Powerplant: Switched to automotive plugs and harnesses

My ignition harnesses were getting ratty with fractures in the shield (necessitating crimping a new connector on one line due to excessive radio interference).  Turns out that replacing connectors is not only expensive in its own right, the tool required to do so is crazy expensive.  So I opted instead to switch over to automotive harnesses and plugs.  

I used G3 Ignition's kit.  It includes:

• MSD Super Conductor 8.5 mm wire 
• Right angle MSD part 3311 boots and terminals
• 3 mm diameter, 10 mm long hollow copper rivets 
• 14 mm long, 7-turn conical springs (0.25" to 0.14")
  
• Rubber 16.5 mm OD by 8.5 mm ID, 6 mm long, 4 mm thick grommets

I purchased the MSD "Pro-Crimp" tool, part 35051, a device that takes some practice to use properly.

The MSD Super Conductor wire has a fascinating design.  Rather than being shielded, it uses an RF-choke approach.

First I pulled out the Slick harnesses, noted which hole went to which cylinder then measured the wire lengths.

The harness caps are drilled out to 5/16" then tapped to 3/8" NC.

I then cut the new wires to lengths slightly longer than the original harness wires.  They are screwed in to the magneto caps such that the attached springs (shown later below) sit at the same height as the original springs on the original harness wires.

The springs are screwed on to the rivet heads, then the rivets are pushed into the center conductor of the MSD wires.

The new caps and wires are then placed onto the respective magnetos and the wires are rerouted (I needed to drill out the plastic pass-through flanges that pass the ignition wires through the rear engine baffling - I think to 5/16" or 3/8").  The Adel clamps need to be upsized for the larger diameter of the MSD wires.  And I used additional clamps as well.

Connectors are crimped on (I didn't capture any images of that process), then plugs (in my case, Denso IKH27) are inserted into their adapters (I used E-Mag's "long reach" 18 mm to 14 mm adapters) finger tight.  Anti-seize compound is placed on the adapters only, then the plug nut is torqued to 18 ft-lbs.

Here's the final routing (the last image shows the MAP line to the right magneto loose, before it was ultimately fastened down).

Engine starts a lot easier, it seems to sound throatier (could just be wishful thinking), CHTs and EGTs and performance seem unchanged.  However, I'm looking forward to easier condition inspections going forward.