Do any of you guys run a plug wire/coil heat shield? JMB just came out with one and I picked one up. PTPerformance also has a flashy one I know a lot of people are running. There has also been some other choices around.
I went with JMBs cheaper plain version, I like it because it looks almost stock. I went for a drive after installing it and the wire and coil definitely wasn't cool, though it was cooler than without it. Without it the wires and coil were pretty much too hot to touch for more than a second. Now its still very hot, but cooler to the point I can actually touch them. I've seen some people say "cool to the touch", I don't really see how that's possible considering nothing under the hood is cool to the touch.
Anyhow, seems like a decent temp change. Better than the turbo/manifold radiating straight to the wires.
You can get any of them in different colors
Here's JMBs "bling" version, you can also have it say Mopar
http://jmbperformance.com/store/images/pwhs_srt4.jpg
Well, even if no one responded, I'm going to add an update to my post. :D
After driving today I decided to check out the temp again... To my surprise the coil and wire... Cool to the touch, warm, but not even close to hot.. Was surprising to say the least.
Dodge_Locked
03-30-2006, 03:22 PM
does something like that actually work? no offense,man, but i wouldn't really think that a piece of metal would really improve anyhting. i know the coil and wires have their own heat protection, so i don't think that bracket would really be neccessary. But if it works for you and seemingly improves the performance, then run it man. shit, even if it doesn't do much, it at least just plain looks good. adds a little of that "bling" factor
Andy
03-30-2006, 03:24 PM
These cars sometimes tend to eat up wires, and yes they do work, as I described in my posts. Most people run one because everyone usually finds after not too long their wires - stock especially are burnt to shit. You have a glowing hot manifold/turbo radiating inches away. I didn't think it would do anything at first either, but then everyone got one so I got one, and it's a major difference in temp on the coil and wires both.
Dodge_Locked
03-30-2006, 03:47 PM
no shit. what do you think of that thing compared to just performance coil and wires. I'd think that that the performance applications would have better heat protection. I'm not too sure though, and if that thing really works, then i should look into it.
too though, what about some kind of heat wrap for the manifold or something. i'm not too sure on the price differences or anything, though.
Andy
03-30-2006, 04:23 PM
Aftermarket wires are good and recommended, I have the MSDs. Our stock coils are usually sufficient according to most, a lot of people have had problems with MSD coils specifically.
After driving the car pop the hood and touch the coil and wires... It's like touching a hot stove. After putting the shield on and driving they were just warm. How long would the wires and coil last otherwise? I dunno. It's just a small measure to help protect them. The one I got was $19, the blingy ones are alittle more. Not absolutely needed, but it can only help.
As far as heat wrap on the manifold, I don't know anything specific besides it'd probably be a bitch to try and do.
Clint Burleigh
03-30-2006, 05:08 PM
does something like that actually work? no offense,man, but i wouldn't really think that a piece of metal would really improve anyhting. i know the coil and wires have their own heat protection, so i don't think that bracket would really be neccessary. But if it works for you and seemingly improves the performance, then run it man. shit, even if it doesn't do much, it at least just plain looks good. adds a little of that "bling" factor
Its the same as sitting next to a hot fire....your face with get hot from the radiant heat...put something in front of your face and it cools down. I know Modern Performance tested it with a heat gun and the difference between before and after was higher than i thought. The 03' wires were had a straight boot on them and Dodge switched to a elbow boot to cut down on the heat to the wires. Some stock wire coating was melting on the straight boot design. I dont think it improves performance but as Andy said, it is cheap protection for those fancy 8.5mm wires you have.
Dodge_Locked
03-30-2006, 08:37 PM
this is true. It would improve performance if it blocked the heat though, wouldn't it. From what i know, heat would increase the electrical resistance in the wire. The less heat, the less resistance, the higher the amperage. so, theoretically, it would increase the hp a bit by increasing the amperage of the spark. probably wouldn't be all that noticeable though.
Any-who....speaking of increased spark, do you all know anything about an aftermarket ignition box for these things. do they make them? are they any good? are they worth it? cuz my old dart, i had a 360 in it with an msd distributor, blaster 2 coil, and a msd ign box. it ran good but after i dropped in the box, i didn't see much of a difference. when i widened the spark plug gap, though, thats when the extra power kicked in. now i know some ign companies have been kicking around a few ign boxes for compacts, but i've heard mixed things about em. some guys said that it was great, and others said that newer cars are preprogrammed to deal with what the ign box would give or something like that. they said that most sport compacts dont need em.
anyway, just curious, cuz i know they work great for old muscle v8s and such, but i don't know too much about em for the sp cmp
Andy
03-30-2006, 09:52 PM
this is true. It would improve performance if it blocked the heat though, wouldn't it. From what i know, heat would increase the electrical resistance in the wire. The less heat, the less resistance, the higher the amperage. so, theoretically, it would increase the hp a bit by increasing the amperage of the spark. probably wouldn't be all that noticeable though.
I believe you're right. I don't have much real tecnical knowledge on the subject, but I've seen this talked about before. I think maybe improving efficiency is a better way to look at it than improving performance.
Any-who....speaking of increased spark, do you all know anything about an aftermarket ignition box for these things. do they make them? are they any good? are they worth it? cuz my old dart, i had a 360 in it with an msd distributor, blaster 2 coil, and a msd ign box. it ran good but after i dropped in the box, i didn't see much of a difference. when i widened the spark plug gap, though, thats when the extra power kicked in. now i know some ign companies have been kicking around a few ign boxes for compacts, but i've heard mixed things about em. some guys said that it was great, and others said that newer cars are preprogrammed to deal with what the ign box would give or something like that. they said that most sport compacts dont need em.
anyway, just curious, cuz i know they work great for old muscle v8s and such, but i don't know too much about em for the sp cmpIn my research I've found it's recommended to stay away from the MSD coil. Some have used it with no problems but there are a lot of reports of them taking a dump fast on this car.
rice_eater
03-31-2006, 12:23 PM
Its the same as sitting next to a hot fire....your face with get hot from the radiant heat...put something in front of your face and it cools down. I know Modern Performance tested it with a heat gun and the difference between before and after was higher than i thought. The 03' wires were had a straight boot on them and Dodge switched to a elbow boot to cut down on the heat to the wires. Some stock wire coating was melting on the straight boot design. I dont think it improves performance but as Andy said, it is cheap protection for those fancy 8.5mm wires you have.
I still have bits of plug wire insulator melted to my valvecover on my 1st Gen. Dodge wasnt to bright when they ran the air induction system right over the coilpack and wires, and then decided to put a metal plate on the air snorkle right over the wires. Metal heats up, wires melt to it and everything else they touch. As long as the heat shield doesnt actually contact the coilpack or wires it will do exactly as Clint said, block the radiant heat. If it touches either the coil or wires however, then you just made a heat expressway straight to your ignition. Just a bit of info is someone wanted to make their own heat shield, make sure there's sufficient air space on either side or it wont do any good.
Dodge_Locked
04-01-2006, 12:56 AM
i didn't mean the msd coil for the neon. i heard the same thing about those things. A few people i know with em had to replace them with the stock one cuz they burnt up or screwed up the spark plugs.
what i'm wondering about is the ign boxes. as far as i know, these things increase the voltage before it ever meets the coil. this allows for more "pressure" in the electrical end of the ignition to cause the spark to be able to jump a bigger gap. since bigger gap = more surface of spark, this equates to a better, more efficient burn, and therefore, a larger explosion and more hp. now, as far as v8s are concerned, ign boxes open up a whole lot of hp, but thats with a distributor and an external coil. like i said, though, i dont know about the benefits or problems with them as far as sport compacts are concerned. i've heard mixed things.
i think i'll start a thread about it, and see what comes back.
