Spark plugs
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Spark plugs
I picked up a set of Autolite 124's for my 460. The manual says to gap the plugs at .034 (if the engine was still in the 1971 Lincoln 460ci), or .042-.046 (for the 1979 F150 460ci). Which do I follow? I was running Motorcraft BSF42C's but I was trying to go with a cooler plug due to detonation. I also have a new set of Autolite 45's. The 1978 Lincoln 460 calls for ARF 52's with a gap of .050, any suggestions? I went to the 124's through a suggestion here and I am going to run the Autolites due the suggestion of Monsterbaby.
Last edited by 1ford1; Sep 1, 2006 at 04:19 PM. Reason: Punctuation
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From: fargo, nd
the reason for the difference in gap is the ignition system... if youre still running points from the 71 lincoln run the .034... if youre running the electronic ignition from the 79 then use the .042
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From: Sun River St. George
What compression ratio are you using? Sometimes detonation can be resolved with timing changes and an adjustable vacuum advance. Cooler plugs may help as will a cooler thermostat, but usually ignition (distributor changes) will prove most benificial. I recently tanked up with 93 octane at a local station and my engine rattled like hell. I'm thinking WTF? Ran that fuel out and bought another tankful of 93 and have no problems. The SOB was selling regular at premium prices!
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From: Livonia Michigan
I run the Bosch platium plus in my 460 and they work out fine, I know some guys don't care for them but they work for me, kind of pricey at about $6.00 each, but you don't have to change them that often.
John
John
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From: right here in michigan
i don't know your combo but like the guys said try better gas and check your timing .one thing you can look into is take the cap and rotor off and make sure the advance weights aren't stuck all the way out.
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I have tried several gas stations and it has made no difference. The distributor is working correctly. The timing is correct. I am running between 185 and 190 psi on all cylinders. I am going to try the 100 octane mmixture again and see if it helps with the pinging. I have also posted a question about a methanol/water injection system. I am not so concerned with the methanol system for the power, just the abilty to cool the cylinder temps. Have any of you heard anything on water injection?
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If you decide you do need a new distributor, we custom curve our units on a distributor machine. This insures maximum performance while eliminating detonation.
www.PerformanceDistributors.com
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From: iowa
Ok first thing I see here is your cranking preasures are pretty high, so tell us whats actually been done to this motor. with cranking preasures that high your dynamic compression has got to be pushing 9:1, and you should have around a 11:1 compression (very rough estimates without having exact data on the engine of coarse). This is one of the reasons I don't recommend running early heads like a lot of people do, it's way to easy to jump comp ratio's too high to run on pump gas. I am going to guess you are going to hve to run 95+ octane fuel all the time.
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If your carb is jetted to be "smog legal," then your engine is likely running very lean, which will make it (both) run hotter and ping/detonate.
On my '83 F250, I was running 15BTDC timing at idle (instead of the factory 6BTDC) and had no pinging/detonation problems, even on regular gas (unless pulling a heavy load, then premium was needed). Then came the smog test and I found out it was running WAY too rich and the power valve was blown out, so I had the carb rebuilt, and now it's jetted to be "properly" lean. It then easily passed the smog test (even with the pre-'71 timing set), but now it runs a LOT hotter and pings/detonates under many unladen/non-towing conditions, unless I use premium.
I'm seriously thinking of buying a second carb, which is jetted more rich, and use that until smog-test time, then put on the lean carb for the test. I know this is not legal, but I hate for my truck to run the way it now does, and something's gotta give.
On my '83 F250, I was running 15BTDC timing at idle (instead of the factory 6BTDC) and had no pinging/detonation problems, even on regular gas (unless pulling a heavy load, then premium was needed). Then came the smog test and I found out it was running WAY too rich and the power valve was blown out, so I had the carb rebuilt, and now it's jetted to be "properly" lean. It then easily passed the smog test (even with the pre-'71 timing set), but now it runs a LOT hotter and pings/detonates under many unladen/non-towing conditions, unless I use premium.
I'm seriously thinking of buying a second carb, which is jetted more rich, and use that until smog-test time, then put on the lean carb for the test. I know this is not legal, but I hate for my truck to run the way it now does, and something's gotta give.
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Monsterbaby, this is the best I can do as far as the info goes. D1VE block….D0VE-C heads…..Roller rockers (Gold in color squarish in shape)…Comp cam 34-336-4 (560 lift 244 dur @ .050 Lobe separation 110.0)……Speedpro pistons (.030 over, not sure which set)…186 – 190 psi on all 8 cylinders, warm….Ford Motorsport timing set (2* increments, set straight up)….Hedmann Elites….Edelbrock Performer RPM….Holley 770 Street Avenger (fresh out of the box with no internal adjustments)..Duraspark.II….Ford Crank and rods.
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From: iowa
Ok, doing some guessing on stuff, like the DOVE heads bieng milled approx .020 for surface and straightening so 72cc chamber, 22cc dish pistons and the piston down in the bore .015 (which is down a little too far for proper quench distance but not to bad) I show a 9.81:1 compression, with a low quench distance adn that compression your going to need to run premium in it all the time.
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I also pulled up some pictures I took while I had the pan off and the rod caps have C9AE-B stamped on them. I picked up a scope from a friend and looked through the sparkplug hole. It looks pretty dirty in there. The valve stems look as if they have a collection of crap on them. The scope is not the best but it works okay. I was told that the speedpro pistons had a part number stamped on the top of them. Anyone know if this is true? I couldn't see any numbers.