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I have been investigating better ways to seal the spark plug openings.

I recently tried Corvair seals and Toyota Land Cruiser FJ 45 tie rod boots.

Both seem to be the right diameter.  The Corvair boots didn't fully cover the crimped on metal thing on the end of my wires.  I tried the FJ boot without a wire and it fell into the opening. So far I haven't been able to get it out, My first attempt pushed it in deeper.

I probed around with my endoscope but haven't been able to find it.

Does anyone have an idea where it might have ended up?

I really, really don't want to pull the shroud apart to find it.

1957 CMC (Speedster) in Ann Arbor, MI

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I would venture to guess from my past experience that it has lodged between the cylinders. If you have access to compressed air shoot a couple of spurts of 100psi air up from under the cylinders and head, it may pop it up to where you can see it and pull it out. Other than that you are stuck pulling the shroud off if you don't want to leave it in there.

I was a big Corvair guy and we would buy 2 sets of Taylor racing wires to seal the best so it is funny you are seeking Corvair seals to improve the VW. The cheap flat seals do not hold the cooling air in and are what is offered for many aftermarket plug wires for the Corvair and the VW engine. Many have no idea that using them causes a huge loss of cooling efficiency. I haven't found anything that seals better than the Taylor racing wires that have a boot with a half sphere with a sealing groove around the base to lock into the hole in the shroud.

Taylor racing wires

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I have routed head temp wires through a drilled and grommeted hole in the cylinder tin or under the tin and back up through the engine seal. I have never routed the wire through the spark plug access hole but if I had to I would take a razor knife and cut a slit in the sealing boot and slide the wire up into it. The boot should be able to be made to snap into the cylinder tin and seal. Good luck in your work.

The problem with nearly every boot on a T1 is the intake manifolds getting into the space meant for the seal. The only option is to trim the seals, and they're already not very good at grabbing the shroud.

This seems trivial, but it's a real concern.

@Jimmy V. posted:

I have routed head temp wires through a drilled and grommeted hole in the cylinder tin or under the tin and back up through the engine seal. I have never routed the wire through the spark plug access hole but if I had to I would take a razor knife and cut a slit in the sealing boot and slide the wire up into it. The boot should be able to be made to snap into the cylinder tin and seal. Good luck in your work.

That's how I did it on mine as well.

Last edited by Stan Galat

I agree with all of you on how fussy the seals are, and that they are very necessary to keep the cooling air where it's supposed to be.

Nice tip on blasting some compressed air from the bottom, Jimmy.

I know it sucks, Michael, but pulling the engine out makes it SO much easier to work on. It isn't that bad to do on a Speedster.

To answer Michael's question, I used the bench grinder to remove rubber from the top and outside edge of the boot in the area that touches the intake manifold. I was careful to not cut into the bottom of the boot or the groove the holds it in the hole. Removing the material from the boot gives it clearance to push into place. I wish I would have taken a pic of the boot before it was installed. I hope my explanation make sense. If you can imagine, the top of the boot has been ground away without grinding all the way through. The radius of the grinding wheel mimicked the shape of the intake manifold.

Puma Plug 1Puma plug 2Puma plug 4

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