The old 96' is in need of the traditional Plugs, Wires, Cap and Rotor change. I have not done any of this since I aquired her last July. I was wondering if there was a recomended plug brand as there seems to be hundreds to choose from. I am not an off roader or a speed demon, I am just looking for a strong performer that will last.

96 Eddie Bauer
5.8
Auto
Stock engine, no enhancements

 

OEM are Motorcraft. I personally prefer a good set of Champions. Avoid silly plugs like the Bosch platinums and Splitfire variants. They tend to be overpriced and underproductive in most instances. I've heard some say the NGK's are pretty good. Just depends on your experience with a given manufacturer's product really. You couldn't PAY me to put Bosch Platinums in ANY vehicle EVER again.

 

I,m with GS92 on that one, I tried a set of those bling bling plugs and thats all they are, all bling and no sting,

 

I'll third that. I only use either Champion or Motorcraft standard plugs. Not their platinum plugs either. Right now I have Champions in the Bronc and it runs great. I think that Champions last the longest too.

I tried the SplitFire plugs once, not too long after they came out. I paid about $6 a plug. The truck did not run any better (or worse), it ran the way that it would with any new plugs. And they definitely did not last as long as regular plugs, not by a longshot. I can go at least 30K on Champions, although I usually change them at no more than 20K. They could probably go past 30K but I never go that far. However, the SplitFires were toast at well under 20K. The tips were worn way down. I replaced them with Motorcrafts and everything was back to normal.

As far as Bosch, I have never heard one good word about them. Everybody seems to hate them. I have no reason to try them, or any "fancy" platinum 3 tip, 4 tip, or whatever they are up to these days; I think Bosch even makes on where the tips go all around.

If you have a really hot motor them maybe it can take advantage of whatever those plugs claim to offer. Just like indexing plugs, in a racing motor it is worth the extra effort but i't's not going to do anything in your driver. So save your money and buy regular plugs.

 

I guess I'm a stick in the mud. I use Motorcraft plugs in my Fords. I've never tried Champions, not for any reason, just never tried them. We used multi-electrode plugs in Pratt & Whitney and Continnental radial engines when I was helping the Powers' growing up with their crop dusters. I'm pretty sure that was due to about half the cylinders being upside down and all of them in inverted flight. The hotter multi-point electrode being useful so as not to foul out. I just tend to use Ford products in Fords.

 

Ford Is Ford Motorcraft is an excellent plug and will last for the same money I have also used Autolite platinums in many of my customers vehicles and they are very pleased. have heard that champion has done some changes to there quality control to better there plugs but I just can't get past the problems of the 80's when many plugs came out of the box broken internally or gaps that were smashed flat. the main thing is if you buy any plug make sure to gap it as close to factory as possible don't assume that there gapped at the factory run a feul injector cleaner once in awhile to keep things going clean and your plugs should last.

 

Multi Point Spark plugs if you think about it are a rip off. When a spark jumps between two objects the spark picks the closest two points with the least amount of resistance. once these plugs are put into your engine and is fired up the spark will choose the closest fork and start jumping to that tine. The other tine will start building up a deposite which will insulate it. So unless you get a cool sticker to put on your window , where is the big benefit of multi point spark plugs?!

 

any basic copper plug is better then your plat plugs. copper is a better conductor then platinum so why spend 3-5 bucks for a plug that doesnt work to well. ford 9mm wires are good to use, maybe upgrade your coil to an msd tfi coil (8227). this will give complete spark at all rpms.

later

 

Interesting point and completely valid. Electricity ALWAYS takes the path of least resistance.

The multipoint plug idea stemmed from an old racer's trick anyway that was practiced to help push more spark down into the center of the combustion chamber. The theory being that with the gap off to the side of the electrode, the spark burst would not be masked by the grounding hook on the tip of the plug. So many people in the racing world wold "gap" their plugs by trimming the ground hook off to the side rather than changing the gap between the hook and the electrode. The practice known as "sidegapping" works nominally better but severly reduces plug life.

 

You know streak, I had forgotten that. John used to do that on his '68 mustang when he would take a run at the airport road races we had at an old abandoned bomber field from WWII outside of an old airport turned industrial complex. He'd grind the ground hook down too in an effort to get better spark. Ah...those heady days when we ran uncracked av-gas in 289's and 351's, so long ago and in some cases really ignorant, but who knew then.

 

Ive always run Motorcraft plugs in my vehicles. I did run NGK exclusively in my dirt bikes and atvs though.

 

Yeah my buddy had a 67 Fastback Mustang with a 351 Cleveland Boss engine (he checked the numbers, it actually came from a very rare 1971 Boss 351). That motor is rare as heck, and his fastback was all metal, nice paint, straight with no rust, and a nice black interior too...he paid $1,000 for it! Of course this was in 1981. He worked at a small local airport as a gasser and so of course that Mustang was always running on avgas. It was verrrrry fast, especially with the avgas in it. He wrapped it around a telephone pole sometime around 1982... It was actually driveable afterwards, but it was bad, the passenger side was pushed in real far. The last I heard, the car was still in his garage, at his parent's house; what's worse is that he still lived there too. I wonder if he knows about eBay, that Boss 351 motor is probably worth ten grand. Not many of them out there.

Of course I had bought a couple of GTO's for $550 and $300, for a 70/455 and a 66/389. Also a $950 71 Road Runner 383/pistol grip with power windows no less, and a 71 Charger for $150. I wasn't a Ford guy then but I did have a 74 302 Maverick 4-door that was a real sleeper. Actually, I've never been a real Ford guy (sorry guys) but I love my Bronco. And my folks bought new both a lime green 71 Maverick (remember that color? we had one!) and a 74 Country Squire (with the wood and the kiddie jumper seats in the back) that the dealer practically paid my Dad to take because it was at the height of the first ever US gas crisis. My Mom said that the care never gave any trouble at all, and we had it for about seven years. All of those cars are long gone now, and I cry every time I look at the collector cars section on eBay... We used to have large scale drag races in the boonies, just like you youngsters see today in movies about the old days. It really was like that back then. Like the man said, those were the days!

 

96 also run stock plugs (oem)The car / truck market has had some pretty incredible claiming plugs over the last 20 years. I too tried different sets providing some zero results, $$$ takers i guess. And j bronco dont feel bad i had a few chryslers in my younger days cept we were so poor we would foul a plug out and find an abondoned lawn mower with a plug (usually champion ) to swap it out with . Heck who cared then, it fired we were riding TR

 

Did you see my post where I drove an old Galaxy 500 around backwards for several days after the forward gears went out? I drove it backwards all over the place until the cops made me stop.

And we were always broke too. I hate to say it, but as a youngster I made many runs to Midnight Auto Supply. Of course that was over twenty years ago and it seems funny now. I remember once when we went there to get a driveshaft for a GTO and it had to be for a turbo 400 tranny (we only needed the yoke and a turbo 350 was different) so after getting several from turbo 350 cars and realizing that only a turbo 400 tranny would work, we got one from a GTO that belonged to the girlfriend of a guy that we knew. I later heard that she went to go to work one morning and obviously the car didn't go anywhere, so she had it towed to a shop and they couldn't figure it out until they put it on a lift. Of course it all became crystal clear then! "Ma'am, could you come here for a second? I need to show you something!"

I've been going down memory lane tonight I guess, but those things are pretty damn funny when you look at them now. And my karma has already been balanced out for all of the stuff I did as a delinquent, what went around has come around if you know what I mean, so's I can laugh about it now.