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Topic: 1978 Distributor ignition shield

in Forum: C3 Engines


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1978 Distributor ignition shield (1/6)
 6/3/13 12:05am
N0JRS
Former Member

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STERLING, CO - USA

Vette(s):
My Corvettes are a 1978 L-82 Coupe with an automatic transmission. It has a Silver Anniversary paint scheme with an Oyster interior. I also have a 2003 Electron Blue convertible, Milestone Edition with an LS-1 and a six speed transmission.


Joined: 1/10/2013
Posts: 43

My 78 lost its ignition shielding years ago. I want to recreate the original shielding for my car. I have been looking at the offerings of used distributor shield. I have also been looking at partial diagrams. I bought a shield that is supposed to be correct for my car. It only has a vertical leg going down on one side. The supplier assured me that it is correct. It didn't look to be cut or damaged. I have also seen catalog listings for correct shields that have a vertical leg going down both sides. Is my part correct, or do I need to buy a shield that has legs going down both sides? 
    Also, can anyone help me with a diagram that shows a complete illustration of all the shielding, brackets, fasteners for my car. I can't imagine getting lucky enough to find a complete unit that is correct for my car.  Thanks in advance for any help that you can give me.

Lynn
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Re: 1978 Distributor ignition shield (2/6)
 6/3/13 12:36pm
Adams' AppleLifetime Member
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Duncanville, TX - USA

Vette(s):
#1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas


Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20126

Not sure, but I think '77 was the last year for the chrome shielding.After that, they used a plastic top cover thingy....and I'm not 100% sure what was used to hold it on...Imma thinking it just clipped on....Ermm
Don't see why ya couldn't use the earlier stuff, tho, as long as ya had all of it.

HERE's a shield on fleabay....


If I remember right, it attaches to either the lower heat shields around the rear sparkle plugs, or to the sparkle plug wire holders....


|UPDATED|6/3/2013 9:36:31 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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Joel Adams
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Re: 1978 Distributor ignition shield (3/6)
 6/3/13 5:03pm
rraider1
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Woodland, WA - USA

Vette(s):
1977 T-Top,350,Auto Black Ruby Pearl,Steeroids R&P conversion


Joined: 10/14/2003
Posts: 1165

I believe from the parts manual 73 to 78 are the same 79 up change. If you pm me with an email I can send you the page that shows the parts. and when I get home I will look in my 77 assembly manual to see what it shows. but I can tell you the picture shows parte going down on each side of the main assembly .
Re: 1978 Distributor ignition shield (4/6)
 9/30/14 12:09am
N0JRS
Former Member

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STERLING, CO - USA

Vette(s):
My Corvettes are a 1978 L-82 Coupe with an automatic transmission. It has a Silver Anniversary paint scheme with an Oyster interior. I also have a 2003 Electron Blue convertible, Milestone Edition with an LS-1 and a six speed transmission.


Joined: 1/10/2013
Posts: 43

After searching for brackets for my 78 Vette, I discovered that I couldn't find distributor shield brackets because there aren't any. I studied vendor catalogs, read a couple C3VR threads, and looked carefully at an 80 Vette here in Sterling. By lunch time, I had the spark plug wires routed, the shield on, and a plan for resolving the spark plug shielding issues. The progress is encouraging, and I plan to locate a ground strap, replace the hood release cable clips, and finish the shielding. One question does remain: did the L-82 engine have coaxial sleeved spark plug wires in 1978?  Some of the vendors offer spark plug wires with coaxial sleeves. Thanks in advance. It's nice to be able to proudly show off the engine with the distributor shield in place.
Re: 1978 Distributor ignition shield (5/6)
 9/30/14 12:42pm
Adams' AppleLifetime Member
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Duncanville, TX - USA

Vette(s):
#1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas


Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20126

"Coaxial sleeved wires"? Not sure what you are referring to there. If you mean the braided metal covering, then the only factory application for those is the big block engine w/radio cars.
If you're talking about a heat resistant sleeve, no factory Shark ever had anything like that. You can certainly use them, tho, if ya want. Thumbs Up

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    

My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)
             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Re: 1978 Distributor ignition shield (6/6)
 9/30/14 2:20pm
N0JRS
Former Member

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STERLING, CO - USA

Vette(s):
My Corvettes are a 1978 L-82 Coupe with an automatic transmission. It has a Silver Anniversary paint scheme with an Oyster interior. I also have a 2003 Electron Blue convertible, Milestone Edition with an LS-1 and a six speed transmission.


Joined: 1/10/2013
Posts: 43

Thanks for the help. I did mean the braided metal shields that go around the plug wires. A vendor that I checked showed them for the C3 small block motors. I understand that vendors often offer many things that might not have been on a car originally. When I installed the distributor shield yesterday, the shield that I put on the car had a leg that went down the side of the engine on the right side. There was not leg on the left side. That makes sense because there would be several obstacles on the left side that were not on the right. The 78 Assembly Instruction Manual shows the leg going down on the left side.  I didn't know if my part had been altered. As I have never seen shielding on a 78 L-82, I really didn't have anything to use as a comparison. I have seen pictures of distributor shields that have legs on both sides.  I installed my shielding exactly as the 80 Vette that is here in town. It appears to be completlely original. I still have to sort out the shielding around the spark plugs, but my car still has some of that shielding. As I don't particularly care about radio noise, the lack of shielding on the left side is not a concern. If anyone can shed light on the left side and how the lower part installs, I'd appreciate it. I'm sure that there is someone with an original 1978 L-82 car with an automatic transmission that will have the specific information that I need.  Thanks for the help. 
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