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Side gapping and polishing; give your opinion NOW! please?

  • Thread starter Thread starter grrrrrrr
  • Start date Start date May 4, 2005
G

grrrrrrr

New Member
May 20, 2003
289
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0
norfolk, VA
May 4, 2005
#1
  • May 4, 2005
  • #1
Side gapping my plugs and polishing and a little light matching of the upper and lower intake. SOTPs difference? What do you guys think?
 

broken_joke

Member
Nov 24, 2004
138
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16
carriere, ms
May 4, 2005
#2
  • May 4, 2005
  • #2
i know for a fact that there was a definite sotp gain when i side gapped my plugs. i know i wasn't imagining things when i took after doing that and it felt like i had a good bit more torque and response
 
G

grrrrrrr

New Member
May 20, 2003
289
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norfolk, VA
May 4, 2005
#3
  • May 4, 2005
  • #3
Thanks for the reply, apparently you're the only opinionated guy on stangnet... how much did you take off when you side gapped them?
 

SeventyMach1

Keep it lubed .... keep it straight .... and keep
Mar 30, 2005
1,940
3
36
North Carolina
May 4, 2005
#4
  • May 4, 2005
  • #4
I felt a huge difference as well. Just cut them to where the ground-strap lines up even with the center electrode.
 
G

grrrrrrr

New Member
May 20, 2003
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norfolk, VA
May 4, 2005
#5
  • May 4, 2005
  • #5
Sweet, I'll be in the 10's in no time...
 
D

D347643

Banned
Jan 28, 2003
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portland, OR
May 4, 2005
#6
  • May 4, 2005
  • #6
haha
 

final5-0

Mustang Master
Apr 6, 2003
6,817
12
79
DFW Texas
May 4, 2005
#7
  • May 4, 2005
  • #7
grrrrrrr said:
Thanks for the reply, apparently you're the only opinionated guy on stangnet... how much did you take off when you side gapped them?
Click to expand...

You wanted an opinion so I'll give you mine.

I'm not trying to dispute anybodys seat of the pants meter or this is what it felt like to me meter but lets look at these kinds of threads from a logical point of view.

Lets use pulleys for an example.

How many times do you see some say they were a mod that made a difference and yet others say they couldn't tell they made a difference at all.

They've been proven to give a gain at the strip AND on the dyno so why do some "FEEL" em & some don't?

Its cause the gain is so small. Most peeps would say their gain is in the range of 5 to 10rwhp.

Over the years I've came to the thinking of ...... you gotta gain 15rwhp or more to FEEL it on the street.

My opinion of this mod and others like it is ...............................
evey little bit helps and that is great and all but some times we can be fooled by what we think we FEEL.

btw......my car runs so much better when its just been washed & waxed......
how bout yours

Later
Grady
 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?
15 Year Member
Nov 29, 1999
31,179
34
129
May 4, 2005
#8
  • May 4, 2005
  • #8
well put Grady. I shared the same thoughts on that big side-gap thread that was lost in the crash.

my butt is not as sensitive as yours - I need more like 20-25 HP to know that i am not fooling myself. but seriously, 15 horsies sounds like a reasonable number (and what i always read). something subjective like crisper throttle response could be possible (fresh plugs in and of themselves always [in my head] make it feel crisper to me).

If going to the trouble of back cutting, i would index the buggers too.

one can get plugs that are back-cut from plug manufacturers. Sure it all adds up, but when you get old like me, you get lazy and say 'forget it - it aint worth it.'
 

final5-0

Mustang Master
Apr 6, 2003
6,817
12
79
DFW Texas
May 4, 2005
#9
  • May 4, 2005
  • #9
HISSIN50 said:
my butt is not as sensitive as yours - I need more like 20-25 HP to know that i am not fooling myself.
Click to expand...

Mine must not be too sensitive cause lately my car don't feel fast no more

Pretty sure I've gained more than those 20-25 ponys you talk about

Later
Grady
 

davins130

New Member
May 21, 2004
424
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0
May 4, 2005
#10
  • May 4, 2005
  • #10
pullies dropped 2 tenths off my et, and i didnt feel a thing at all....4.10's made my et stay exactly the same but i swear i had 300 more hp. sotp feeling is all in your head when it comes to little 10-15 hp differences IN MY OPINION
 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?
15 Year Member
Nov 29, 1999
31,179
34
129
May 5, 2005
#11
  • May 5, 2005
  • #11
final5-0 said:
Pretty sure I've gained more than those 20-25 ponys you talk about

Later
Grady
Click to expand...
Grady, you lost me. So I hope you took nothing that i said wrong (I was simply agreeing with you that it takes a decent power increase to be able to 'feel' the difference). for me (and only me), i was saying that it takes a decent upgrade for me to feel it (my first kneejerk reaction is that I am imagining the increase, so i tend to downplay upgrades till i get a better feel for them - some miles in the seat).

in lookin at your sig, i would say you have felt quite a few SOTP increases.
 
G

grrrrrrr

New Member
May 20, 2003
289
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0
norfolk, VA
May 5, 2005
#12
  • May 5, 2005
  • #12
We I do appreciate all the opnions here. Thanks. I'd be willing to bet a hundred bucks that side gapping the plugs has at least some minor improvement to horsepower over just regular plugs, but I want to see what some peeps experience with it was. What about polishing up the lover intake so the rouch stuff is smooth and matched to the spacer? that should help out right?
 
S

Synned

took tubgirl on a date and got banned
Mar 31, 2005
991
1
0
Philly
May 5, 2005
#13
  • May 5, 2005
  • #13
What is side-gapping your plugs? I have no idea what is going on. lol.
 

final5-0

Mustang Master
Apr 6, 2003
6,817
12
79
DFW Texas
May 5, 2005
#14
  • May 5, 2005
  • #14
HISSIN50 said:
Grady, you lost me. So I hope you took nothing that i said wrong (I was simply agreeing with you that it takes a decent power increase to be able to 'feel' the difference). for me (and only me), i was saying that it takes a decent upgrade for me to feel it (my first kneejerk reaction is that I am imagining the increase, so i tend to downplay upgrades till i get a better feel for them - some miles in the seat).

in lookin at your sig, i would say you have felt quite a few SOTP increases.
Click to expand...

I was just trying to point out that my seat of the pants meter must broken cause even though I got more than that 20-25 horses you talked about my car don't FEEL fast no more

I do agree with you about this sotp meter and from past experiences I've found the only way to repair it is with a mod that gives at least the gain we all are talking about

btw......Have yall noticed that the fix for that meter seems to be only temporary

A new mod is the fix for it every time

Later
Grady
 

xkuntrycowboyx

Member
Mar 31, 2005
281
0
17
Marion, Indiana
May 5, 2005
#15
  • May 5, 2005
  • #15
IMO ...side gapping is not worth it...and is easy to cut too much or damage a plug...and if you do mess it up the spark will arch all over the plug and make the car run bad.
...i noticed little snappier throttle for like a day then the plugs started to fail. and ended up needing to change them all out.

IMO ... just make sure u gap them right and buy good plugs.
Also noted before by someone on stangnet...maybe Grady... good plugs aren't "Die Hard" good plugs will fail if something is messed up, in the end saving ur butt.
 

WhiteDevil

New Member
Feb 4, 2003
2,717
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0
San Diego
May 5, 2005
#16
  • May 5, 2005
  • #16
davins130 said:
pullies dropped 2 tenths off my et, and i didnt feel a thing at all....4.10's made my et stay exactly the same but i swear i had 300 more hp. sotp feeling is all in your head when it comes to little 10-15 hp differences IN MY OPINION
Click to expand...
See now that is the Exact OPPOSITE of me. 3.73s dropped a half second off my E.T. i went from 14.8 stock to 14.30s and then i did pulleys and felt nothing and went no faster. Weird
 
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