Plugs These Days?

[Boomer]

I realize it's probably a question with no simple answer, but I'm putting together a tune up kit for my 66 Imp, 440 and wondered what the consensus is on a good plug to use.

Haven't bought plugs for a car in years, maybe decades now and I think those might've been NGK? The last thing I put plugs into a few years back was a '51 Farmall Super A and after 2 sets, I discovered Champion plugs for whatever reason were not the best choice. Switched to Autolite and problem solved.

Do they still make resistor plugs to curb AM radio interference? If you just thought to yourself "AM interference?", nevermind.

 

[CBODY67]

There are resistor plugs and non-resistor plugs. Just as there are "wire" spark plug wires and "resistor" spark plug wires.

Not just AM radio reception, but also FM radio reception at stake. Police radios used to be exclusively on a segment of the FM frequency spectrum.

In earlier times, I always had good performance/durability out of Champion plugs in my 383s. Used with OEM-spec resistor plug wires. Later went to magnetic suppression wires. Typically, no ignition noise with the hood closed.

I always ended up back with Champtions, back then. Only Motorcraft (not Autolite) lasted longer with less "gap growth/erosion". They had a good cross in resistor plugs for both Champions and ACs (in our Chevys).

In more recent times, my choice became NGK V-Powers, in resistor form. Then, the later NGK Iridiums.

In what I'll term an "accessibility-challenged" location, the fewer times you have to change plugs or plug wires can be the best option. This justifies my choice of the magnetic suppression wires (used to be Borg Warner Kook Wire and later Kool Wire II . . . now BWD brand and still priced very nicely/reasonably) plus the NGK Iridiums. The NGK V-Power plugs are still priced about where "regular resistor plugs" are.

If you plan on about 30K miles (including one clean and re-gap in that time) between plug changes, still are reasonably young, limber (or have lots of extensions and u-joints on your shop bench), don't bruise easily, and don't have "other things" to spend time on, then almost any good resistor plug will do. PLUS the magnetic suppression plug wires. AND you'll have some stress-relief-time doing the plug changes. IF all of those conditions don't exist in your current or future "world", then the "once in a long time" NGK Iridiums might be the best choice, with the magnetic suppression wires.

To me, the OTHER part of this would be a MP Electronic Ignition kit, using the normal control box rather than the supplied Orange box I used an now-old MSD-5C box on mine in the '67 Newport, hiding it. I also have used the orig voltage regulator with no issues, but one of the old-looks-like incognito electronic regulators might now be a better option. That should get you a modern, no-maintenance ignition system. AND a distributor you can still purchase a new vacuum advance can for, if you might need one later.

Your time, your money, your desires.

Enjoy!
CBODY67

 

[Boomer]

Some good food for thought, thank you. I always thought pulling the plugs on occasion was a good thing so those 'lifetime' plugs made me wonder. Always good to see if the plug is wet, oily, brown & dry, burnt or damaged electrode etc. However, those issued you mentioned of time, flexibility and so on are more of a concern these days.

Never had a problem with interference on FM. That was a big selling point for Armstrong when he developed it decades ago - none of the static associated with Amplitude Modulation. FM police radios were originally Low Band VHF(30-50Mc/s) before moving to high band, then UHF and up. With low band, propagation was more of an issue than interference. Even in the family car, only the occasional *pop*pop* was audible. AM, OTOH....didn't take much to make your radio into a buzz saw - hence the condenser kits for generators to filter some of the noise. Since I want to use the original AM radio at times, having quiet plugs and wires is important.

For now I'm just going to stick with the original distributor, points, etc until everything else is ironed out with the car. If it doesn't give me trouble I'll leave it that way. If it does? Onward and upward.

Thanks for the tips on the new age plugs and wires. I seem to remember something about..graphite(?) wires in the past that would break inside and cause problems. These are the things that cloud my mind, so advice from folks with more current experience is best.

 

[Turboomni]

I run Champions on my 440 with points with no problems. Many hate Champions. I am fine with them even on my Omni Glhs at 19 to 20 psi boost.

 

[70NEWYORKER]

Champions, and nothing else ever.

 

[Ripinator]

Some good food for thought, thank you. I always thought pulling the plugs on occasion was a good thing so those 'lifetime' plugs made me wonder. Always good to see if the plug is wet, oily, brown & dry, burnt or damaged electrode etc. However, those issued you mentioned of time, flexibility and so on are more of a concern these days.

Never had a problem with interference on FM. That was a big selling point for Armstrong when he developed it decades ago - none of the static associated with Amplitude Modulation. FM police radios were originally Low Band VHF(30-50Mc/s) before moving to high band, then UHF and up. With low band, propagation was more of an issue than interference. Even in the family car, only the occasional *pop*pop* was audible. AM, OTOH....didn't take much to make your radio into a buzz saw - hence the condenser kits for generators to filter some of the noise. Since I want to use the original AM radio at times, having quiet plugs and wires is important.

For now I'm just going to stick with the original distributor, points, etc until everything else is ironed out with the car. If it doesn't give me trouble I'll leave it that way. If it does? Onward and upward.

Thanks for the tips on the new age plugs and wires. I seem to remember something about..graphite(?) wires in the past that would break inside and cause problems. These are the things that cloud my mind, so advice from folks with more current experience is best.

I assume you are running a stock points ignition. . . Throw a set of AutoLite AP-85's in it.

 

[65sporty]

For Mopars I have always liked Champions, on the modern stuff things are starting to get a little blurred. NGK's in Mopars, GM's having AC Delco's made by NGK. For the modern car I like to put in what came out.

 

[CBODY67]

As I recall, the "carbon core" suppression wires pre-dated the resistor spark plugs, back in the later '50s, maybe more like middle-'50s. Heat would harden then internally and cracking of the conductor would result. Later advances in rubber insulation and construction made them more forgiving, but time and heat were still enemies of those wires. Sorensen (and possibly another brand or two) came out with the magnetic suppression wires in the later '60s, which were claimed to have about 10% of the resistance/foot of the carbon core wires. What I liked was the continuous piece of wire in them for a more consistent transfer of energy, as "wire-wires", but still had enough resistance to stop most of the AM ignition noise with the hood down. I never felt any real power increase, but knowing that as long as they were "in one piece", all was good.

If you're not sure of how the car "goes", then using a normal plug first can be a good way to baseline things. Personally, I'd never heard of any real following for Autolite spark plugs. Originally, "AutoLite" was the brand of spark plugs that went into FoMoCo engines, OEM, in the '50s and such. "Motorcraft" came in the earlier '70s due to some controversy between Ford and AutoLite, as I recall. In many cases, the "popular" spark plugs can tend to be what's locally available at the auto supplies at decent prices, by observation. Many are just as good as others can tend to be, as long as it "sparks" and the electrodes are not too soft to last a good while.

Funny thing was that in the later '60s, I got a Magic Santa gift certificate for the local Ford dealership. All I could think I might could use on our Chryslers was a set of Motorcraft spark plugs for our '69 Chevy pickup, so after careful research on heat ranges and such, I got a set of them. I had been checking the stock AC plugs every 6 months, for general principles. Filing and regapping each time. After the second re-gap, that was it for them. I put the Motorcraft plugs in and didn't remember about checking them until about 8 months later. Dad hadn't complained about it running flaky. When I pulled them out, I saw why. NO significant gap growth or erosion, so I ran the gap gauge through them and put them back in . After I had my '77 Camaro and it had about 45K on the stock plugs and one re-gap/check, I put some Motorcrafts in it, too. Funny thing was that my experiences with ACs had been similar to another friend with a '78 Z/28 and his prior Chevies!

So, whatever works in your engine, that's readily-available, at a decent price.

CBODY67

 

[CBODY67]

For Mopars I have always liked Champions, on the modern stuff things are starting to get a little blurred. NGK's in Mopars, GM's having AC Delco's made by NGK. For the modern car I like to put in what came out.

The first NGK/Delco plugs came in the 3800SC Buick V-6s, back in the later '90s. Have been expanded to almost every other OEM late model GM engine, I believe. "Delco" box and heat range markings, but NGK in the stampings just below the hex.

"AC" stood for "Albert Champion", who'd done the original Champion spark plugs and had had his own business at that time. Billy Durant brought him to Flint to start the AC Spark Plug division of General Motors, waayyyy long ago.

CBODY67

 

[65sporty]

The first NGK/Delco plugs came in the 3800SC Buick V-6s, back in the later '90s. Have been expanded to almost every other OEM late model GM engine, I believe. "Delco" box and heat range markings, but NGK in the stampings just below the hex.

"AC" stood for "Albert Champion", who'd done the original Champion spark plugs and had had his own business at that time. Billy Durant brought him to Flint to start the AC Spark Plug division of General Motors, waayyyy long ago.

CBODY67

All the new Delco's I see now just say made in Japan on them, older one's I remember saying NGK

 

[Clover]

In the olden days, I found that my 440s and 383s only liked Champions. These days I use NOS Mopar plugs that are still readily available in my barn.

 

[CBODY67]

Barn full of spark plugs?

 

[Clover]

Lol not full but there’re enough for me in there.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

In this day and age of "nobody even changes plugs just trade the car" what company is getting away with making crappy plugs for a market that hardly exist unless selling to OEM?

 

[CBODY67]

In this day and age of "nobody even changes plugs just trade the car" what company is getting away with making crappy plugs for a market that hardly exist unless selling to OEM?

NOT to forget that most of the older "stand alone brands" of prior times are now part of "conglomerates" that might have "cut corners" over the years for pennies-more "stockholder value". Of that some "advanced whiz-bang" new construction makes them better than what they used to be, for their basic product spark plug. From my earlier experiences, Champion (Chrysler's OEM brand, other than Prestolite) and Ford/Motorcraft last much longer than AC plugs did, back then, but the ACs would last long enough for about 20K between tune-up/replacement cycles on GM vehicles.

The move toward harder electrode materials might have resulted from the federal-mandated 50K, then100K mile OEM emission warranties? When the fed spec was 50K, the CA spec was 100K, as I recall. Single-platinum AC plugs would last well past their earlier 50K mile change spec. "Double Platinum" and Iridium easily go 100K in modern computer-controlled engines, by observation.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[Boomer]

The 'how the car goes' point is a good one. This car was parked in a storage container for 31 years until last spring when it was sold to the previous owner. I later purchased it and have been plugging (no pun this time) away at it since. When it goes to the shop to have the tank swapped and brakes done it's also going to have the transmission fluid changed, diff checked & topped up, and a tune up. Since I've yet to drive the car on the road (or more than a few feet thanks to the lack of brakes), having a reliable set of plugs is more important that having the 'best of the best' at this point. If I change them after a summer or two, no big deal - I just don't want them to be a source of potential problems during the shakedown period.

As to Champions, I used them a lot over the years in everything from cars and pickups to lawn mowers. Then a lot of years went by, and I ended up with the little Farmall Super A tractor for mowing the yard in NC (3 acres of mostly field grass). It had Champions when I got it that were crap, so I bought a new set. They soon fouled, so I bought another set (only 4 plugs, didn't break the bank). Did a complete tune up - no help. Ran fine, then the plugs would foul the second or third time I mowed with it. Carb was old and tired, between rebuild kit and time to do it a new carb ended up being the choice. Same results. Finally did some reading, asked some questions, was steered to the Autolites (maybe Motorcraft, don't recall for sure). Put a set in. End of fouling. They're still in the tractor.

So that's where my preference away from Champion came from. I know that little Farmall engine was under a good load spinning that 5' Woods deck and moving the tractor too. Maybe too much for the plugs? No idea - they were the ones recommended for that engine. A big 440 in a 5k lb car is bound to create a lot of heat as well as load on the electrical system.

So maybe I should classify it as a set of shakedown plugs to get some miles on the car and a feel for how well it does or doesn't run.

Rip - I forgot to add that yes, stock points/rotor/cap/distributor for now.

 

[Jon O.]

My grandfather was a mechanic back in the era of our cars. He told me to use champions. I couldn't find them to save my life, so I ended up using ac-delco.
After I switched, I have a small amount of pre-detonation on hard uphill climbs.

 

[CBODY67]

I usually kept the old plugs when I finally got new ones for the '66 Chry, '70 Monaco, or '72 Newport Royal. All 383/400s. That meant that when I'd cleaned, filed, gapped them a several times, I got new ones and started over. Hence, I had a decent supply of used J-13/14Y plugs . . . which I discovered also worked well in my B&S engine push lawn mower! They worked pretty good until the fuel started to get messed up in the '90s. Might have ended up being a carb issue, too?

CBODY67