67 L-71 4 Spark Plug Wire Retainer On Driver's Side
Does anyone have a picture of what the original, correct retainer looks like that holds the 4 spark plug wires at the rear of the driver's side valve cover for a 67 L-71? I am talking about the retainer that holds the spark plug wires after they exit the square rubber grommet in the stand near the distributor. Also, is the retainer "floating" or mounted on a stand that connects to the valve cover?
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Re: 67 L-71 4 Spark Plug Wire Retainer On Driver's Side
Thanks, John. That clarifies the question about how the bottom of an original retainer would look--i.e., the bottom would be completely flat.
Maybe I am making too fine a distinction here, but I want to try to get as close to correct as I can with what is available in the repro market for now. There are two types of floating, 4 wire retainers that I have found. One has rounded ends. The other has what looks like a "dab" of plastic added to each of what would have otherwise been rounded ends. Of course, both companies claim that their retainers are correct for 67 BBs. Which is closer to correct?Comment
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Re: 67 L-71 4 Spark Plug Wire Retainer On Driver's Side
part number 2977555, see attached for drawingBill Clupper #618Comment
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Re: 67 L-71 4 Spark Plug Wire Retainer On Driver's Side
Bill, thank you very much for the most informative page of 4 wire retainers. I don't see a date on the page, but I would assume it's from the 1960s.
John, based on the drawings in Bill's comment above, the 2977555 retainer (AIM part number) is not a floater. Instead, it looks like this retainer should be mounted on a stand, if there is one, that would be attached to the driver's side valve cover. Further, the 2965736 retainer (just to the left of the 2977555 retainer in the drawings) resembles one of those that I described earlier--with what appears to be a dab of plastic at each end. Maybe the AIM part number is incorrect? If so, and please excuse my "logic," but maybe the 2965736 part is correct, as several reproduction vendors offer retainers that look like this one(?).Comment
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Re: 67 L-71 4 Spark Plug Wire Retainer On Driver's Side
Also note that the part number changes (per the AIM on radio equipped L36) to 3904852. That is not a Packard-sequence part, and the part listed for L-71 is also not a Packard Electric part as we had no 3xxxxxxx parts in our component system. In both cases the illustrarion shows the clip attached to the wire stand typicaly seen on a big-block valve cover of the era. Sheet A-7 of L-36 and A-9 of U-69.Bill Clupper #618Comment
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Re: 67 L-71 4 Spark Plug Wire Retainer On Driver's Side
If you look at the picture in Noland Adam's book page 355, taken by road & track in Aug 1966, you can see the stand and the attached '555 style clip. Also shows up in the picture on the bottom of page 356, likewise attached to the stand off the rocker cover.Bill Clupper #618Comment
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Re: 67 L-71 4 Spark Plug Wire Retainer On Driver's Side
Michael -
I must have been looking at the wrong illustration - as you noted, those 7755 retainers are pushed on stands welded to the valve covers; BB's had two on each valve cover - a tall one at the rear for four wires, and a short one in the middle for the front two wires. I can't speak to what the vendors are offering for the 4-wire retainer.Comment
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Re: 67 L-71 4 Spark Plug Wire Retainer On Driver's Side
OK, so those would be in addition to the plastic clips mounted on the stands off the valve cover.Bill Clupper #618Comment
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Re: 67 L-71 4 Spark Plug Wire Retainer On Driver's Side
Bill and John, I appreciate your help to get to an answer for me. I should have looked at Noland Adams' book first.
On page 419, there is a picture of a 1967 L68 / L71 engine compartment. It shows a 4-wire retainer on the passenger's side on a stand that is welded to the valve cover. The 4-wire retainer on the driver's side appears to be a floater (its "fingers" barely visible) positioned between the ignition shield assembly and the 2-wire retainer in the middle of the valve cover.
If the retainer on the driver's side is a floater, my question to anyone who has scrutinized these retainers remains--should the 4-wire retainer on the driver's side have rounded ends like the 2-wire retainers in the middle of the valve covers, or should it have the ends with the dab of plastic molded in?Comment
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Re: 67 L-71 4 Spark Plug Wire Retainer On Driver's Side
Look more closely, some of the pictures in Noland's book show the bracket on the drivers side also, indicating the '555 clip. AIM shows the '555 clip as one per side, 2 total. Look at L-36 sheet A&.Bill Clupper #618Comment
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Re: 67 L-71 4 Spark Plug Wire Retainer On Driver's Side
Bill and John, thanks for the help and clarification. MichaelComment
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Re: 67 L-71 4 Spark Plug Wire Retainer On Driver's Side
Here are photos of the driverside clips. 4 wire clip on a standoff attached to the valve cover adjacent to the shielding and a 2 wire clip on the valve cover surface. L36 engine.Comment
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Re: 67 L-71 4 Spark Plug Wire Retainer On Driver's Side
Stephen, great photos. Looks like a spectacular car, too. Thanks, Michael GebhardtComment
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