Does this actually work?

Legendary

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#1

• Sep 1, 2004

• #1

Any ill affects from doing it? Have any of you guys did this on a street driven car?

 

giddyup306

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Oct 22, 2002

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#2

• Sep 1, 2004

• #2

20 hp??????? WTF. I seroiusly dout that it is credible. By cutting the electrode would require a much higher voltage to jump the air gap. More than likely exceding the capability of the stock coil. The gains he may have seen might have been because the dynos aren't standardized to compensate for atmospheric conditions. Also if you are a CNT hair off on the dyno it can tweak your #s.

I'm quite pesimistic.

 

PhLoBuS

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Aug 15, 2004

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Sep 1, 2004

#3

• Sep 1, 2004

• #3

not sure but I do use autolites

 

Legendary

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#4

• Sep 1, 2004

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Article out of MM&FF 8/2002 btw.

 

giddyup306

Founding Member

Oct 22, 2002

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#5

• Sep 1, 2004

• #5

Still dout it. Maybe if your plug are half oil fouled and only fire half the time.

 

408stroker5.0

The world would be a better place if all males jus

Mar 10, 2004

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Sep 1, 2004

#6

• Sep 1, 2004

• #6

I've been doing it for year's on both full out race engine's and street engine's including my current street driven 408 without any problem's.... it's an old trick that hot rodder's use to do all the time back in the day and I've kind of gotten into the habit of doing it to all my plug's (Run Autolite Only).. I've never tried a "before & after" run on the dyno to see how much actual gain there is if any but there is no doubt in my mind that the simple mod is worth a bit of power & throttle response just as indexing the plug's is. Simple Mod's like these may be a bit time consuming but there more then worth it in the long run. Every little bit of horsepower you can get all add's up.

Shon

 

Rick 91GT

Mustang Master

Nov 29, 1999

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#7

• Sep 1, 2004

• #7

408stroker5.0 said:

I've been doing it for year's on both full out race engine's and street engine's including my current street driven 408 without any problem's.... it's an old trick that hot rodder's use to do all the time back in the day and I've kind of gotten into the habit of doing it to all my plug's (Run Autolite Only).. I've never tried a "before & after" run on the dyno to see how much actual gain there is if any but there is no doubt in my mind that the simple mod is worth a bit of power & throttle response just as indexing the plug's is. Simple Mod's like these may be a bit time consuming but there more then worth it in the long run. Every little bit of horsepower you can get all add's up.

Shon

Click to expand...

Dead On... Autolite race series plugs already come with the cut back ground strap.

 

tmoss

Gettin Wired

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Jun 28, 2001

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#8

• Sep 1, 2004

• #8

This is an old trick - I first learned about it about 15+ years ago in an article on a 383 race engine Joe Sherman built. Yes, it works, but not everyone will get the same HP bump.

 

I

iwashmycar

20+ Year Stangneter

Apr 7, 2004

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Sep 1, 2004

#9

• Sep 1, 2004

• #9

What do you trim it back with, anyway??...

 

D

Daggar

New Member

Jul 19, 2004

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#10

• Sep 1, 2004

• #10

Wouldn't you get the same result from indexing your plugs? I mean, isn't this just another way of unshrouding the spark?

 

tmoss

Gettin Wired

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#11

• Sep 1, 2004

• #11

A grinding wheel - and you have to be careful not to grind the center electrode. Another trick is called "indexing" and I assume you all know what that means. Here is a grpahic of waht you want to do....

 

cardudeusa

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Oct 22, 2002

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Home of the Florida Gators!

Sep 1, 2004

#12

• Sep 1, 2004

• #12

Whats the best tool to trim them with?

EDIT: Nevermind I guess I was a bit slow in asking that question.

 

I

iwashmycar

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Sep 1, 2004

#13

• Sep 1, 2004

• #13

tmoss said:

A grinding wheel - and you have to be careful not to grind the center electrode. Another trick is called "indexing" and I assume you all know what that means. Here is a grpahic of waht you want to do....

Click to expand...

Thanks....maybe I'll give it a shot. If I mess up, I'll just buy new plugs.....lol

 

L

LQQKIN4COUPE

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Feb 8, 2004

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#14

• Sep 1, 2004

• #14

Autolite sells them already cut back if you wanna just by the plugs the part#9333

 

stang976

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Apr 13, 2004

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Sep 1, 2004

#15

• Sep 1, 2004

• #15

i wonder how that trick would work on a supercharged application?? sounds a little sketchy to me but if i see the Wizard and get some courage then maybe i will give it a try

 

Legendary

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#16

• Sep 1, 2004

• #16

This isn't a 'Autolite only' trick right? I use Motorcrafts. I had a dremel tool to do the work. I did touch the center electrode a little but it isn't grinded down.

 

Legendary

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#17

• Sep 1, 2004

• #17

Will cutting back the strap change how I should gap the plug? I have a MSD 6al and a mild H/c/I combo. I was gonna gap at .052

 

X

xplo89gt

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Sep 1, 2004

#18

• Sep 1, 2004

• #18

wow that is quite interesting....
next time i change the plugs ill keep that in mind

 

perkys stang

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#19

• Sep 1, 2004

• #19

We have seen 6 to 8 RWHP on the dyno by swapping to a plug with a cut back strap... This was done on 2 different cars... One with E7's and another with TW's.. Both had fresh plugs before the swap..

The cut back strap unshailds the spark...

 

Legendary

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#20

• Sep 1, 2004

• #20

perkys stang said:

I prefer gapping around .045 just because we have never seen a gain form the larger gaps.. I have seen loses from gaps to big when the car misfires. I prefer the gap a little tighter.... I personally run .042 on mine..

Click to expand...

Interesting that you say that. The last time I put plugs in I gapped them at .054 and every sense I got a back fire when driving the car cold. After it warmed up it ran just fine. But I thought that the MSD would give enough charge for the bigger gap.