[DeTomaso] Plug gap tool (short)
www.DeTomasoRegistry.org
Pantera007 at provamo.com
Thu May 21 16:04:07 EDT 2009
Spark plug gap tool...
I prefer the squared-loop of wire tool.
If the center electrode top is not flat (they tend to round with age)
the flat, graduated edge type tool may give false readings if one's eye
does not detect the wear.
I've got a photo on my website somewhere of both (actually several) tools,
including the one I prefer.
Chuck
Everyone is an 'expert' on air filters, oil filters and sparkplugs, and
this is my opinion: its free and one gets what one pays for....
A plug's brand name means nothing. Ford Motor Co does not make Motorcraft
sparkplugs, and Motorcraft plugs are not specific to Fords. The heat range of
a plug and its 'reach' are far more important than who made it. Plugs are
made, cheaply, in the millions per year in large factories- some 'offshore',
and they all work after a fashion in some engines. And in other similar
engines, they work terribly. Aluminum heads are thicker so take a longer
threaded section ('reach') than stock iron heads, and the plug heat range of
aluminum heads also will be different. In my SVO-Cleveland heads, I use AC plugs
spec'd for a Corvette 'cause they fit and work well. My friend's Lambo Miura
ran well on Hitachi sparkplugs made for god-knows-what engine.
I note that you, like about everyone else I know, have a unique blend of
aftermarket parts in your 351-C. So the plug gap that works best for your
engine, with your cam, compression, carb, ignition system, local fuel and your
personal driving habits, must be found by trial and error. Fortunately,
non-racing plugs can be regapped easily. Once found, expect the 'perfect gap'
specs to change rapidly, as plugs age, electrical resistence changes and fuel
quality varies daily. Nothing lasts very long when tuned near its peak.
As I mentioned, I've seen brand-new plugs that had no gap at all when taken
out of a package. Others had ground lugs bent sideways. I would never
blindly screw any plug into any engine without first checking the gap. And I
would not be surprised if a brand new plug misfires out of the box, given the
numbers of ways a $4 plug can fail. Give it Smokey Yunick's famous 'flotation
test' in the nearest body of water, maybe curse a little if it makes you
feel better, add another plug and go on with your life.
FWIW, I have two well used plug gappers. The one I use now is a
chromed-steel disc made by Champion sparkplugs in the '80s (p/n CT-481) with a
graduated edge that gets progressively thicker and is used to simultaneously bend
and gap an electrode in the range of 0.020 to 0.100". Embossed on the back is
a metric-to-SAE conversion scale. I also have a plastic disc made by
Autolite in the '50s, with a protruding notched metal lever that grips a ground
electrode and bends it. There is a magnifying lens in the disc's middle to
practice the lost art of 'reading plugs'. There are a series of wire feeler
gauges around the edges to check the gap. This one's range is 0.020" to 0.040"
in 0.005" increments, befitting a time when points 'n coils were all that we
had. Both are the size of a 50¢ piece and are convenient to carry on a
keychain.
As an aside, special electrode plugs in a street car are another way of
separating you from your money with little real benefit. Multi-electrode plugs
were used in ancient DC-3 aircraft in the 1930s as an aid to reliability
where changing a shorted plug was inconvenient (like, at 10,000 ft in a
snowstorm). This seldom happens to passenger cars except in Colorado. Good luck,
all- J Deryke
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