 horse on the road. Spend it on something usefull.....like furry dice now they increase power in a scooby
Just to clarify something. I believe the majority of what I pay for leads is profit. I simply want to have a bit of fun and save a bit of cash making some leads up for my cars and bikes. I want to use decent quality material and don't believe I'll get a bit of extra horsepower. Maybe when you read "scooby" you decided to answer a question that wasn't asked, I don't know, I'm not really interested in your preconceptions.I'm unconvinced performance leads have any benefit, in some ways I can imagine them being a negative in some cases, as a lot of these things are snakeoily. But if they give any benefit it will only be 1-2 horse on a dyno, after a year they will be no better than normal leads, maybe worse as they may not be as well made as a bosch/standard lead, but leads do degrade over time, much better to change standard leads at £20 once a year then £80 everyyear!
And you'll never feel 1 horse on the road. Spend it on something usefull.....like furry dice now they increase power in a scooby
dern said:
What are you talking about? The standard leads are 55 quid a set...
And just exactly how much do you think a DIY set will cost ? And then will it contain all the correct ends for a Subaru ?? Will the plug end have a suitable end, to allow you to grab it for removal, without having to tug on the lead itself ?And then do you own the correct crimp tool, for an OE quality crimp. If not, after a few tugs on the lead, because you have the incorrect fittings, it will fall apart.
If you want to attempt to make leads yourself, at least have a grasp of what you are about to undertake, before shouting at others who are giving sound advice.
If you can make a set of OE Subaru quality lead for less than £55, you'll be doing very very well.
stevieturbo said:
dern said:
What are you talking about? The standard leads are 55 quid a set...
And just exactly how much do you think a DIY set will cost ? And then will it contain all the correct ends for a Subaru ?? Will the plug end have a suitable end, to allow you to grab it for removal, without having to tug on the lead itself ?And then do you own the correct crimp tool, for an OE quality crimp. If not, after a few tugs on the lead, because you have the incorrect fittings, it will fall apart.
If you want to attempt to make leads yourself, at least have a grasp of what you are about to undertake, before shouting at others who are giving sound advice.
If you can make a set of OE Subaru quality lead for less than £55, you'll be doing very very well.
I make some HT leads here in my workshop .. the crimping tool I bought was 140 pounds, I have two types of cable and I bought the ends I use which is a combination of land rover / VW Audi group / Peugeot .. I had to buy a minimum order and spent just under 4000 pounds with my HT lead supplier but I do have the capability of making bespoke leads for my aftermarket ECU installs which was the major reason for buying the stuff in. If you want good quality parts to make your own leads it isn't cheap, but as you say it is rewarding to make something up yourself which is a perfect fit for length and looks neat 
My HT cable was made for me and has my company name printed on it, which is a nice touch too
My HT cable was made for me and has my company name printed on it, which is a nice touch too trackcar said:
I make some HT leads here in my workshop .. the crimping tool I bought was 140 pounds, I have two types of cable and I bought the ends I use which is a combination of land rover / VW Audi group / Peugeot .. I had to buy a minimum order and spent just under 4000 pounds with my HT lead supplier but I do have the capability of making bespoke leads for my aftermarket ECU installs which was the major reason for buying the stuff in. If you want good quality parts to make your own leads it isn't cheap, but as you say it is rewarding to make something up yourself which is a perfect fit for length and looks neat
Wow, that's a substantial investment to make... possibly a tad on the high side for me mind Just out of interest though... The connections to coils seem to be largely standard (or at least there must be a few different types) and the number of sizes of connections to spark plugs seem to be limited to a couple (cars seem mostly all the same and bike seem to be too but smaller) so am I right in saying that the car specific bits are largely confined to the rubber bits that keep the muck out of the cylinder head recess? Now if I was making these leads for others I'd want those manufacturer specific fittings because they look much better. However on some cars I've had they haven't had special crud repelling ends and simply had long ends which provide the grip you need not to put strain on the leads they would do the job right? When I've had those I've just cleaned all the crud out with my air line and then changed the plug. So, if I made my lead up with these long reach ends which don't have the special crud repelling bits I'd need to make a substantially smaller investment would I? Obviously if the special manufacturer specific bits located the lead too then this would put a strain on the lead.
trackcar said:
My HT cable was made for me and has my company name printed on it, which is a nice touch too
Saucy Cheers.
Your paragraph about crud-repelling ends seems to be spot on.
My preference is to get some proper copper-cored HT cable, take the fittings off the ends of the original cables, and solder them onto the copper stuff. Result: one set of leads which keep on working, and don't suffer from the weird and infuriating degradation which the s
tty carbon-string silicone crap is so prone to.
My preference is to get some proper copper-cored HT cable, take the fittings off the ends of the original cables, and solder them onto the copper stuff. Result: one set of leads which keep on working, and don't suffer from the weird and infuriating degradation which the s
tty carbon-string silicone crap is so prone to.You can buy the manufacturer-specific proper ends and they're actually pretty cheap per fitting, but I had to buy in batches of up to 200 for the ends I use which is a bit overkill for you unless you wanted to start making some for the owners club or something similar? The most expensive end I use is for the TVR speed6 engine and they're on about 2 pounds each, but I probably had to buy 100 of them in one batch, so the costs do mount up.
Have a look at Vehicle Wiring Products (Google it yourself - I can't be arsed). They certainly do tools and leads, and some ends for old bikes etc. They might know where you can get other stuff like different shaped ends.
Let me know how you get on. I may need some leads made up for the Mini soon.
). They certainly do tools and leads, and some ends for old bikes etc. They might know where you can get other stuff like different shaped ends.Let me know how you get on. I may need some leads made up for the Mini soon.
bitwrx said:
Have a look at Vehicle Wiring Products (Google it yourself - I can't be arsed). They certainly do tools and leads, and some ends for old bikes etc. They might know where you can get other stuff like different shaped ends.
Let me know how you get on. I may need some leads made up for the Mini soon.
You're a gent. That's the company I was trying to remember the name of before starting the thread. I'll have a look at their site. ). They certainly do tools and leads, and some ends for old bikes etc. They might know where you can get other stuff like different shaped ends.Let me know how you get on. I may need some leads made up for the Mini soon.
Thanks.
Mark
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