Rover 827 Custom HT Leads DIY "HONDA ENGINE"

[Laird_Scooby]

Following the saga of the second total catastrophic failure of the HT leads on my Sterling for the second time in my ownership, i decided to make my own. Pattern leads retail from £30-90 with genuine Honda leads somewhere in the region of £200 - can't remember the exact figure as it is a few years since i got a price from my local Honda Main Stealer.

The original set of OE leads died at the tender age of about 18 years old - not a bad innings and possibly above and beyond the call of duty but a very welcome lifetime in any event. The second set of leads came to me secondhand a few years ago as a spare set and were about a year old at the time, backed up with the receipt from Euro Car Prats. These leads died in similar circumstances to the OE set, i.e. suddenly and catastrophically - typically when i needed the car most as i was showing it that day at the BL/BMC National Spares Day and Rally.

The pattern leads lasted about 2 years actually on the car, giving a lifetime of about 3 years service. At £30 for those leads, they work out at the same price as the Honda leads when replaced 6 times over an 18 year period.

 

To me this is not really a good state of affairs. As such, i hunted for a solution. In my thread about Ferroflex HT Cable and other online research i worked out that it appeared to be good quality HT cable with a good expected lifespan. So i had a measure up and bought 6m of the stuff with the terminals coming from a different source. I re-used the long spark plug boots from the pattern set as these were fitted to 7mm cable and the Ferroflex is 8mm so give a nice, tight seal. (Please - no jokes about penguins, ice cream and broken down cars! )

 

Here's how i did it, starting with a view of the end result :

 

 

Going left to right, top to bottom, silicone lubricant, the 6 90deg boots and connectors for the distributor ends with the 6 straight spark plug connectors, the 6m of Ferroflex cable then the 90deg boot and distributor connector with the coil boot (re-used from the OE set and the straight coil connector and finally the long spark plug boot and shroud (only one shown for simplicity).

 

 

After cutting the cable to length, i stripped the ends with a co-ax cable stripper :

 

 

Then using some of that silicone lube, i fitted the 90deg boots :

 

 

and stripped the sheath from the centre conductor using a pair of cable shears as a "circular knife" :

 

 

The 90deg connector was crimped on after folding the conductor under the outer layer of insulation so it makes good contact with the connector :

 

 

Now working on the opposite end of the plug leads, the plug shroud and boot were then slid on, again using a bit of silicone lube to make it slide on nice and easy......

 

 

The crown lead was made in a similar way by firstly fitting the 90deg boot and connector then stripping the coil end, fitting the coil boot and then the straight coil connector. Then of course they were all fitted and you've seen the end result!

 

As an aside, here's one of the things that contributed to the failure of the previous set :

 

 

As you can see, it's severely corroded. Some of the distributor end connectors had in fact broken in the 90deg bend. From what i can see, they are simply straight connectors that have been bent through 90deg, giving rise to a stress fracture. At least the connectors i bought are genuine right angle connectors so that at least shouldn't be a problem!

 

Oddly when i refitted the set of OE leads to the coupe (which i "borrowed" on the day of the BL Rally) and tested it to make sure it started ok, it started first touch of the key - no waiting for the PGM-Fi light to go out to ensure the fuel system is primed (something Stu suggests in one of his "mini-vids" and something i've done for about 20 years with Rovers, Hondas and Honda-derived Rovers). In all honesty i deliberately didn't wait for the light to go out for the simple reason i intended it to spin over a bit before firing to get the oil round the engine, seeing as it's not been run for about 3 weeks.

 

Hopefully now they're done they are a "Fit & Forget" part for a good few years at least. I have to say being 8mm, they do look the part under the bonnet and being blue, brighten the engine bay up more than the pattern black 7mm leads. For those that want originality, Ferroflex produce red 8mm HT cable as well and are one of the few companies i found that did in fact supply it. I know people like Magnecor and similar supply leads in ready-made sets in red and i think blue as well but they are what i call second party manufacturers as they are making the final product with a product already bought in. Maybe i'm wrong on that and they do extrude their own HT cable (although i couldn't find anywhere that sold it by the metre) but it seems most of the leads and lead-sets available are all much of a muchness and probably all made by just one or two companies who make the majority of all HT lead sets.

 

In time i'll report on how the leads are doing but in the meantime, no news is good news! If it seems they are successful i'll be making a set for the coupe and fitting them.

[hughezee]

Excellent write-up bud, I'm thinking of making a few sets for the club  :idea: at cost and blue ones would be my first choice 

[Laird_Scooby]

Thanks Stu - if you don't already have a pair of crimping pliers specifically for HT leads i would suggest investing in a pair, makes life much easier! I used to have a pair and they were much easier to use than the way i did it today - got a sore paw now!  :cry: 

 

You probably already have a tame supplier but if not, these people are good for the terminals, boots etc : http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/home/homepage.php