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 A sad tale of trying improve some OE hemi sparkplug insulating tubesJump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [50 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
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56D500boy |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 9911     Location: Lower Mainland BC | . A couple of weeks ago, I was screwing around with the spark plugs on my 56 Dodge D500 "Double Rocker" (aka "Hemi") engine. When I pulled one of the plug wires a bit of the plastic spark plug wire insulator tube broke off. This was on a set of wires that I had bought from Mopar Mall back in 2016. No biggy. Then I started poking around to see if there were any NOS insulator tubes available. First thing, I found that the insulator tube PN as 1479 232 and that, surprisingly, seemed to be common across the board for 55-58 hemis (Dodge, Desoto and Chrysler/Imperial), despite the different engine sizes. I guess there isn't that much difference in the distance from the valve cover to the spark plug. Who knew? Anyway, I found what seemed to be a good used set of 10 on eBay (8 and 2 spares). It was a good Buy It Now price, so I clicked. When I got them a week or so later, they looked pretty good. A bit oily but otherwise good. 2 had some very small chips at the big end. Barely noticeable. But they were dirty.  And this is where I went wrong. Badly.  Instead of using solvent or brake clean (I thought them too harsh for the old plastic), I soaked the tubes in hot(ish) water and Dawn dish soap. (Good enough for oil-soaked ducklings, must be okay for...) Either that was a bad idea or I let them soak too long but bottomline is the water/Dawn combo caused the plastic to swell, crack and crumble. Two of the tubes are done. Maybe two aren't too bad but the other 6 are showing signs that they are going to crumble soon. Not my plan. I should have avoided the water and used solvent to clean them up. Now I have a better appreciation of the Mopar Mall tubes. Live and learn. (Too soon old, too late smart) Photos starting with the eBay Buy It Now photo and ending with a close up of the PN. Edited by 56D500boy 2024-02-22 5:04 PM (55-58HemiSparkPlugInsulatorTubeSet_AsPresentedOnEbay_small.jpg) (55-58HemiSparkPlugInsulatorTubeSet_OE1479232withMoparMallTubeOnFarLeft.jpg) (55-58HemiSparkPlugInsulatorTube_PN1479232.jpg) (55-58HemiSparkPlugInsulatorTube_1479232.jpg) Attachments ----------------  55-58HemiSparkPlugInsulatorTubeSet_AsPresentedOnEbay_small.jpg (128KB - 19 downloads) 55-58HemiSparkPlugInsulatorTubeSet_OE1479232withMoparMallTubeOnFarLeft.jpg (115KB - 14 downloads) 55-58HemiSparkPlugInsulatorTube_PN1479232.jpg (90KB - 17 downloads) 55-58HemiSparkPlugInsulatorTube_1479232.jpg (200KB - 17 downloads) | ||
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| hondaman1974 |
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Veteran Posts: 189  Location: Northern Illinois | |||
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| 56D500boy |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 9911 Location: Lower Mainland BC | hondaman1974 - 2024-02-22 1:21 PM hi dave, i think i have a set of these if you are interested. will have to dig through my garage to find them. i think they were in decent shape. Tony Tony: You got mail re: insulting tubes  | ||
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