Following my previous post...

Recap: I ordered Bougicords from fcpgroton. The wires did not have the metal sleeves (no big deal I guess), bit the lengths were not good. One long one, three equal length short ones. The two middle wires run high risk of touching the cam cover, too stretched. Yes I have the original spacers. My old Bosch set fits like a glove, all individual lengths, and has the metal sleeves.

I now received the second set (replacement) that fcpgroton was nice enough to send me. This set is the same as the previous, again three equal length wires and one longer one. Same poor fit. These ones don't even say Bougicord on them!

Anyone experienced this? Is Bougicord now having a jobber make their wires with poorer quality? I'd be surprised Bougicord makes wires without stamping their name on them.

Along all this though, Nick's service from fcpgroton has been good so far.

Any experiences to share?

Greg Mustang
Montreal - Ottawa
Canada

There is also a wire named "Beru". Believe it is made in Germany, Blue things, lots of length.

Don't ask me where you buy them. Came on my B23F '84 244GL junkyard car a couple of years ago. Still delivering good service.

Greg,
Well, at least the service from FCP is good... Everytime I have had to deal with them the experience is positive. Just got a great fitting exhaust system, catalytic converter, and oxygen sensor from them. No problems.

Next time WE know better, and that is the only way you can chalk it up. Mangacore is the wire to have; costs a little more but probably worth it. My Bougicords are serving me well so I can only complain about the tight fit on #3.

It does makes me laugh a little to see your still under the cloud... sorry to hear about it. A least you dont have 50 coil wires anymore. Take care & Good luck! Peace, Jon

I purchased them elsewhere but had the same experience. I am probably going to be flayed on the board for saying this .... they aren't worth the extra $ if they get fried from the heat. I now have Bosch (plenty of wire and it looks great).

--
Happy Motoring Miguel '86 244 and '87 245

My daughter wants a tune-up for her 240. Where did you find the Bosch wire set?
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

*shrug*

You can get the Bosch from nearly anywhere, like FCP Groton. I'm still doubtful of the quality (pulled the #1 wire apart trying to remove it from the distributor).

I'll still order the Bougicord wires. They are just constructed in a more durable manner. I'm suprised nobody has called IPD or Rusty to see what their stock of Bougicord wires looks like. I haven't had any problems with the routing of the spark plug wires, however I would also be very curious to see a comparison of Bougicord part numbers (the sets I've bought from both IPD and Rusty have come in Bougicord boxes).

There are other companies out there that make decent plug wires, and will probably have prices somwehere between Magnecore and Bosch. There's a reason the Bosch wires are so cheap....

- alex

'85 244 Turbo
'84 245 Turbo

Art, Bosch plug wires are available everywhere, AutoDrone, Pep Boyz, Kragen, etc. IIRC, they were about $28.00 for the set for my 740t.

--
don hodgdon '89 744ti, '81 242t, '71 D-35

Art:

FCP Groton has them - (or did you know that already)?

I've taken advantage of all the great input you've had on this forum. I hope I can contribute something more significant than this back to you at some point!

David near Toronto

"I've taken advantage of all the great input you've had on this forum. I hope I can contribute something more significant than this back to you at some point!"

He's a nice guy in person, too!

Plan on coming down next May to the Import/Kit/Replicar Show at Carlisle, PA and you can meet him and his daughter.

(and me, too, if you care)

I bought some from the same place and that is what I noticed right away was there was no metal anround the plugs. It is hard to tell how well they work since my engine was going out when I ordered them. I have now rebuilt the engine and I hope to fire it up this evening. Also when I used Bosch 4 platinums they semmed to work well. I wondered if I should have splurged some more and got the magnecors. Just trying to update spark to the plugs for performance and better starting in the upper midwest.

Bougicord wires have been the stock Volvo wires for the B21/B230F since ~1980. Before that, Volvo used Bosch with the Metal jackets. The set for the B230F from Volvo has three exact length wires and one long (#4 cyl). If you route the wires from the dist correctly they all fit nicely using the wire spacers. Be sure to run #2&3 under #1&4 to make them all line up in the middle of the cam cover. Also, the termination guides that fit on the valve cover nuts must be used to keep all wires from hitting the valve cover.
In the wire world, the experts say the rubber connectors are better than the metal jackets, for high voltage leakage and temperature resistance, especially in the deep recess of the B230F plug location.
--
'89 245 Sportwagon, VX cam,K&N, Bil's, IPD susp & exhaust

I guess different stock...
My dealer's wires have four individual lengths. Also, they have the metal jackets.

I guess somewhere along the line Bougicord cut costs... soemwhat expected for stock of older cars... like they have recently subcontracted the manufacturing of these wires to a cheaper jobber... no more jackets, some equal lengths, some don't even say Bougicord no more...

Now wondering what IPD has in stock...

Greg

I recieved a set of Bougicords from IPD last friday. Three equal length and one long wire, metal plug ends and 2 coil wires. They are a perfect fit


--
don hodgdon '89 744ti, '81 242t, '71 D-35

Well, in summary, I've had adequate functionality from the Volvo wires, although many others say they don't hold up as well as the Bosch or certainly not the Magnecor. btw, Magnecor's have the rubber connectors, claim to be best over metal.
Since I drive a lot (>30K/yr), I seem to be tunning up a lot, including the wires. I find the stock wires last ~ 40k mi,(not the 50k change-out interval) and that's not enough for me.
I just bought some Magnecor wires and Platinum +4's for the 240k mi tune-up next week.
Let's see how it goes.
--
'89 245 Sportwagon, VX cam,K&N, Bil's, IPD susp & exhaust

Does anyone know of a good online source for Magnecor wires? Like to find a good price on Mags for a couple of my Bricks.

I went directly to Magnecor. A phone call and $48 got me a set of the 8mm street/race wires in 2 days.
Part #4006 fits '81-93 (note these years are the ones Volvo went to the rubber ends, prior was Bosch metal ends using the screw tip. These can be used for pre '81 if you use the round tip on the plug.
--
'89 245 Sportwagon, VX cam,K&N, Bil's, IPD susp & exhaust