Spark plugs

Discussion in 'Street/strip 400/430/455' started by Jim Blackwood, Feb 20, 2018.

  1. Jim Blackwood

    Jim Blackwood Well-Known Member

    Have the TA SE series 2 heads (455) always used a plug with a 3/4" reach? I suspect someone may have put the wrong plugs in this engine.

    What would be the correct plug number in an NGK iridium? (street driven) Thx,

    Jim
     
  2. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Stage 1 and 2 SE and TE heads need a plug with 3/4" reach AFAIK. How about these?

    https://www.ngk.com/product.aspx?zpid=9311

    Not sure I would use an iridium plug or platinum for that matter in any older performance motor. I use an iridium plug in my DD 98 Riviera though, works great and last forever.
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2018
  3. john.schaefer77

    john.schaefer77 Well-Known Member

    The TA catalog has a plug recommendation illustration in it. It shows the plus by compression. It is in the back of the catalog reference pages with the cylinder head torque procedure.
    It is a pretty good reference.


    Edited: never mind, these just show the regular plug.
     
  4. Jim Blackwood

    Jim Blackwood Well-Known Member

    The plugs that are in the heads have 1/2" of reach and tapered seats. I'll get the number tomorrow. I have no idea how they got put in there but I'm concerned about the length and seat type. I think maybe they are buggering up the last thread when they are torqued down, and might be recessed back in the spark plug hole.

    But on the plus side, they have a nice tan color and look to be doing a good job.

    Jim
     
  5. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Jim, I'm confused. What heads are we talking about, TA Aluminum heads or 300 Aluminum heads?
     
  6. 300sbb_overkill

    300sbb_overkill WWG1WGA. MAGA

    Read the first post.

    They are 2 different cars, this one is the one with the BBB 455 in it.
     
  7. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Yeah, but I know Jim had posted in a previous thread about plugs, and in that thread he was asking about 300 aluminum heads.

    http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/best-spark-plug.329581/

    Start at post #16.


    If I am reading his last post right, someone stuck shorter reach tapered seat plus in the TA 455 aluminum heads. That would surely result in some problems.
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2018
  8. 300sbb_overkill

    300sbb_overkill WWG1WGA. MAGA

    That thread has nothing to do with this one. There is some sort of club car with a BBB 455 that Jim is involved with, that's why there is a chance someone other than Jim put in the wrong plugs.
     
  9. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Got it, consider me unconfused.:)
     
    john.schaefer77 likes this.
  10. Jim Blackwood

    Jim Blackwood Well-Known Member

    Derek has it right. It's the car we are campaigning across the country to encourage the youngsters to think creatively. An MGB-GT (hardtop) with the Buick 455, EPS, A/C, and soon maybe cruise control. We built it with help from members of this board among others, over about a five year stretch and it's been on tour for about 6 IIRC. It was fitted with the TA series 2 SE heads to get header clearance.

    So the plugs that are in it are a NGK UR4GP which it seems to like. That appears to be a platinum electrode. I think the heat range is good (it has stock pistons), but we have these other issues. I didn't realize this had happened. They were very tight coming out, the taper seat must have mashed the first thread, and I'm concerned that I might have to chase the threads to clean carbon out of the last few threads. I figure if I put the right plugs in it we may never have to change them again.

    Larry, the BKR5EIX-11 was the one you suggested so maybe a BKR4EIX-11 would be a reasonable choice? Expensive though. I was hoping to keep it under $5 a pop.
    After looking at online references that came up in searches I'm pretty confused. Should I get platinum, should I get iridium? Should I just say F-it and get standard plugs?

    The car doesn't get driven hard very often. Once in awhile it does though. We've had it on the dyno a couple times and struggled to hit 300hp but since then opened up the bottom of the air cleaner and it sure feels like more than that, but there's no way it's over 400.

    Anyway I respect you guys' opinions a heck of a lot. What do you think would be best for this?

    Jim
     
  11. 8ad-f85

    8ad-f85 Well-Known Member

    I would toss the precious metal plugs aside unless they fully intend on ignoring maintenance for another 100k miles.
    I was able to see 100k life plus with occasional std. plug changes, as often as how hard it was ran.
    Risk of det. or pre-ignition problems from those plugs not worth it for the 'gift' of not having to change a plug until the engine is nearly worn.
     
  12. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Regular plugs for sure. These are TA Stage2 SE heads? If so, FR-5, and never look back. There is no reason to use platinum or iridium plugs in that engine. With those heads, you should have quite a bit more than 300 HP.
     
  13. Jim Blackwood

    Jim Blackwood Well-Known Member

    I think it likes the hotter plug, probably because of the low compression. I suspect DCR is down a good bit with the cam that is in it too. I don't remember the specs but it was hot midrange I think with a half inch of lift IIRC. The tubular log exhaust isn't helping it any either, and with the low compression I suspect the Posten intake hurts more than helps but at least it helped keep the weight down. That's not really important, we never set out to build a drag car anyway and at 2700lbs the torque is pretty awesome. It has a nice rumble but is a real pussycat to drive and gets 20mpg so overall everybody likes it.

    I think we had a little bit of a fouling issue early on so I'd be looking for FPR4HS? That might even be when the plugs got changed, aren't those taper seat plugs the ones used in the iron heads? That'd explain the mix-up probably, someone thought they were doing a good thing and put warmer plugs in, went the extra mile for platinum, and didn't realize the TA heads use a different plug.

    Wait, isn't that H for a 1/2" reach? But I thought that was in the F. Still confused.

    Jim
     
  14. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

  15. Jim Blackwood

    Jim Blackwood Well-Known Member

    Thanks a bunch, that's what I went with. Should be here in a couple days.

    Can I interest anyone in a nice slightly used set of NGK platinums? :p

    Jim
     
  16. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    You should notice an improvement with the right plugs. The shorter reach plugs are shrouding the plug gap from the combustion chamber, by 1/4" or more. These plugs will position the gap further into the chamber. I'd be interested to hear how it runs and if you notice an improvement in power/performance.
     
  17. Jim Blackwood

    Jim Blackwood Well-Known Member

    I'll let you know, the plugs should come in in a day or two. Might not make all that much difference since the platinums were the extended electrode type though, so it might be take a couple tanks of gas to really see any difference. Regardless, it'll still be better to have the correct plugs in there. If nothing else it will protect that top thread and make them easier to remove.
     
  18. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    The plugs you have in there are only 1/2” reach when you need 3/4” reach. In addition, the taper seat backs the plug out even more, so it doesn’t matter that both plugs are projected nose, the wrong plugs are at least a full 1/4” shallower than they should be.
     
  19. 8ad-f85

    8ad-f85 Well-Known Member

    A couple of tanks of gas? You'll know immediately, and they are lucky that the short but extended plug even ran without serious problems.
    Those glowing exposed threads are one of the first things to go on an 'unfinished' chamber doing a full porting or induction job.
     
  20. Jim Blackwood

    Jim Blackwood Well-Known Member

    The FR4 plugs finally came in, and today I swapped them in. I had to buy a special small diameter 14mm thread chaser and chase every bloody one of the plug holes because they would not screw in all the way. (Thanks Obama) Fired it up and it sounded like it was running right but didn't go for a drive because I was blocked in and unless I make a special effort tomorrow it'll be another week before I do. But so far so good.

    Jim
     

Share This Page