Hi all, Looking for original valve cover wire separators for 345?

K

kilomikesierra

New member
Joined up to see if I could get a little help with a parts quest. Need a couple (or a set of four) of the push on separators that were on my 1974 IH 345 engine. Even used would be fine, but finding new would be great, slightly less brittle plastic...

Anyway, I'm a pretty died in the wool longtime mopar man, but fell for the most unlikely of IH powered vehicles, a 1974 olson bodied stepvan.

Long crazy story but I brought it home, was supposed to be a storage. Its last voyage, it was a nightmare trip driving it 110 miles home, exhaust gaskets we so shot it was like riding a herd o harleys with straight pipes, and it, of course didn't have much power... Raining like cats and dogs, wipers that wouldn't wipe, found out it had no taillights.... Just about gave up and called a flatbed towtruck to come and get me, but persevered on. It had originally made it a whole mile from where I bought it before it died on the side of the road, I can't go into the details, some things are better left forgotten...

But after getting it home, I stated falling in love with it, seeing the possibilities of a motor home, which I think it was once. Did the exhaust gaskets, easier said than done... And she starts and runs damn near like a new car! Pretty sweet engine there.

I always slightly lusted after some cornbinder or other, been around em forever. I remember an old kb5 we had around this farm, back in the 70's. But I was a lot more interested in the ol dodge power wagon. Learned how to drive in that thing, 1941 weapons carrier. Been lots of mopowers after that, muscle cars, show trophies, and eventually back to power wagons, 60's vintage dodges suit me just fine, and I use them for work just about everyday, my preference being for wonton doolies...

But still, that International does something for me. It's my new tinkertoy, and hell, it's even putting one of my dodge projects on the back burner!

But back to the seperators, tried ebay and the net in general. Came up with zip, nuthin, nada...

Hoping to get some good news here ;-{)

here is the beast. It's gonna be a fun one to fix up, and so dang useful! Now, if I can get my wife to like it...

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Welcome to the forum. Forgive my ignorance of your terminology. By separators do you mean the little plastic doohickeys for keeping spark plug wires organized?
 
Give these guy's a call-IHOnly- top right hand of this page you'll see " store ",click on that an call Jeff. You sure thats a 345? You'd think that big bus wud be a 392? Pretty kool looking.well,you got it home,so you must supposively are to do something with it then? Jeff
 
Mike:

just to let you know you are not alone. Mine is a 69 boyertown w/302.

Regards,
mjolnir
 

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scoutboy74 said:
welcome to the forum. Forgive my ignorance of your terminology. By separators do you mean the little plastic doohickeys for keeping spark plug wires organized?
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Thx ;-) and yep, those things.

Jeff campbell said:
give these guy's a call-IHOnly- top right hand of this page you'll see " store ",click on that an call Jeff. You sure thats a 345? You'd think that big bus wud be a 392? Pretty kool looking.well,you got it home,so you must supposively are to do something with it then? Jeff
Click to expand...

Could be a 392, just going by what the guy I got it from said, and he was pretty much full o shite on all counts… it's only a 2bbl Holley though, so maybe not a 392. Come to think of it, the exhaust gaskets I got were for a 345, and they were right on the $$$. I saw from looking online that the 392 donuts are a different part #. Bigger id probably?

Speaking of that Holley, I hate those things… I wouldn't mind retrofitting a large carter 2bbl on there, it it's not too much trouble. Much better carb, off of a late 60's chrysler big block. I've done the retrofit several times on some early 70's chrysler products like 360/400 engines. The Holley is kind of a piece of junk. The carter is just a sweetheart. Kind o like taking off a Holley 4bbl and putting on an old carter afb, you can pretty much just forget about your carburetor after that, unless you get some dirt in it…

I'll check out the link. I would be tickled to find the separators. They're ok on the driver's side. One missing and one broke on the pass side.

mjolnir said:
Mike:

just to let you know you are not alone. Mine is a 69 boyertown w/302.

Regards,
mjolnir
Click to expand...

Cool stepvan (but mine is way prettier ;-{), is that a 302 as in Ford, like a Ford chassis, or a 302 transplant? I never hear of boyertown, I'll have to check that out. One thing I realized after poking around the net, post getting bit by the stepvan bug, is that there is a lot of people into these! And a lot of them with flame jobs, slammed and wearing some tacky 22" chrome wheels…. ;-(
 
Most likely not a 392 if set up for a 2bbl, but not completely out of the realm of possibility. Actually, the Holley 2300 modular models are pretty good mixers when everything is up to snuff. When they gots rotted gaskits lubed by el chupacabre sputum, then they don't werk wurf a sheeyit, but then I don't know what carb would in that condition.
 
Not a Holley 2300, that would actually be a pretty nice carb. I always that the adjust a float level on the run. Interesting... Anyway, it's a much more mundane version the of the Holley 2bbl, the ? Maybe it's a carter, but I'm pretty I read Holley on it.

I'm trying to research it on the web, without much luck. The carb actually works ok, and looks like it's fairly new or rebuilt. It does need help though, the p side idle mixture screw is totally inop, so a dead circuit there. Amazingly enough, it still idles fairly decent.
 
Oh yeah. Those were marginal when new and in most cases, total garboj 40 years later. They can be revived, but generally aren't worth the time and trouble. I wouldn't fault you at all for crap-canning the smoggerator.
 
scoutboy74 said:
oh yeah. Those were marginal when new and in most cases, total garboj 40 years later. They can be revived, but generally aren't worth the time and trouble. I wouldn't fault you at all for crap-canning the smoggerator.
Click to expand...

Well, I do like to leave stuff alone, and stock. Only way I would consider an outright swap, would be if it's a direct fit so I'd have to look at all that pretty carefully. I'm not above a few mods, and pretty capable. The only thing's I'd consider is throttle hookup/location, accessibility of idle mixture screws (the IH motor does have that monstrous waterneck thingie...) fuel line placement isn't that big a biggie (the line is already somewhat bastardized at this point, to the point that it needs to be altered in order to gain access inside the distributor, I can't even pop the cap off as it sits now...) and finally the air cleaner but the air horn gasket is the same for the old carter so that should be fine.

I have to say, that is a ridiculously small air cleaner on the IH motor, and I'm guessing it is stock. I tried to fit a much larger unit off of a dodge 360 engine, but there was that waterneck thingie again, would let a bigger base sit on the carb ;-(

either way, the unit has survived this long with this pitiful carb, and air cleaner and can probably continue to do so with a little attention to the carb.

Note to self... Dang! I think I bought one of those carbs (old carter 2bbl off a late 60's 383) a few years back to put on that 360 engine (which is in just a parts truck now), but where the hell is it?
 
The IH upper waterneck is uniquely massive and the 4 7/8" size airhorn of the 22xx doesn't open many doors for canister swaps. Ihon does sell an open element setup with an offset airhorn base that allows clearance for a pretty good sized filter element, but it is for the more common 5 1/8 airhorn of the modular carb models.
 
Try swapping the dodge filter 'element' into the IH housing. That will improve the breathing ability for the engine. I used the k&n e-1100 dodge element in my IH housing for years. It is a bit taller than the IH element so the 'lid' is lifted allowing air to flow all around the edge. Still seals against the lid as it should.
I have a few of the plug 'wire guides' at home but I am on the road to ohio and won't be home for a couple weeks.
 
Bill,

that would be awesome if I could get a couple of those from you when you get back! ;-)

what I was thinking on the air filter was along the same line. Cut down a piece of allthread as tall as needs be to get the tallest (same diameter) filter in there, there is quite a bit of room to go up. Even better with one of those washable foam surrounds. We live down a very long stretch of gravel road, real dusty in the summer.
 
Look close at the original 'threads' of the carb post. The section that goes into the carb 'casting' are different from standard threads. Note, the tips of the threads are 'flat' not pointed.
Send me a message again about the 25th of the month about the wire guides.
 
I'll check that out on the threads. Not all that crazy about allthread anyway, weak stuff... I do have the really tall air filter stud that's on the 360 dodge engine with same carb, huge air cleaner, big and tall. I might look at modifying it to fit the International, it would need a chunk cut out of the edge somewhere, just how much I don't know. Sounds like a neat project though and I can put my old IH stuff on the 360 to keep things out the engine ;-)
 
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