Shorty Plug for Edelbrock Chevy Heads

[kbsmith1]

Anyone know of a good shorty plug for Edelbrock Chevy heads?

I am currently using NGK R5671-8, and #5 barely clears the header, the
spark plug boot is very nearly touching. I am sure that I will burn
off the spark plug boot consistently. This is on a Gen 4 firebird with
the headman husler headers.

Thanks for any suggestions/help.

[PamRichardson]

Kevin --

Don't know if this will work for you, but we use Autolite, AR 3933s. AL heads, hooker headers.

Pam Richardson

A quick fix would be to switch to a shorter plug. Accel makes plugs that are 2/3 the length of a normal plug.

Just a thought

If you haven't done so already, I would strongly recommend having the headers ceramic coated too. I had the same problem when I started running my Fox-body Mustang a few years ago. Two of the plug boots had about 1/8"-1/4" of clearance around the headers. I was burning plugs wires and boots at the rate of 3-4 per weekend. I tried everything, the fiberglass booties, shorter plugs, the Accel silver coated plug boots, etc...

It wasn't until I had the headers ceramic coated that I solved the problem. I was amazed at how much that helped. In fact this is what got me interested in the coatings business to the point that I now am part owner of my own ceramics coatings business.

Scott
AS55 CFR
Engine Armor Performance Coatings

[kbsmith1]

Walther - Have you used accel shorty plugs? Were you happy with them?
I've got a couple of people that I know who have given less
than positive opinions about using those plugs? Does anyone else make shorty plugs?

Scott - My headers are coated, I don't know if ceramic or not. For these particular headers I don't think I have ever used them uncoated, so I cannot compare before and after in terms of heat.

Pam - I haven't yet checked, but have been told that AR3933 plugs are same
length as the NGKs I have. I appreciate you sharing your experience.

At this time, after breaking in engine I seem to be OK with plug. For first
race weekend I plan to buy a couple of Accel short plugs to have them
available, and also to have a bunch of heat barrriers to work with to solve
problems. Oh, and also a bunch of spare plug wires :-).

[wre46]

You can always reposition the header tube. Find a local header guy (yes they are all over) and have him reposition the tube. I found the words "BOLT ON" do not apply to AS!.

[kbsmith1]

I think that will end up being the long term solution. I may do it
myself. I already built the header back exhaust myself from 2 1/2" and
3 1/2" mandrel bends, and have mended other headers when I was running
the Gen 3 camaro.

You definitely are right about AS not being a bolt on class. Every blessed
thing needs some massaging to work best.

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by kbsmith1

Walther - Have you used accel shorty plugs? Were you happy with them?
QUOTE]

No I haven't. I just know Accell makes them, although I know others who have used them. I am a die-hard Autolite user. I encountered the common plug clearance issue with GT40P heads and opted to cut, reshape, and re-weld the existing primaries that were interfering. I am certain I am not the most gifted fabricator on this forum, but I thought it was a relatively easy modification, despite my mediocre welding skills.

Kevin,
I have a 4th gen Firebird with Hedman Hustler headers too and I have the same problem. I don't run a boot on #5; I use a DEI cloth heat sleeve and Polydyn coated headers and it works fine. I had to modify the #1 tube to clear my steering shaft though.
Eric

[kbsmith1]

Using a later steering rack (2000, 2001) solves the problem of
#1 header tube needing to be modified for steering clearance. Now that
yours has been modified, I don't know if using the later rack
would now cause interference. But that is how I kept from needing to modify #1 tube.

Thanks for sharing your experience with a solution for #5.