ST205 Ignition Leads (7mm or 8mm dual Silicone)

Frustrated with the cost of Ignition Leads and the availability of ones for my Toyota Celica GT4 (1994 ST205 model) I decided to find some ones already on the market that could be converted for use on my car.

Toyota and Halfords wanted in the region of £90 for a set of leads (5mm single Silicone) which are not exactly the highest spec ones. This is the price for all 4 leads and the Ignitor to Dizzy Cap lead. I was able to purchase Magnecor 5mm single Silicone leads for £70 but they were exactly the same as the standard Toyota ones and one broke the first time I removed it. For £70 I was not impressed. I enquired about getting a set of KV85 Magnecor leads but Magnecor only do the 5mm one.

Another thing that annoyed me was that the earlier models of GT4 have exactly the same leads as my version but have a male type Dizzy Cap and female Lead ends (common type) where late model ST185, Gen 3 MR2 Turbo and ST205s all have the new female type Dizzy Cap. This means that the lead has to have a thinner male end (not common). The earlier type one you can get a full set for £32 for Bosch ones but they want £88 for exactly the same leads with the only difference being that the Dizzy Cap end of the leads have the different plug?!?!

I went to Halfords and bought 7mm Dual Silicone Lemark Hotwires Leads (orange ones you can buy individually) I bought the P2, P3, P4, P5 and C1 lead packs along with the Adapter Kit 'K'. http://www.lemarkhotwires.co.uk/products2.htm

The price for the kit was as follows;

P2 Ignition Spark Lead (40cm) - £3.99
P3 Ignition Spark Lead (50cm) - £3.99
P4 Ignition Spark Lead (60cm) - £4.49
P5 Ignition Spark Lead (75cm) - £4.79
C1 Ignition Spark Lead (40cm) - £3.49
Adapter Kit 'K' - £14.99

Total Money Spent - £35.74

These are the ones that are recommended for the ST185 with the older Dizzy Cap. The problem remains of how to attach to the later dizzy cap. I still had some of my original ones lying around in box so decided to pull one apart. I pulled the rubber boot off and slid it down the cable to reveal the plug underneath. I then snipped the old 5mm cable off (see bottom left)

I then pulled the rubber boot down on the new lead. On the crimped on socket there are 3 teeth on the inside that click in place over the older style Dizzy cap. I bent these slightly out the way, so they were level with the rest of the socket. Then I clicked the old plug in place, it fits in perfectly. (see bottom left)

I then cut the old boot slightly (see above right) to allow the thicker cable in (don't worry this bit is covered by the boot on the lead later). I then slid the boot back in place and used some black insulating tape to hold the boot in place as a third line of defence against moisture as well. I then slid the boot on the ignition lead up so it partially swallows the original boot. The 2 rubber boots should now be sealed, I used a Zip-tie and tied it very tightly (see bottom left) to make sure the 2 boots are sealed together (you may also wish to used silicone seal)

I then slipped the cap on the top of the original boot (the bit that clicks onto the Dizzy cap). For the Ignitor lead (which has these plugs at both ends) I used the same method for both ends. The ends that go onto the Spark Plugs are untouched and I used the Adapter Kit 'K' to house the ends. (see below left) It comes with all the necessary bits and pieces to house the ends. It has an adjustable height part for the lead inside. I have set this on Height setting 6. It has a slide on rubber seat at the top that will cover the hole on top of the rocker cover. And that is it, more pics below. (Picture with the Spark Lead Plug is showing Height setting 5 and has the wide rubber bit on, I set it to 6 and took off the wide top rubber bit and just left the ribbed cone rubber bit on. This fills the hole leading to the Spark Plug perfectly and seals properly.)

The good thing is that the adapter kit and the original plugs from the old leads are reusable the next time you change your leads, leaving you with only a £20 bill.
I went for the 7mm ones, the 8mm ones are also available for slightly more cash and use the same adapter kit.