: The other 6 forum has some messages talking
: about using co-ax cable for spark plug
: wires. anyone have any thoughts about this ?
: Without having to worry about header heat
: this seems feasable. Wouldn't this wire be
: RF proof ? With a solid conductor it should
: be low impedence too.

: All the coax cable I'm aware of designed to
: handle the voltages encountered in an
: ignition system are very expensive, and
: large diameter. For the RF supression to
: work, the outer conductor has to be
: grounded. Having a grounded outer conductor
: the entire length of the cable, from the
: distributor to the spark plug requires good
: insulation between it and the center
: conductor.
:
: Good after market ignition wires have lower
: resistance than the stock, or cheap
: off-the-shelf replacement, ignition cables.
:
: If coax ignition cables were a good idea, MSD,
: Jacobs, Taylor, or someone would be selling
: them.

: All the coax cable I'm aware of designed to
: handle the voltages encountered in an
: ignition system are very expensive, and
: large diameter. For the RF supression to
: work, the outer conductor has to be
: grounded. Having a grounded outer conductor
: the entire length of the cable, from the
: distributor to the spark plug requires good
: insulation between it and the center
: conductor.
:
: Good after market ignition wires have lower
: resistance than the stock, or cheap
: off-the-shelf replacement, ignition cables.
:
: If coax ignition cables were a good idea, MSD,
: Jacobs, Taylor, or someone would be selling
: them.
:
: Dave

: Hi folks
:
: I read an article on that kind of wire a while
: ago. It was in a oldtimer mag. I will try to
: find that article, but for now I can tell
: that they compared expensive ones and
: home-made ones. They simply sliced an old
: industrial data cable and took the wire net
: (I don´t know the term for it right now) and
: put that net around a cheapo ign cable, then
: grounded the net at the plug side to the
: block. As far as I can remember the car was
: a mid60 with breaker ign and they noticed a
: difference to the old wires, but no
: difference between the aftermaket and the
: home made. On a test bench, the wire net
: made the spark much hotter. It had something
: to do with the capacity of the cable.

: I've used coax for
: years to make ignition wires and they work
: great. 8mm solid core wire with the wire
: braid shielding - no RFI and LOTS of spark.
: WAY inexpensive. They're semi-rigid so you
: can actually "bend" them so that
: none of them touch one another, eliminating
: any possiblity of cross-fire bleed without
: needing wire looms, AND I've never had a set
: wear out. Put em on once and never worry
: about whether your wires are firing
: again.".....and..
:
: TV cable is rated @ 75ohms and
: network cable is rated @ 50ohms. Makes sense
: to me. Any other comments or observations? (
: BTW, MSD rates their top plug wires @
: 40-50ohms.)".

:
: The 75 and 50 Ohms are not resistance, but
: impedance at the high frequencies the cables
: are designed to carry. If you measure the
: resistance with an ohm meter, it will
: probably be less than 1 Ohm, and at least no
: more than good aftermarket ignition cables.
:
: Stock ignition wire is the cheapest thing that
: will do the job. It is not supprising
: replacement with any kind of solid copper
: conductor will be an improvement. I've never
: seen anything to imply any kind of coax is
: an improvement over good aftermarket cables.
:
: I've never tried using coax, so I can't argue
: with anyone who says it works and lasts, but
: I must wonder how long they last. Coax cable
: wasn't designed to with stand the high
: voltages of an ignition circuit. Over time,
: the insulation will break down. I just don't
: how long. The person using the coax also
: states it is stiff. That gives him the
: advantage of being able to bend it the way
: he wants, but also means engine movement is
: flexing and fatiguing the cable. This will
: eventually lead to breakage, but again, I
: just don't know how long it will take.
:
: If this stuff worked, the big bucks racers
: would be using it, but like Doug wrote, I've
: never seen any evidence it.
:
: If anyone has some real data, like dyno numbers
: or 1/4 mile times, I'm sure we would all
: like to see it.
:
: Dave W

: Why would the wire have any significant flex if
: they're always in the same location relative
: to the distributor and head ? Engine
: vibration ?