Well, got around to doing the plugs, put in some NGK TR55's.

I got a 1/2inch 5/8 spark plug socket and cut it shorter, worked great on number 8. The rest wernt that bad, number 2 sucked, but about 10 mins and I got it out and in. All in all took about 1.5 hours, and thats with manifolds, all accesorys, and on jackstands. Ended up doing most from underneath.

My question, however, is this. All of the plugs came out with what looked like some carbon build up around the circle that goes around the platinum that is exposed to the cylnder. All except for number 7 which was clean. The car does seem to run much better, and I was getting a high rpm stumble. Do you think this could mean that the number 7 wasnt firing, or is it not getting fuel or what?

Thanks,
James

Cliff notes: pulled plugs, all had carbon except number 7 which was clean, what does that mean?

 

If it did not have gas on it, could be that you have a coolant leak into the cylinder. You might want to put some miles on the new plugs and compare that one to another, again.

 

Wouldnt I be getting some signs of coolant, like white smoke or ring wear causing blue smoke?

Also, I am guessing that the only way coolant could leak into an LT1 would be through the head gaskets since the intake manifold is dry.

Thanks,
James

 

I agree........ When I had a blown head gasket, the cleanest combustion chamber was on the blown one.

Do what Shoebox said, and also keep an eye on the coolant level.

 

Did you notice any white smoke? My car stays rather cool, although I have noticed that when the temp rises high, it has decided to keep getting hotter.

 

Like Rob mentioned, unusually clean internal parts are a sign of coolant steam-cleaning.

 

I did notice white smoke. You might want to change your oil and see if it looks funky. Drain it into a pan, let it sit and see if anything separates. Since coolant and oil don't mix, you'll end up with splotchy looking oil in the pan if you have a blown headgasket.

 

easiest way - funnel it into a soda bottle and let sit overnight- then look at bottom of bottle in morning

 

When I blew my head gasket no signs of white smoke. One day coolant low light comes on, I added some, next day comes on again,, still no white smoke,, and no other obvious signs. I perform a cooling system pressure test and voila,, a slow leak. Once I did that I filled one cyclinder full of coolant, the engine hydrolocks,, once I got it going lots of white sweet smelling smoke.

If I were you I would check my oil very carefully, and perform a cooling system pressure test before doing any further serious driving as you will be changing bottom end bearings too if you are not careful.