Got a little more road time in today. The engine is definately "snottier" with the new (and correct) lash adjustment, even taking into consideration the bad plug I had. And there's a definate "thumpiness" at idle, although it isn't much different, just noticeable.

On the Champion plugs, the NOS I just bought had "Made in Canada" printed on the little boxes. The one in the pic above with the bad threads, came in a blister type package from Canadian Tire. I can't remember when I bought the other two in the pic together, but it wasn't more than a few years ago.

I had posted the plug pics in another forum, and there was some definate thoughts on Champions being made in China these days.