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Old 04-25-2016, 07:25 PM   #1
Utopia Texas
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Default Which Spark Plug To Use?

From a performance standpoint, and a wide price range, is any one of the 3 spark plug brands sold by the vendors better than the others? My Model A is a driver not a show car so I am after performance over looks or originality. Thanks...
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Old 04-25-2016, 07:55 PM   #2
C26Pinelake
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Default Re: Which Spark Plug To Use?

Champion 3X for both performance and show. Wayne
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Old 04-25-2016, 08:43 PM   #3
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Default Re: Which Spark Plug To Use?

One that is proper for the compression of your head... Led Andrew's books mention some choices..
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Old 04-25-2016, 08:50 PM   #4
JD 1931
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Default Re: Which Spark Plug To Use?

I use champion W-18, preforms well with all the stop and go here. Get them at NAPA...
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Old 04-25-2016, 09:04 PM   #5
BILL WILLIAMSON
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Default Re: Which Spark Plug To Use?

Minerva ran fine with the Cheep Auto Lites from the suppliers, NEVER had to clean a plug & drove her 4 to 5 hundred miles a month, for 8 years, on the SAME set of plugs. I don't "MESS with SUCCESS"!
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Old 04-25-2016, 09:46 PM   #6
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Default Re: Which Spark Plug To Use?

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My standard heads all have Champion 3X and run beautifully with them.
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Old 04-25-2016, 09:55 PM   #7
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Default Re: Which Spark Plug To Use?

Quote:
Originally Posted by JD 1931 View Post
I use champion W-18, preforms well with all the stop and go here. Get them at NAPA...
I use champion W-18 also as they are the only ones that I have used for the last 25-30 years with the same plugs 35,000+ miles on them.

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Old 04-25-2016, 11:31 PM   #8
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Default heat range test

Model A spark plug heat ranges

Champion W18 = close to original 3X

Depending on your driving habits, etc., a cooler plug may be the one for you:

Champion W-14 (cooler than W-18)
Champion W-10 (cooler than W-14)

Motorcraft TT-10 (same as W-14)

Autolite 3076 (same as W-14 and TT-10)

Also Champion W16Y which some people will argue that it's cooler than Champion W-18 but hotter than W-14 as the numbers would suggest. On the other hand, for years and listed as such on their official heat range chart, the engineers at Champion proclaimed that the Y means projected nose (which it is, you can tell by looking at it) and for this reason it is supposed to run hotter at slower speeds.

Conduct a heat range test as follows:

Drive around for at least 30 minutes to allow engine heat to build and then drive out someplace where you can run the car at a sustained speed on a straight road for a good distance of say a mile or two without having to slow down or stop, very important.


Run the car up to the maximum speed in high gear that you would typically drive if you decided to drive fast and I don't mean dangerously high speed.
Hold the car at that sustained speed and without letting off the throttle, reach over and turn off the ignition. Let off the throttle, push in the clutch quickly and coast over to the side of the road.


Open the hood and allow the engine to cool off a bit. Remove the spark plugs and examine the color and condition of the electrodes and insulators. The color will be a true indication of how hot or cold the plugs are running. But remember ... during the test if you let the engine slow down or let it idle and then check the plugs you will have changed the effects and not get a true indication. I've seen many a person let an engine idle, check the plugs and then claim they were just right only to discover later that the plug heat range was too hot.


It they are white, the plug is too hot. Go to a colder plug.
If they are black, they are too cold. Go to a hotter plug.
If they are a shade of tan, they are just about right.


Also understand that all this is not set in stone. A person who putts around at say 35 or 40 MPH and never faster may need a hotter plug. The lower the combustion chamber temperature the hotter theplug should be. On the other hand, as conditions cause the combustion chamber temperature to rise, a colder plug may be necessary. You just don't want the plugs to be sooty black and foul out which means they're too cold or chalky white which means they're too hot. You want the plugs to be somewhere in between like light brown to grayish tan. However, slightly white may not be too bad unless it is "chalky white."


Keep in mind that the plug descriptions are for engines in good condition, correct carb mixture, good hot ignition, etc., etc.. One with bad rings for example can cause oil to get on a correct heat rangeplug and foul it out (short to ground down the side of the center electrode) where it won't fire. It will be black and oily.


On the other hand, a plug that is running too hot will turn chalky white or bright white. This can reduce the life of the plug or even cause the electrode to burn up.


A plug can also get hot enough to glow which can ignite the mixture before the spark occurs (pre-ignition). This can be bad news... During pre-ignition the temperature inside the combustion chambers can reach WELDING temperatures in just a few seconds. The result is a hole can melt right in the middle of an aluminum piston! ... and to make matters worse it can be completely silent .. you won't hear it until it's too late .. no detonation sounds, knocks or pings.


The condition just described is for a plug with the wrong heat range (too hot) run in an engine in good condition, correct carb etc.. the same as described above. If it is known that the correct heat rangeplug was used then other causes such as too lean a fuel mixture, timing advanced too far, etc., etc., are overheating the plug.


This is where "reading the plugs" can be used to determine all sorts of engine problems. But as mentioned it must be known that the correct plug was used to start with.


The heat range test is used to make this determination. At the outset always choose a colder plug first if you are not familiar with the nature of the plugs said to be hotter. That way the worst thing that can happen is the plug can foul out whereas too hot a plug can cause the problems above.

This information is from Larry Brumfield the creator of the Brumfield High compression head.
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Last edited by Mike V. Florida; 04-25-2016 at 11:44 PM.
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Old 04-26-2016, 06:36 AM   #9
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Default Re: Which Spark Plug To Use?

Thanks everyone for the information. I guess I would be considered a old fuddy duddy when it comes to speed and would need to start out with a hotter plug. The engine in this Model A was rebuilt in 1988 and has never been run over 40 mph. I generally putter around town at 30 mph and rarely get out on the open road. If I were ever to go on a tour with other Model A's I'd have to start out before everyone else to get at the destination at the same time!

I
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Old 04-26-2016, 07:37 AM   #10
John Stone
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Default Re: Which Spark Plug To Use?

You can't go wrong with the W-18's.
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Old 04-26-2016, 07:48 AM   #11
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Default Re: Which Spark Plug To Use?

I used to play with different spark plugs----ones for parades, different for highway----saving the 3X ones for "show", then one day I got lazy and left the 3X ones in----they worked good for hours of idle speed parade, then fine for 60+mph trip home---after 35 years of use the cost is forgotten
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Old 04-26-2016, 08:07 AM   #12
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Default Re: Which Spark Plug To Use?

For most stock engines and the budget permits, the 3X is the route I would go. For the cost conscious, the W-18 is a commendable plug.
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Old 04-26-2016, 09:22 AM   #13
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Default Re: Which Spark Plug To Use?

I have been running Motorcraft TT10 for many many years on stock and hi-compression engines. These relatively inexpensive plugs give me good performance and they last a long time.
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Old 04-26-2016, 10:33 AM   #14
Dick So. Cal.
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Default Re: Which Spark Plug To Use?

At dinner yesterday, the subject of spark plug gap came up.
What gap plug should one use for 5.5 head or 6.0 head and so on?

What about the plug gap for electronic ignition? Is it any different than
the standard Model A ignition?

Thanks in advance

Dick Wyckoff
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Old 04-26-2016, 10:40 AM   #15
Tom Wesenberg
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Default Re: Which Spark Plug To Use?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick So. Cal. View Post
At dinner yesterday, the subject of spark plug gap came up.
What gap plug should one use for 5.5 head or 6.0 head and so on?

What about the plug gap for electronic ignition? Is it any different than
the standard Model A ignition?

Thanks in advance

Dick Wyckoff
.030" should do fine for stock or electronic ignition. A wider gap fires a lean mixture better, but also works the coil harder. Model A's aren't a lean burn engine, so you don't need a wide gap.
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Old 04-27-2016, 01:53 AM   #16
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Default Re: Which Spark Plug To Use?

Having been involved in tuning racing motorcycles in my misspent youth, I spent many hours dialing in the correct plugs as per post #7 above. Taken to the absolute I had one racing bike that was street legal that I would ride home on weekends. It needed one type of plug to start and after about ten miles I had to stop and change plugs. Problem was solved by using platinum plugs which have a wider heat range. I use these plugs on our daily drivers and in our MGB.

But, a stock Model A is a very forgiving motor, just listen to Bill Williamson has to say in post number 4 and you will not be far wrong.

Last edited by ian Simpson; 04-27-2016 at 01:53 AM. Reason: Spelling (again!)
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