Yes, the plug wire retainers are bolted to the block just like the older sbc, the wires follow the back of the block and under the exhaust manifolds

If You use SBC Wires it will be like a Heart Transplant. Your Motor might reject them and refuse to Start!  LOL

  

You have to bolt them in?

Maybe that's why they are called STOVE-BOLTS?

____________________________

I bought a set at Autozone for $32.  Their Gold Series. These are pre-made    They also sell the do-it yourself style for  $15        The correct set for my truck has straight wires for the plugs.   I'm running header,  so I told the kid to give me wires for a 68 camaro with a 350.     Their perfect.    

It seems there all sorts of plug wire sets for the y-blocks, but I have a question. Is just any old set of wires good to use on an electronic ignition set-up such as Pertronix, or does the EI have to have different wires to carry the higher power pulses? If special wires are needed, what would these be? Thanks.

FWIW, a set of inexpensive "roll yer own" spiral core resistance plug wires caused (I think) some issues in my setup. Using a hot coil with full 12 volts and a standard points distributor and Ignitor. Last summer was humid to the extreme, and moreso in the garage. Sauna.

Under those conditions at idle had lots of arcing plug wires and between the coil terminals, also from the cap towers to one of the the clips that secures the distributor cap. Was quite a light show. Dielectric grease helped, though didn't eliminate this. Higher voltages as used in the Ignitor/Flamethrower coil will put the old points style ignition components to the test. I bought an old ignition oscilloscope to track this down.

One of the characteristics of the ignition waveform I later learned is the effect of an air gap on the secondary voltage rise. Wider spark plug gaps increase spark intensity but they also increase the likelihood of the secondary voltage seeking an alternate path to ground, or causing arcing, carbon tracking inside the distributor cap, burning of rotors, or dielectric material breakdown. High voltage is weird stuff!

Ultimately what seemed to tame it down was an NOS pre-emissions era rotor, these have a longer nose than service replacements found today, and a set of Motorcraft wires. The rotor tip to cap terminal gap plays a big role in how high the voltage builds up in the coil. I can't recall the part # but there is a Motorcraft set that will fit very closely with no cutting required. Couldn't pay me to use those crimp-on sets, the hassle isn't worth it to save $5 I know this is a long winded answer and out of character for me, but with ignition particularly everything has to work together, from the coil wire, coil, plugs, plug wires, cap, rotor, etc., the ignition scope is invaluable to really see what's going on. There really is some kind of synergy going on. Cheap parts often look identical to the genuine article, but they don't always perform right.

If you want a minimum of fuss and installation time, I would advise getting a set of premade wires from the old Ford or Tbird parts vendors.  I know CASCO will set up a set of spark plug wires, complete with the holders (presumably in the right locations).  Maybe a few extra dollars but may pay in the easier installation.


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

There is no one right answer for that.  Use the type of wire recommended by the manufacturer of the electronic ignition you want to use.


Lawrenceville, GA

For information only:  I know the Magnacor wires are pricey but the 9 year old 7mm set on my Y-block fit like a glove, are still very flexible. I put a Ford Duraspark trigger in the strib switching an MSD box and Blaster coil with no issues even when the humidity is very high. You are correct about the rotor gap, it's an addition to the spark plug gap. Perhaps the wires from the T-bird suppliers would be of excellent quality also.  Hope this helps, JEFF..............


64F100 57FAIRLANE500

Thanks everyone for your input. I ended up ordering the Magnecor set. I'm putting in a dizzy from FBO and they came highly recommend from them too. It will be interesting to see if theres any difference in a custom set up distributor over the MSD unit I have now.

Durham Missouri