Fuel economy questions?

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turkeybird56

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When I was dirt poor and didn't have tools, I would gap the plugs on my 63 VW bug by putting them upside down on a table and forcing the gap to where it "looked" close to the old plug. That poor engine, kept telling me to put it out of its misery.
We would take a matchbook cover, and fold it in half, and use to gap points on my old chevy, lol, poor kids we were.
 

turkeybird56

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That's right, I forgot that trick, worked well. Thanks for that memory!
The things You/I remember. Wonder if that is senility creeping in???

How bout the old trick of dumping cheap ATF in carb and flooring gas pedal making great Bug Spray to clean out the intake, hee hee.
 

Sherman Bird

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I don’t think I’ve gapped plugs in 10 years. I just order the pre-gapped ones from Rockauto now.
I do not have that luxury of blind faith. Being a professional Technician with advanced diagnostic ability, I've observed how careless delivery/handling personnel can be with automotive parts. In all but rare circumstances, my double check of plug gaps show that nearly all of them are out of specs. Does a mere 3 thousandths of an inch variation matter? Yup! But that would be imperceptible to the naked eye. I can see that difference on a secondary pattern on a good oscilloscope. Inasmuch as EEC (Electronic Engine Control) management over the entire driveline for optimum emissions "Lambda" (perfect 1.0 stoichiometric) is so critical, the spark plug gap is where the entire process originates. Everything else is designed to follow that. Any deviation from specified plug gap changes KV demand in the coil. Fuel and engine mechanical issues can make a difference. But that plug gap is SUPER important. The late Mac VanDenbrink expounded upon this in training techs through the years.

How simple is it to make sure of spark plug gap?
 

turkeybird56

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Wild one

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The things You/I remember. Wonder if that is senility creeping in???

How bout the old trick of dumping cheap ATF in carb and flooring gas pedal making great Bug Spray to clean out the intake, hee hee.
We used to spray water into the carb on a hot engine while it was running to clean out combustion chambers,lol
 

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I don't trust any company, supplier, or dealer to provide items to spec. A gap tool is still dirt cheap, even if it costs 10 times what it was in the 70s.

My time and my truck are far too important to me not to spend a few extra minutes to prevent longer-term sub-par performance and grief.

You might get away with trusting suppliers once, twice, or more but it will eventually bite you in the a$$.

This reminds me of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. It wasn't a chance happening when the fuel cells exploded, it was a foolish gamble that NASA employed after successful missions completed while they were breaking their own gasket replacement protocol rules.

Our trucks won't explode but the lesson is the same. We gamble with logical protocols and after repeated successes, we forget the basic protocol entirely.

As Sherman said, how difficult is it to complete the gapping process?

.
 
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BenchTest

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Ive spot check them, they have all been fine right out of the NKG or Bosch box.

You think they gap every plug at the factory or dealership? Nope, they tell NKG or Bosch to make them to X gap at the factory and you can order the same plug with the same OEM gap.
Don't care what the factory or dealership does. I check every plug, every time, prior to installing. I've seen enough plugs that were supposedly "gapped to spec", indeed, not gapped correctly at all. Just my personal preference.
 

Sherman Bird

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We used to spray water into the carb on a hot engine while it was running to clean out combustion chambers,lol
When I was at Cadillac in the 70's, I rebuilt a 472 engine. I had to replace one piston. Those engines used alphabet letter ID's for specific pistons "A"
I don't trust any company, supplier, or dealer to provide items to spec. A gap tool is still dirt cheap, even if it costs 10 times what it was in the 70s.

My time and my truck are far too important to me not to spend a few extra minutes to prevent longer-term sub-par performance and grief.

You might get away with trusting suppliers once, twice, or more but it will eventually bite you in the a$$.

This reminds me of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. It wasn't a chance happening when the fuel cells exploded, it was a foolish gamble that NASA employed after successful missions completed while they were breaking their own gasket replacement protocol rules.

Obviously, our trucks won't explode but the lesson is the same. We gamble with logical protocols and after repeated successes, we entirely forget the basic protocol.

As Sherman said, how difficult is it to complete the gapping process?

.
Ignition coils failure is 99% due to a spark plug issue. That comes from training and experience. This means that if you have a bad coil, and do not replace the culprit spark plug(s), you will have a repeat problem.
 

turkeybird56

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Never did plugs like that. Did replace heater core on 1990 Lumina. The ole rip dash apart and pull bolt on upper engine mount and come along fwd so could get heater core out Boy did dat suck.

Was my last wife’s car when we met. It had hoses spun to reroute and take heater core out of system. So of course I got a new one and installed.
 

Sherman Bird

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Never did plugs like that. Did replace heater core on 1990 Lumina. The ole rip dash apart and pull bolt on upper engine mount and come along fwd so could get heater core out Boy did dat suck.

Was my last wife’s car when we met. It had hoses spun to reroute and take heater core out of system. So of course I got a new one and installed.
when Chevrolet redesigned the Lumina for the 1995 Year model, they redesigned the HVAC air handler under dash too. The newer one was easy peasy to replace in comparison.
 

turkeybird56

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when Chevrolet redesigned the Lumina for the 1995 Year model, they redesigned the HVAC air handler under dash too. The newer one was easy peasy to replace in comparison.
Yeah dat 199o was a freaking bear.
 

Wild one

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I was in a Chevy Dealer. We had a VERY RARE 350 powered Spyder Monza with the hood decal of a Tarantula! ALA the Firebird decals. I Really cussed over those spark plugs!
Used to be lots of the little Monza Spyders up here,but the majority of them had the little Buick 3.8 in them,although there was the odd smallblock one,but as far as i know they were 305's,as i thought they only put a 350 in the Monza in 75,and the Spyder wasn't available until 76,and after 75 they were 305's.But i've been wrong before.
This one was at the local show yesterday,but it was rough.
The local GM dealer had one of the rare smallblock powered 77 Mirages,it sat in their showroom for almost a year before it finally sold.

 

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2003F350

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Spark plug gap tools. It’s been a long time since I looked at spark plug, gapping tools. Someone said to avoid the coin type ones. Well, now I’m seeing all different different kinds of spark, plug gapping tools. There’s the round one with the metal rings. Now there’s all other kinds of gapping tools.

Any advice or recommendations?
Personally I just use feeler gauges, never had an issue. But then I'm careful and take my time with them.

The round ones with the metal rings seems like a good choice, they work similar to feeler gauges. The coin type are not accurate and don't let you gap evenly.
 

Sherman Bird

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Used to be lots of the little Monza Spyders up here,but the majority of them had the little Buick 3.8 in them,although there was the odd smallblock one,but as far as i know they were 305's,as i thought they only put a 350 in the Monza in 75,and the Spyder wasn't available until 76,and after 75 they were 305's.But i've been wrong before.
This one was at the local show yesterday,but it was rough.
The local GM dealer had one of the rare smallblock powered 77 Mirages,it sat in their showroom for almost a year before it finally sold.

I SAW and drove a Monza Spyder. As to the particular year model, I do not clearly recall. This was in early 1983
 

Wild one

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I SAW and drove a Monza Spyder. As to the particular year model, I do not clearly recall. This was in early 1983
My cousin owned one,it was a 79 Spyder with the little 3.8 Buick,it was actually a spunky little car,it was white with the decals and striping done in red so it was even a good looking little car.
This one was at the local show on the weekend and was in beautiful shape.It was a 75 and still had it's original 350,alibit it'd been rebuilt,but still the original block to the car.
 

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Sherman Bird

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My cousin owned one,it was a 79 Spyder with the little 3.8 Buick,it was actually a spunky little car,it was white with the decals and striping done in red so it was even a good looking little car.
This one was at the local show on the weekend and was in beautiful shape.It was a 75 and still had it's original 350,alibit it'd been rebuilt,but still the original block to the car.
One of my old running buddies had a 454 in a Monza just like the one in your photo. His was silver.... and it was stupid fast. Also lit up the night sky when he popped wheelies at night. It got terrible gas mileage, but he didn't care.
 

Wild one

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One of my old running buddies had a 454 in a Monza just like the one in your photo. His was silver.... and it was stupid fast. Also lit up the night sky when he popped wheelies at night. It got terrible gas mileage, but he didn't care.
That would of been a handful on the street,lol. Go like hell in a straightline,going around corners or stopping it be dammed :Big Laugh:
 

Sherman Bird

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That would of been a handful on the street,lol. Go like hell in a straightline,going around corners or stopping it be dammed :Big Laugh:
He had beefed up brakes, subframe, traction bars, 9" Ford diff. It handled and stopped fine. I rode in it once with him.... Only once. ;)
 
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