1969 Spark Plug Wire Supports

[Steve M.]

I am doing a frame off restoration on a 69 350/350 and am having the motor gone through at this time. The engine did not have the two wire supports that are mounted on each side. I have NOS supports: 1 is zinc plated and looks to be dipped in black plastic about 1 inch from the end with the notches for the wires and 1 is painted black with a rubber grommet to hold the wires. Questions:1 Are the supports installed as they are (zinc plated and black paint) or engine orange and 2 What finish are on the bolts that are used to attach the supports to the block?
Thanks for any help Steve

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 Spark Plug Wire Supports

I am doing a frame off restoration on a 69 350/350 and am having the motor gone through at this time. The engine did not have the two wire supports that are mounted on each side. I have NOS supports: 1 is zinc plated and looks to be dipped in black plastic about 1 inch from the end with the notches for the wires and 1 is painted black with a rubber grommet to hold the wires. Questions:1 Are the supports installed as they are (zinc plated and black paint) or engine orange and 2 What finish are on the bolts that are used to attach the supports to the block?
Thanks for any help Steve

Steve------


The original GM #3744408 supports on my original owner 1969 were zinc plated. As I recall, the area with the notches for the plug wires was dipped in black plastic. I've never seen any with a rubber grommet.

These supports were installed at St. Louis. Consequently, they received no engine paint. The bolts used to attach them were untrimmed (i.e. indented" head) and zinc plated. These often have an "E" or "EL" headmarking (for ELCO Industries, one of the suppliers to GM for this bolt).

[Steve M.]

Re: 1969 Spark Plug Wire Supports

Joe,
Thanks for the information. But, there seems to be some issue with the Assembly Manual. On page J204, I can not find your part number 3744408. The passenger side support 3864498 matches what you describe and the NOS parts that I have. The driver side 3923971 calls out a grommet 3719963 and matches the NOS grommet that I have. I do not have a part number on the support. Maybe you could look up these part numbers to help me get this right. Appreciate any information you provide. Steve

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 Spark Plug Wire Supports

Joe,
Thanks for the information. But, there seems to be some issue with the Assembly Manual. On page J204, I can not find your part number 3744408. The passenger side support 3864498 matches what you describe and the NOS parts that I have. The driver side 3923971 calls out a grommet 3719963 and matches the NOS grommet that I have. I do not have a part number on the support. Maybe you could look up these part numbers to help me get this right. Appreciate any information you provide. Steve

Steve-------


We're talking about different supports. The ones I thought you were inquiring about were the ones mounted to the side of the block below each pair of cylinders. Each of these has provisions for 2 spark plug wires, with 4 supports used per engine.

The ones you're apparently actually referring to are the ones at the rear of the block, behind the cylinder heads. The support on the left (driver) side is GM #3923971. This support does use a rubber grommet of GM #3719963 and accommodates 4 plug wires. My recollection is that this bracket had a phosphate finish.

The right (passenger) side support was GM #3864498. This support used no grommet and accommodated 4 plug wires, staggered 2 front and 2 rear. This support was zinc plated. I don't recall if the original examples had the black plastic dip on the end. Vaguely, I recall that there was no plastic dip on 1969 models. If not, this part later received the dip for both PRODUCTION and SERVICE.

[Steve M.]

Re: 1969 Spark Plug Wire Supports

Joe,
Thanks for following up on this question. Should have used parts number in original question. Thanks Again Steve