miller
Well-Known Member
But, this old guy is in the mood. Hell, who knows, might even help someone down the road.
A bit of background, I've built a handful of 383 HP's, same on 727's, blah, blah. I know just enough to make me dangerous.
Last round of stuff I built was for my oldest son...that was 20 years ago. He wanted a 'Dukes of Hazzard' car, 69 Charger, so we went out and found him one. Bearly made it home alive with that piece of crap. Didn't run right, bent frame, etc., but...it was a 69 Charger.
Anyway, was gonna take all the normal stuff. Overhaul this, OH that, and all in between. Rebuilt the rear, trans (727), new brakes, engine (383 HP), and all that good stuff.
Came down to the finish, time to button things up, and fire it up. First, understand, I'm an old guy, don't believe in any of the 'new and improved stuff', firmly believe in dual-point standard distributors, since that's all I've ever run. I had replaced everything on the motor, with new, where it was usually needed.
Fired the pig up. Total crap!! That thing was just bearly running, and REAL bad at that. Killed 2 days checking, and re-checking everything I could think of. Even replaced a few suspected parts that could have been possibly been bad, even new. Nothing, no change, still ran like crap. Surely it couldn't be that brand-new set of Champion plugs I put in her? (Champion plugs is all I've used all my life.)
Started checking the 'fire' at each plug, one by one. Only 3 were firing right! The other 5 were either very weak, or not at all. Bingo! I figured the guys at the parts house probably tossed 'em around a bit, before I got my hands on 'em. Took those back, got my money, and picked up another set, somewhere else. That 383 fired right up, almost like it knew what it was doing.
Lousy set of plugs.
Handed the car to the boy. He drove it once, came back saying he didn't want it. Used too much gas! So, I drove it. At that time, my work was a 50 minute drive on Sunday, one way. At any rate, started wondering why every other day I had to clean the plugs, because they kept fouling. The spark still didn't seem quite sharp enough. I had put on a set of the 'so-called' new and inproved plug wires.
I was an aircraft engine overhauler, plus doing a much more on 'em. Airplane piston motors use stainless steel plug wires. What the hell. Cut me some wire, and made my own set of plug wires for the 69...sure couldn't hurt.
Never had another fouled plug. End of story, a lousy set of plugs, and plug wires drove me nuts for awhile. So simple.
Cheers!
A bit of background, I've built a handful of 383 HP's, same on 727's, blah, blah. I know just enough to make me dangerous.
Last round of stuff I built was for my oldest son...that was 20 years ago. He wanted a 'Dukes of Hazzard' car, 69 Charger, so we went out and found him one. Bearly made it home alive with that piece of crap. Didn't run right, bent frame, etc., but...it was a 69 Charger.
Anyway, was gonna take all the normal stuff. Overhaul this, OH that, and all in between. Rebuilt the rear, trans (727), new brakes, engine (383 HP), and all that good stuff.
Came down to the finish, time to button things up, and fire it up. First, understand, I'm an old guy, don't believe in any of the 'new and improved stuff', firmly believe in dual-point standard distributors, since that's all I've ever run. I had replaced everything on the motor, with new, where it was usually needed.
Fired the pig up. Total crap!! That thing was just bearly running, and REAL bad at that. Killed 2 days checking, and re-checking everything I could think of. Even replaced a few suspected parts that could have been possibly been bad, even new. Nothing, no change, still ran like crap. Surely it couldn't be that brand-new set of Champion plugs I put in her? (Champion plugs is all I've used all my life.)
Started checking the 'fire' at each plug, one by one. Only 3 were firing right! The other 5 were either very weak, or not at all. Bingo! I figured the guys at the parts house probably tossed 'em around a bit, before I got my hands on 'em. Took those back, got my money, and picked up another set, somewhere else. That 383 fired right up, almost like it knew what it was doing.
Lousy set of plugs.
Handed the car to the boy. He drove it once, came back saying he didn't want it. Used too much gas! So, I drove it. At that time, my work was a 50 minute drive on Sunday, one way. At any rate, started wondering why every other day I had to clean the plugs, because they kept fouling. The spark still didn't seem quite sharp enough. I had put on a set of the 'so-called' new and inproved plug wires.
I was an aircraft engine overhauler, plus doing a much more on 'em. Airplane piston motors use stainless steel plug wires. What the hell. Cut me some wire, and made my own set of plug wires for the 69...sure couldn't hurt.
Never had another fouled plug. End of story, a lousy set of plugs, and plug wires drove me nuts for awhile. So simple.
Cheers!
With the stainless, they seem to last forever and just change out the coil wire once a year. All was good.
