getting spark plugs - pita!
- Thread starter loeky
- Start date
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just picked them up today
The local Vatozone and O'riellys both would have had to order the NGKs or NDs. After cruising the board here, I decided on the NDs, since that is what they came with. So I called the dealer and they had the NDs in stock for $0.15 cheaper than the parts stores. The dealer also came in cheaper for a ND distributor cap (by $3.00), and on the ND rotor (by $1.25). Everything is not always cheaper at the parts houses, sometimes it pays to call the dealer.
Hodag
Hodag
- Thread starter
- #24
so i've been driving around on these plugs for a few days and man .. the difference is amazing. three things:
a. make sure plugs are put in by you or a trusted mechanic. i was running on 5 cylinders and getting bad mileage due to a completely messed up plug not firing.
b. denso plugs make the engine sound like it should. quiet, reliable and no hiccups. quality acceleration.
c. mileage from good plugs is already easily 2x better than before. i'll reply when i fill up with figures as to the differences. taking a trip to San Simeon this weekend too, so i'll distance numbers to boot.
d. don't f around! get some good plugs! i firmly believe in the asian plugs = asian cars. it's the same with my 72 Honda CB350 - i wouldn't put anything but NGK in that sucker.
i would have just had the guy mail the plugs to me, but i wanted to have them in to see what's up before leaving on a weekend long trip down south.
next on my list of things to do is the PCV valve and then wires. i would have done all at the same time, but wanted to see what improvements make along the way.
hope this info helps.
matt
a. make sure plugs are put in by you or a trusted mechanic. i was running on 5 cylinders and getting bad mileage due to a completely messed up plug not firing.
b. denso plugs make the engine sound like it should. quiet, reliable and no hiccups. quality acceleration.
c. mileage from good plugs is already easily 2x better than before. i'll reply when i fill up with figures as to the differences. taking a trip to San Simeon this weekend too, so i'll distance numbers to boot.
d. don't f around! get some good plugs! i firmly believe in the asian plugs = asian cars. it's the same with my 72 Honda CB350 - i wouldn't put anything but NGK in that sucker.
i would have just had the guy mail the plugs to me, but i wanted to have them in to see what's up before leaving on a weekend long trip down south.
next on my list of things to do is the PCV valve and then wires. i would have done all at the same time, but wanted to see what improvements make along the way.
hope this info helps.
matt
And don't clean your old plugs unless you're in the woods & have no other alternative. New ones are too cheap, & sandblasting screws them up. JC Witless bought a warehouse full of the little blaster cleaners in 1952 & is still trying to get rid of them.
I'm curious now, I wonder if it was the plugs and not the distributor? It was accelerating, but heasitating at the same time. If I see no difference with the OEM plugs and my HEI dist, I am going to instal the stock one again.
import silvia said:
are densos really considered 'exotic?' yes, vatozone and shlep boys dont carry them, but that certainly cant make them exotic...
and if your rig is still low compression, go get your head shaved! bumping up the compression just a little bit sure helps both mileage and driveability. my 2F is running 9:1, yes i run premium, but i get 17mpg all the time! the savings in mileage more than makes up for the extra cost of gas.
i am trying out a set of autolite platinums, but that is only because they were $0.20 cheaper than the densos, so i bought a set of both.
import silvia said:
they must be. but then again, i always laugh at the diesel guys when they cant find a pump...
e
ok, finally insatllled the OEM plugs. A noticable reduction in top end performance. I didn't set the gap to .50 nlike the Bosch's were. Maybe I should have done that. Will the gap affect power that much? 
import silvia said:
Actually if I remember right, our motors are pretty high compression for gasoline engines, which is why they don't like forced air induction. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but at approximately .66 liters for each cylinder and my lowest cylinder on a dry compression test being 162 PSI, that seems to be a pretty high compression ratio. I can't remember the math for figuring it out, but if someone knows how to work it, please feel free to let me know...
Tried Autolite and Bosch plat before. Bosch ok, Autolite bad. Usually run NGK.loeky said:
I'm a little suprised your NAPA didn't have the NGK. Don't think they're anything special. Is it a small NAPA, Kragen...etc?
sportbiker929 said:ok, finally insatllled the OEM plugs. A noticable reduction in top end performance. I didn't set the gap to .50 nlike the Bosch's were. Maybe I should have done that. Will the gap affect power that much?
Since you have the DUI - gap them appropriately. reducing the gap should reduce the spark, and I would guess (not a mechanical genius) reduce performance. re gap them and let us know if it helps. it should.
rob
wilco
ok, just regapped'em to 50k. Will report back in the am.
out
out
The start cold this morning wasn't as easy as with the bosch's. Before i would pull full choke and it would start like it was fuel injected. This morning I had to pump it twice. The power was back to normal and ran really good. I have to run it with the air on to see if the results are the same..
Mitch out
Mitch out
sportbiker929 said:ok, finally insatllled the OEM plugs. A noticable reduction in top end performance. I didn't set the gap to .50 nlike the Bosch's were. Maybe I should have done that. Will the gap affect power that much?
I thought the preferred gap for a 2F was .32 or .35. Maybe I am wrong. My 60 runs great with NGK... it hated Autolite and Bosch.
- Thread starter
- #37
all i can say is that between the torque bar on the carb, new plugs and replaced vacuum hoses - i would swear i'm driving a new truck.
starts in the morning usually require a pump of the pedal to go with the choke. i have a stock starter/ignition though and use the .35 gap.
i'm still trying to figure out if the 'mechanic' i took my truck to for it's first round of fluids and such really put in autolite's - and one of them with no gap. would seem like a real shady thing to do, and another reason why i won't return.
starts in the morning usually require a pump of the pedal to go with the choke. i have a stock starter/ignition though and use the .35 gap.
i'm still trying to figure out if the 'mechanic' i took my truck to for it's first round of fluids and such really put in autolite's - and one of them with no gap. would seem like a real shady thing to do, and another reason why i won't return.
.050 is for the HEI distributors higher output
torque bar on the carb?
sportbiker929 said:
aha... that explains it. Thanks.