I am in the process of swapping from a 318 to 383 on a d150 pickup. Are there any issues with lengthening the distributor wires to reach the distributor?
This modification is NOT a new one. It was common back even in the mid 1970s when you yanked the 318 out and put a 440 in a 72 up Dart. If you do cut and splice, do a 2 - 4 inch stagger on the splices. The twist and solder splice is best, just slide some heat shrink over the wires first.
I assume 6pakDak is talking about the magnetic pickup wiring. I have cut a few over the years. They are common copper stranded wire in a thin 18-22 gauge.
The signal from the Dizzy to the ECM is a very weak low voltage signal. It was in an old DirectConnection bulletin that said to put some twist in the two wires if extending them. It was for noise induction mitigation issues.
Do it or don't do it. It matters zilch to me. I will always put twist in any signal wire, including O2 sensor wires.
But, just ask yourself, Does it hurt anything???? Does it take too much time???? Does it add much weight????
Re: Lengthening distributor wires? - 05/31/2002:25 AM
OK, I dug out my "NEW" in the box Mopar 'P' part Electronic Ignition Conversion harness.
The two wires for its Mag pickup are about 2 feet long and have a good twist to them. But these are gray and gray/white striped and printed with "Fusible Link" all along its length. I am guessing they are 22 or maybe 18 gauge. I am not going to cut them to see.
But what Fusible Link wire is is just 4 wire gauges smaller wire inside a thick fire rated insulation. So if you have a 10 Gauge wire with a Fusable Link, it is a 16 or 18 gauge copper wire. The insulation is made up so it will not catch fire when the inside wire melts.