Mechanics class 101 Spark plug change

[Kim K Kaiser]

Hi again,,

next adventure into car repair,,tomorrow,, spark plug change,, 

as noted in prior post, i put in the petronix,  it states a 45 spacing,  car manual says 35 so i m gonna put in mew plugs for petronix specification,  

i have now learned from prior experience,, no such thing as a quick or easy repair,

so my question is in re plugs,, other than pulling them out screwing them in, are there any other pitfalls as they relate to the 63 cdv,, it looks cut and dried, but............

Sincerely

Kim

[Kim K Kaiser]

ok,, maybe some one can guide me on that.. thanks for the analysis,,,the car feels to be running nicely,, but i would like to get it running as to not be getting hot on the engine,, the temp gauge stays at 1/4,, 

[Jason Edge]

I don't understand the comment ",,,the car feels to be running nicely,, but i would like to get it running as to not be getting hot on the engine,, the temp gauge stays at 1/4,,"   If your temp gauge is at 1/4 you are running about 180 degrees which is perfect!  What is the "as to not be getting hot on the engine" in reference to?
In addition, if the engine is running nicely as you stated, I would just make sure the idle mixture screws are set per shop manual.  From there you can tweak just a tad, maybe an 1/8th turn and get drive it and feel it, in different stop and go situations, and recheck plugs after you have put some miles on them. 
The best 2 instruments you will have in setting your idle will be your ears and grey matter upstairs.

[3ft7bqmb7dryo]

Kim, my suggestion on the idle adjustment is to take it to a shop and have them use their gas analyzer to adjust the idle.

Or if your serious about learning how to work on your car;  get this and have some fun. An exh shop will need to install the O2 bung

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-6593?seid=srese1&cm_mmc=...

[Kim K Kaiser]

It was a reference to Tony saying it was running a little lean, which i understood to mean it couldI be running a little hot, due to white tips on plugs

[Jason Edge]

Clean plugs, richen a tad drive for a while and recheck and adjust a tad more if needed. Unless the majority of the plugs have a very white color and blistered look I would not get too concerned especially if car is running nice. If continues to run lean you might consider slightly rejetting the carb.

[Jason Edge]

Unless he is consistently pegging past 3/4, there should be no concern as far as engine temperature, however, that is different than an individual plug tip burning lean and typically hotter than normal causing the white -blistered burnt look. 

[Kim K Kaiser]

Since ive owned it, , june 17, ive never had it go over the center point, i hv repkaced the radiator, brajes, andthe now the choke adjustment, petronix and plugs, it barely now, unless i let it sit running will it go to about the 1/3 mark on the gauge, and will quickly go back to 1/4 when i get moving again, i was not aware that plug temp an engine temp were not closely related, so i was wanting to get that right as well, but if you think i should let the plugs set in a while an ck later, that is what i will do,

[Jason Edge]

I would slowly experiment changing metering rods and jets to make it run rich. The better the car currently runs the slower I would proceed!!!  I ended up going 4% richer in both cruise and power mode on my Edelbrock 1411 (Ref # 11 on the Edelbrock 1411 Calibration page) using the recommended metering rod.  Ethanol probably affects a bit, but 10% is a lot of increase. I would baby step it if you feel it is "off" or just want to experiment.  Not sure if you have a stock carb or Edelbrock. If you have the Edelbrock you have calibration reference pages that will guide you. There are also different step-up springs for the metering rods that can greatly improved mid-throttle hesitation. I believe I went up one spring (5" to 7") to put it in power mode sooner.

[Jason Edge]

Tony, My set-up and yours is different on several levels, just as most of our cars. Where someone may need to lean the mixture others may need to make it richer. My point is I would not suddenly go 10% richer. When I added my Edelbrock and bought the metering jet kit and I actually thought I might need to lean it back a bit (which can improve fuel economy especially on an "over-carbed" engine) but I ended up going 4% richer. 

[Kim K Kaiser]

looks like it says auto lite 85  does that make sense??

[Jason Edge]

That’s the plug I use. Recommended for our engine and a good plug.

[Kim K Kaiser]

I was doing some you tube research carb adjustment.  and was wondering, after a bit of running time on the new plugs, and decide to adjust fuel air,   to be sure which one i was watching,  the basic premise was to hook up a vacuum gauge to the carburetor, and find the screws with the spring on them,  and adjust each, independently to make the vacuum gauge register at its highest point on the two screws,, is that the lean/rich mixture that needs to be done, should the plugs begin to show whiteness,? or is there another video i should search for.  it seemed fairly strains forward, but he didnt mention and percentages like 4% that some of you have referred to,, thats is what made me think i may be looking at the wrong adjustment video,,