Yeah, I didn't get a dang thing done today. Maybe tomorrow, but I've got to clean house and make room for a tree first. So who knows??? If the new plugs and wires come in tomorrow though, I'll definitely have them in by Monday.

 

well tomorrow im gonna regap my plugs at .40 and see how it runs, and also put some dielectric grease on them all.

 

btw, are there any possible negative side-effects from gapping too low?

 

Actually, I'm hoping Injuneer or Shoebox will chime in on this. I'm not too sure, but I'm going to guess that there's not going to be enough spark time to effectively burn all of the mixture.

I was reading my service manual last night, and I was incorrect earlier. The stock gap is .050.

 

i did a search and youre right..........i think im gonna try .045 to be safe.

 

well, finally done......heres the list

-regapped plugs to .045 (ngk tr55's)
-removed all coil bracketry and cleaned/degreased
-cleaned all engine/coil/ignition grounds and connectors
-used dielectric grease on all electrical contacts (plug tips, coil wire tip, grounds)

ive got about 4-5 hours (300ish miles) of driving to do tonite.......so when i get back ill post and let you guys know if its running any smoother, and check in the dark to see if its arcing.

 

Actually, going to .040 or even a .035 is ok. I believe all SBC before the LT1 were gapped at .035. A few guys, including myself run our gaps at .039 for nitrous, so .040 isn't small.

Good Luck!

 

Well, new plugs and wires just got in, but unfortunately I'm most likely not going to be able to get to my car until tomorrow. Got_HP? I'm really interested to see if this new smaller gap helped at all. Keep us posted!!!

Juiced, thanks for the heads up. I'm debating right now on running a smaller than stock gap because I've had my heads milled and my compression ration is approaching 11.0. I guess I kinda need all I can get at this point out of it.

 

If you're running more compression than stock, then DEFINATELY run a smaller gap. .040 should be fine.

 

Please enlighten me. Why??? The reason eludes me.

 

Higher cylinder pressure can cause the spark kernel to go out or not jump the electrode. Since the coil was designed for a 10.4:1 CR, anything more the coil is now marginal. Add a cam to more compression just adds to the problem. To help the coil, you need to reduce the gap.

On my friends 398, he has a 96 coil with a MSD Digital 6. He's at .040 with about 11.4:1 CR and a nice size cam.

 

Well, don't ya just learn something every day. So what you're basically saying is that with the higher cylinder compression, as the more air moves in faster, the greater the chance of enough turbulence being caused to basically extinguish the spark???

 

Change to MSD wires.

I had installed a new set of Taylors and had all kinds of issues. One of them being spark at the coil. That spark at the coil can take out the ignition control module.

Put on a second set of Taylors, problem still there. I tried for a month trying to determine what was wrong. After the MSD's went on everything was well.

I could never recommend Taylors to anyone.

 

Thats strange. I've had Taylors for about 3 years now with no issues. MSD's also have a bad rap as well. Do a search.

I'm not saying that it's not the wires but regapping the plugs is a lil easier and not to mention FREE!

 

well just got home...........car definetly runs smoother............not perfect but much smoother.

strange thing is........it feels slower to my butt dyno........guess ill have to goto the track.

i didnt get a chance to look in the dark to see if arching is still there....ill do that tonite.