here is a question for all the California people

[WOLFMANmike]

i put California singled out because we have some of the worst made fuels lol .. ok so here is the question . what is the best spark plugs you all have found to work the best in your trucks and what gap do you run ? i should mention i have a HEI ignition so mainly looking for that in the answers or at least electronic ignitions .. also do you change your plugs a bit more often than usual to maintain a good running truck ? ... and last but not least .. what do you guys do to help keep your carbs clean cause our state thinks its a great idea to add more corn to our fuels give us crap quality gas for a high price lol so im thinking that this will cause more gumming up and build up in the carbs ... maybe im wrong but i think that the type of fuel we are buying at the pumps are more made for the newer fuel Injected engines and not our classic ones so im asking these to get an idea of what i can or should be useing in my truck as it is my daily driver

[shawno72]

I think your best bet in Califronia is to run premium octane gas and I gap my plugs at .045" for hei and .035" for non-hei

[WOLFMANmike]

Originally Posted by shawno72

I think your best bet in Califronia is to run premium octane gas and I gap my plugs at .045" for hei and .035" for non-hei

ok but what kind of plugs do you run ? like do you just run the cheap autolites ? or somthing like iridium or platinum split fires ?

[shawno72]

Originally Posted by WOLFMANmike

ok but what kind of plugs do you run ? like do you just run the cheap autolites ? or somthing like iridium or platinum split fires ?

Well I generally run something like the accel 576s plugs. They are a short plug made for header clearance. If no headers then I stick with the stock ACdelco

[markeb01]

I've only owned one car that required a preferred spark plug - an old Toyota Starlet. The previous owner told me "never use anything but NGK Gold". I never used anything else and it ran perfectly.

For my truck I just stick with AC Delco or Autolite. My experience is that both are high quality well made plugs. The only brand I avoid it Champion. From what I've seen they are the poorest quality plug on the market in spite of the massive generations of heavy advertising.

[Hollow65]

Ive never experienced a carb problem from the fuels. Accel plugs here. My engine is tuned pretty well though. Always a nice mocha color.

[WOLFMANmike]

ok thank you guys Happy Truckin

[blown240]

The only issue Ive ever had here in CA, was getting cheap gas. Im not talking cheap like SAMs club or Costco, I mean like the really cheap no name gas. Ive had to rebuild carbs from 1 tank of that junk.

[Hollow65]

Never used unnamed stores. Mostly chevron. It's a block from the pad. I also use Lucas fuel stabilizer. Some for my diesel some for my 65 and the wife's Camry gets some when I remember.

[Irishbleueyes]

I run e3's but I have an MSD 6 box on the HEI. I also run Lucas treatment with every tank of premium. If I don't run the Lucas my engine will burn its own oil. With the Lucas it won't burn a drop, really amazing

[rcrahn]

I live in NorCal. My project truck (still under construction) has an LQ9 6.0 with 4L80E.
My 1969 Firebird has a 462 (455 .030 over) Pontiac motor with Kaufmann aluminum heads and AED 750 HO carb. Petronix II ignition. I run premium 91-92 octane and use NGK7 sparkplugs. NGK has a large line-up of plugs of various heat ranges depending on your needs. My biggest concern with this Cali crap gas is detonation. So I check my plugs every 1,000 miles. Have also considered installing a wide band Air/Fuel meter from Innovate Motorsports. Other concern if not driving the vehicle daily is the rapid breakdown of the fuel so a product like stabil is a good idea.

[Irishbleueyes]

Originally Posted by rcrahn

I live in NorCal. My project truck (still under construction) has an LQ9 6.0 with 4L80E.
My 1969 Firebird has a 462 (455 .030 over) Pontiac motor with Kaufmann aluminum heads and AED 750 HO carb. Petronix II ignition. I run premium 91-92 octane and use NGK7 sparkplugs. NGK has a large line-up of plugs of various heat ranges depending on your needs. My biggest concern with this Cali crap gas is detonation. So I check my plugs every 1,000 miles. Have also considered installing a wide band Air/Fuel meter from Innovate Motorsports. Other concern if not driving the vehicle daily is the rapid breakdown of the fuel so a product like stabil is a good idea.

I installed an AFR unit from Innovative and its the best thing I ever did. Dialed in my Edelbrock carb perfect!

[spacedebris]

Spark plugs? What spark plugs? I solved that problem. Just dont use them at all.



JK LOL. Made 50 bucks a few months back when I bet my neighbor that he couldnt find the spark plugs on my engine. Took him 10 minutes before he gave up. He couldnt figure it out until I informed him that diesels dont use spark plugs.


So simple solution, swap in a diesel and forget about spark plugs.

[WOLFMANmike]

Originally Posted by spacedebris

Spark plugs? What spark plugs? I solved that problem. Just dont use them at all.



JK LOL. Made 50 bucks a few months back when I bet my neighbor that he couldnt find the spark plugs on my engine. Took him 10 minutes before he gave up. He couldnt figure it out until I informed him that diesels dont use spark plugs.


So simple solution, swap in a diesel and forget about spark plugs.

Lol i cant dont got the cash for that .. and to be honest i just love the sound of a big cam v8 singing through some flowmasters ... believe me im not dogging your set up in anyway . Im just not a diesel guy

[AcampoDave]

I dont really have any issues. I use cheap gas and autolite plugs. I do use Stabil if the gas is going to stick around awhile, and I keep rubber fuel lines to a minium.

[Hollow65]

Nice looking ride Wolfman!

[61K10]

Ca. gas seams to evaporate more than it use to. I have a Quick Fuel carb (like a holly) and haven't had any problems. tk has sat for a few weeks and always starts quickly. I do have some stay-bl in the gas and the gas is 6 months old. I have found the newer gas doesn't turn to varnish--just my op. Iridium plugs are good but $$$. ran them in my Husaberg dirt bike and have them in my 2k z71. I really don't thank there is much difference in plugs except type, and your engine has to be in good shape.

[par4tom]

91 Premium gas and .045 on the plug gaps with MSD ignition

(383 Stroker, 10:1 compression)

[par4tom]

91 Premium gas and .045 on the plug gaps with MSD ignition

(383 Stroker, 10:1 compression)

[Mike_The_Grad]

Old post, but may be of some help. I heard from my local speed shop that GM received a service bulletin "suggesting" that they "steer" their customers clear of Chevron gasoline. Something to do with the additives in the fuel. Only reason I found this out was because I took my ac delco R45TS plugs into my guy and asked him why I had this reddish dusty crap on the plugs. He asked me if I had patronized Chevron, I did at the time. After I heard this it's been nothing but Shell V-power 91 for the last year. No more crap on the plugs. I've run two sets of ac delco R45TS and one set of Autolite AR133 race plugs in my block. The Autolites were to try something different but they weren't well suited for my application. I did like the cut back electrode and shorter insulator for my headers but other than that they were too cold a heat range and fouled up pretty fast. I think those were meant for a boosted or nitrous application. I've had my plugs gapped between straight-out-of-the-box to .047-ish. Right around .040-.045 seems to make my 350 bored .040 over with a Xe250H Comp. Cam and HEI happy.

[vin63]

I run NGK R5671A heat range 8 gapped at .040 in my Pontiac - regular 87 octane.

[LT7A]

I ran across this thread searching for fuel stabilizers and I have some questions. Do you guys try to coordinate the octane to the tune and compression ratio of your engine?

At the molecular level, octane measures the resistance to burn. Weird huh, the higher the octane, the harder it is to burn. That's why it helps with detonation -- it's less susceptible to burning at the wrong time. Harkening back to physics, for those interested, it also has a higher potential energy -- so when the burn comes, it comes on hard. I.e., it produces more energy.

I used to always run "the good stuff" and now I run the lower or mid-grade unless I have a detonation problem. It not only saves money, it should run better with the appropriate octane and probably burn cleaner.

A couple of posts above said to run premium without asking the original poster about his engine. Do you guys run the 91-92 regardless, just to get the most refined formula and most additives?

[LT7A]

Originally Posted by Hollow65

Never used unnamed stores. Mostly chevron. It's a block from the pad. I also use Lucas fuel stabilizer. Some for my diesel some for my 65 and the wife's Camry gets some when I remember.

Hollow65, have you tried other stabilizers? Anything in particular you like about Lucas? I am thinking about giving it a try. Thanks, LT7A

[LT7A]

Originally Posted by Irishbleueyes

I run e3's but I have an MSD 6 box on the HEI. I also run Lucas treatment with every tank of premium. If I don't run the Lucas my engine will burn its own oil. With the Lucas it won't burn a drop, really amazing

Irishbleueyes, is this the standard Lucas Tune-up in a Bottle/Complete Fuel Treatment/Injector Cleaner that comes in a Tobasco-lookin' bottle? Or are you speaking of a fuel stabilizer product? Or maybe in addition to the descriptions above, the Complete Fuel Treatment does that too? Thanks, LT7A

[TopFuel1966]

Sta-Bil makes an additive that is specifically formulated to remove the water from the fuel that the alcohol attracts over time that causes gum and corrosion. It's the water that causes the problems, not the ethanol in itself and is not a problem in a car that is driven regularly and has alcohol compliant fuel lines and carb parts.

My two old cars sit most of the time and I've never had a fuel related problem as long as I keep a little Sta-Bil in the tanks.