Hi I bought myself a new msd Distributor with a new msd coil and therefore i think to also change my spark plug wires. I now found two brands offering the right wires for a 401. Accel1: http://store.summitracing.com/partd...840104+4294787635+4294911098+115&autoview=sku Accel 2: http://store.summitracing.com/partd...840104+4294787635+4294911098+115&autoview=sku or Taylor: http://store.summitracing.com/partd...840104+4294911098+4294791716+115&autoview=sku What is normally better, to have lower ohm or higher? What would you suggest to use on the 401 engine with the msd distibutor? thanks and greetings from Austria Alex
It doesnt make any difference what a plug looks like or what the manufacturer claims. What really matters is how high the plug will fire in a pressure test. A spark plug will break down at a certain test pressure. When I was going to Ford school they had us to bring a new plug in the box to class. Each one was gapped to .035. Then one by one we tested them. The motorcraft plug fired 20 lb. higher than any others in the test.
As far as the plug wires are concered I've ran both. They both were about same, not a whole lot of difference in performance but maybe there was in price. Tim
Are you asking about spark plug wires or spark plugs? I use MSD Super Conductors in all my performance applications, and any less-expensive helical (sometimes called spiral) wound wires for grocery-getters. Low ohms is important, but ANY helical wire will have so much less resistance than a carbon-rope style that it's not worth fighting over the last 20 ohms. The only wires I won't buy are the carbon-rope suppression-style; or the non-helical metal core- (solid core-) style. As far as plugs, I refuse to pay more than $2 (preferably under a buck... but perhaps those days are gone now) for a plug unless it's going in some new vehicle where the engine has to be pulled to get at them--and then it's a durability thing, not a "we welded a fancy ground electrode to an otherwise substandard plug, gave it a trendy name and charge $8 a pop for 'em" deal. Autolite is my first choice--hard, long-wearing electrodes and durable porcelains. AC are fine, but the part numbering system is now very screwed up. Champions had hatefully brittle porcelains when I quit buying them 20 years ago. I have no idea if they're any better now--I won't risk buying them to find out.
Get stock AC Delco wires. There is absolutely no difference in perfromance that the other after market wires mfg.can demonstrate. The relative number of ohms per foot between wires will have no effect on performance although many mfgs would like for you to infer that there would be. Same for the caliber of the wire relative to stock. "Claims of Horsepower Gain Every brand of spiral conductor ignition wires will perform the function of conducting coil output to the spark plugs, but NONE, despite the claims made in advertisements and other promotional literature, will increase horsepower. Independent tests, including a test performed by Circle Track Magazine (see May, 1996 issue) in the USA, show that NO "low-resistance" ignition wires for which a horsepower increase is claimed do in fact increase horsepower - the test also included comparisons with solid metal and carbon conductor ignition wires." http://www.magnecor.com/magnecor1/truth.htm This is the result is that a simple application of Ohm's law suggests will be the case.
Guys, In 31 years of being a technician and an automotive instructor, I have had 1 bad AC plug and that was factory installed in a Cadillac 4100! An average of one tune up a week for 30 years would be 1500 tune ups, multiplied by an average of 6 AC spark plugs per tune up is 9000 AC Spark Plugs with 1 failure! I swear by AC plugs, both the old and the new ones. I'm not sure that the stock AC spark plug wires would work with a MSD distibutor, but their may be some universal wires in the GM Performance Parts catalog that would work with your Nailhead and MSD distributor. Just my 2 cents, Tim
I concur........AC's for me, as in any GM product. I'm a firm believer that Motorcraft plugs belong in Fords, Champions belong in Mopars, and NGK's and Bosch belong in foreign cars. The above post that said Champions are brittle may be correct........once while pounding the crap out of my old Ford station wagon, one blew apart :eek2: on me.......I thought I sucked a valve or something! Until I got home and found the upper half of the plug still inside the wire just hanging there! ou: Ever since, I will only use Champion plugs in small engines. As for wires, I don't race my cars so I'm happy with the lifetime guaranteed 7mm stock Belden wires I get at NAPA. I replace them every 5 years or so, and they haven't let me down so far, even when wet. I also run the black cap and rotor, stock coil, and use Pertronix instead of points. However, I keep my plugs gapped at .040" which is .005" more than stock. :TU:
X2 German cars get Bosch Mopars get Champion Japan cars get NGK or Denso Fords get Autolite or Motorcraft Gm cars get AC
I just want to say one thing, Champions is all I use in both my Pontiacs and my Buicks. Now let me tell you why. I'm 65 and have made my living under the hoods. I started at a GM dealer and for the last 32 years owner of my own shop. In the Buick and all GM older cars the Champion plug will run much better than any other plug I've tried. Two things to remember Do not use a cold plug in a GM engine. I've had better luck out of a little hotter plug. And the other thing is that the Champion want last as long. If you want a nailhead to run use Champions. AC are OK but want make as much power. We took A Olds with 24000 miles on it and did a tune up. It was a 425, put AC 44 in it and It wouldn't bark the tires. I worked for 2 more hours trying to find out what was wrong. It didn't miss just not much power. After 2 hours I put the Champions that had 24000 miles on them back in the engine. Well It had posi track and you couldn't see the back of the car untill the smoke cleared. Now this was a long time ago 1967 and i've tried all kinds of plug and heat ranges I'll stay with what works for me. NKG. came with a stroker motor from Speedway. with ali.heads. It was sick as hell. I played with plugs and after all I tried the hot Champion made engine come to life. Do what you want and your driving and mine might not be the same, but you should try Champions one time. Kenneth Robinson @ Robinson Auto. P. S come and CK out my 432, 2X4 nailhead engine on the test stand.
By looking at the responses to this thread, I have kinda gathered that my initial thought to the OP's question is that it really depends upon the application, and personal experience. I believe spark plugs are kinda like anything else on a car. It depends on what that particular car likes best. Only way to know is to try different combinations and see which gives the best results. Like anything else there are many factors to consider to find which plug would work the best. For instance your air/fuel ratio, what fuel you are running in the car, even down to altitude and general weather conditions of your geographic location. For example, in the '66 with the stock 401, I think it currently has AC 46's in it cause that was all we had laying around at the time. I believe when we got it, it had 44's in it. It seems to be running pretty good right now. Now in the '66 with the hopped up 425 we run a really cold plug Autolite because that is what the car likes with the combination we are running in regards to how the engine is setup and the fuel we run. Proof is in the numbers. The car showed its best numbers at the track on the current setup with these plugs, so that is what we run.
I love this kind of thread! :grin: Spark plugs and oil brands get people hotter then a Gila Monster in August. I just purchased a set of Champions for my Dodge. The original Champions were fine at 50,000 miles, but I had already purchased a set (of plugs). I have another 60,000 miles on the Hemi now, and with steel plugs in Aluminum heads, I want to remove them and put more anti-seize on them. For what plugs cost, I might as well replace them. My Nailhead has ACs in it and they worked fine. I had Bosch in my Lincolns and they were fine too. The last place where I worked full-time as a mechanic used Motorcraft. No problems there either. Frankly, I have never noticed any operational difference between major brands. And I go along with Jim on the wires. Resistance wires= no AM radio static.
I swear by AC Delco and NGK for GM's, Champions are alright, some GM's dont seem to like them, my grandma's 85 lesabre 307 doesnt take them too kindly. The engine shop i use only uses NGK, they will not use anything else. And if its my Toyota, Only Denso and NGK. Foreign cars hate American spark plugs. There were NGK's in my nail when i bought my 63 Riv, even with bad rings, leaking valves and a dirty carb, she didnt sputter, chug, or miss, and the plugs were far from new. Just my 2 cents.
This is what our Autolites look like after about 5 minutues of idle time and 5.5 seconds of 9000rpm:grin: What can I say they're free:laugh: Fuel used and boost need to be right as Doc said it needs to fire under pressure.... 1st 2 picts.went lean 3rd pict about normal Johnny we are using the AR73 Autolites in our 425 Nailhead. I have had good luck with the Taylor black wires. I like the boots at the plug end of their wires.
I've used AC and Champion with equally good results. I've Champions in now. it runs as good as new an either. Which one I use depends on what the neighbourhood NAPA has in stock .....
I'm pretty sure I have standard AC's in the Buick and irrridum Champions in my Dodge, can't complain about either them.
Hello Everyone I agree with what Lou, (GSX455-4 Ever) and what others said. AC Delco for GM vehicles, Motorcraft,(Autolite) for Ford, Champion for Mopar, NGK or Denso for anything Asian and Bosch for European. However I would say at a push I would use NGK, if any of the preferred brands were not available. In my workshop at school I buy Taylor HT spark plug leads, as they are at a good price and are good quality, however they are often poor fitting as their lengths do vary alot from the original leads. Therefore on my Buicks I stick with AC Delco, spark plugs and wires. What are the opinions on Delphi HT leads? I agree with the comments about Champions in the past not being very good, and I relegated them to the lawn mower role, well that is all they would sell for a lawn mower, however they seem to have improved out of sight. I would be interested in your comments from those who have had to change spark plugs on the Ford Triton three valve engines, (5.4 litre 2004 to 2008). They are fun and games and if you take your vehicle to a Ford dealer you can end up with an $800 bill to fit new spark plugs, as the Ford Autolite plugs break off as you pull them out and you have to use a spark plug puller to extract the broken piece. On the first vehicle I did in my school work shop, we broke six off out of the eight. After a few more vehicles I worked it out that if you used an air impact wrench you had better chances of breaking the carboned up spark plug and getting them out. In the end we could usually get six of the eight out without any breaking. Champion did provide a modified spark plug for this engine, at $17 each,whereas the Ford plug was only $10 each. It is almost as bad as trying to do the back three plugs on a Dodge Caravan V6. Take care John
I've has excellent luck with the Bosch Platinum Plus plugs in my 401..but everybody has their own opinion and it's probably really too close to call. One thing I do know is that my Autolites would not come back after a fuel soaking....flood the car and you might as well throw them away...
