Thought about this in the shower. It would take about two days of work to drill and safety wire eight plugs to the heads. It would be a good prevention to blown spark plugs and you wouldn't have to worry about the plugs for thousands of miles. I'm coming to the end of my warranty and think this would be worth while task.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, safety wiring is how you keep nuts and bolts from loosening on aircraft.
I worked on F-4 Phantoms for years and have wired some difficult fasteners. Just a thought. R/S Dennis

 

How are you planning to safety wire the plugs? They are down in pretty deep. Wiring the plug to the head will present some interesting grounding issues. Shower must have been too hot.

 

What is it again? 8 to 10 twists per inch. I worked on KC-130 for the Corps and that was the only way to keep fuel control connectors attached in the engine compartment. It seems like a good idea but a alot of work.

 

I use to be an A&P mech. for Delta--back when they still used prop planes--way back--LOL--so I use to safety-wire connectors, etc.

IMHO, there is no way you could 'wire' these plugs. First, you'd have to drill ahole in the 'nut' portion of each plug(I know you know this but some guys might not.) If you haven't installed new ones yet, I don' think you are aware of just how deep the plugs are--down below the cam. You can't put the wire thru the hole before you install the plug--the socket won't fit past the wire. Now with the plug in--how are you going to fit the wire into that small wire-hole? You can't 'see' the plugs--you are letting the socket guide them into their holes--you can't 'see' the plugs--believe me.

If you run them in 'finger-tight/snug' and then go 1/16th of a turn more, they shouldn't vibrate loose. I think those that have loose plugs are a victim of poor installation at the factory--you will be more careful.

Dan

 

Good comments gents, I think it could be done if you drilled the plugs and ran the wire through, then estimate length and spin (twist) the wire on the plug before installing. You could use a dremmel tool to modify the plug socket to accept the prepared plug and then install as one piece. I'm going to try it. Yes it's alot of work, two days, but it would be worth the piece of mind knowing your plug won't back out and blow. You guys ought to sleep, think, on it. R/S Dennis. Semper Fi.

 

I am trying ot learn to do this, here's a picture of my first attempt to safety wire an extension housing. With some practice I may get it.

Darn, file too big, someday I'll lear how to do pictures...

G

 

Did you wire a plug? E-mail me the picture if you can. Thanks.
qcaptq@aol.com