changing sparks soon...

[ShdwMastr]

Pulled one of my plugs out last night.. yikes!

So.. i need to change them..

Where is the best place to get replacement plugs?

And is there any place that stocks the plenum gasket? (MD143791)

Any other gaskets, things i should replace while i'm at it?

was thinking of cleaning out the throttle body as well...

[w3apon]

Don't get the stock NGK platinum ones, you will be paying $100 just for spark plugs that are not worth it. Platinum plugs last longer, but have weaker spark than copper.

Get NGK BCPR7ES copper plugs (about $2 CAD / plug) from NAPA, and gap them anywhere from .032 to .039 depending on what your mod list is. I'm BPU and have gapped mine at .034 and the car runs great.
Do a search on 3si.org and you will find that this is what most people are doing. I will never go back to plats, they suck hard.

You don't need to replace the plenum gasket if it is still in good shape when you take the plenum off. But if it's chewed up then get one from a local Mitsu dealership, don't goto dodge or you will pay $50 for a stupid gasket.

There is also the metal EGR gasket, but again it shouldnt need to be replaced unless it gets mangled when you take it off.

[Snortin93]

I'll play devils-advocate here. The only problem with the copper ones is that you'll have to replace them more often. If you don't mind taking the plenum off every year or two (depending on how many miles you put on), then it sounds like copper is the best and cheapest route.
Myself, since mine is my everyday driver summer/winter, and will be accumulating mileage, I only wanted to do this once, and not worry about it for the next 5-10 years, so I went with the platinum which are supposedly good for 100,000 km. I'm happy, and I've yet to get beaten by a Viper. But then again, I've never run against a Viper...hehe!

We never ever see W3apon anymore, cuz he's always under his hood changing his sparkplugs j/k ;)

[w3apon]

hehe,
I don't mind changing spark plugs every year. It's not that I "need" to, but it's a good maintenance thing to do in the spring before I get the car out for the summer. I like to check the plug conditions and the gap at least once a year, sometimes more :)
and it's not the car that keeps me away it's the g/f...she's not into cars so it's kind of difficult to get away to do car things. ... I'd get a new g/f if she wasn't so hot :)

p.s. Snortin, what parts did you manage to vulture off Rob? I woulda grabbed some things but money is tight this month :( and I still need to get that seafoam from ya!!!

[ShdwMastr]

Thanks for the input guys!

I'll probably just go for the coppers then.. i dont mind changing them every few years.. :) I'll be carefull not to damage any of the gaskets.

I'm only running stock... so what should I gap the coppers to?

[ShdwMastr]

Soo... stopped in @ partsource & canadian tire.. neither had NKG BCPR7ES copper plugs.... I looked in the book they have and they had champoin plugs...

Is champion just as good? or should i just special order the NKG's in?

[Snortin93]

I'd special order them in; shouldn't take Crappy Tire long to get them from their warehouse. NGK has a much better reputation for imports than the Champions. Wait a day and take the proven method, or be on the bleeding edge, and live with the cuts. Memystealthandi mentioned another place that carries them here in Calgary. I'll have to ask him where that was when he comes to finally remove his car from my garage today! :D

[w3apon]

Goto a NAPA store, they are official NGK suppliers and will have them on the shelf. Can Tire/AutoValue/AuoParts won't have them in stock.
For stock boost, anywhere from .38 to .40 should be fine.
But if you get a boost controller and start going higher boost, you will probably want to gap them at least .36.
It won't hurt to run it at .36 gap with stock boost if you know that you will be getting a BC soon.

[ShdwMastr]

My plugs are changed! Printed out the instructions... 1 hour later we were putting everything back together.. easy!

The job looks intimidating .. but it's a sinch.. however.. we were putting everything back together and... dropped the passenger side EGR bolt! :eek:

After an hour of searching for it ... we gave up. The next morning we jacked up the car and decided to look from the bottom.. no luck.. so off to home depot for a temporary bolt! Put the IC piping back on and fired it up.. put it in reverse.. got going a lil and stomped the brakes... volia! bolt falls onto the concrete pad!

Take IC piping off .. and replace the home depot bolt :)

Done! What a pain droppin a bolt was.. other than that we would have been done in an hour.

[Snortin93]

Glad to hear that it was that easy and painless for you. :)

And I can certainly sympathize with dropping bolts. I lost a stubby screwdriver the same way, and found it a week later way down the back alley.

Where did you pick up the plugs, and what did you pay for them?

[ShdwMastr]

South Town Auto Parts..

I didn't shop around much.. they had em in stock and that was good enuf for me.

They were ~1.94/ea I believe..

[Need4Speed]

I just purchased NGK copper plugs part# BCP7ES and i just read this thread Shadow you installed BCPR7ES does anyone know the difference in plugs? The reason i went with these is because 3SX lists them.

[95teetee]

I just purchased NGK copper plugs part# BCP7ES and i just read this thread Shadow you installed BCPR7ES does anyone know the difference in plugs? The reason i went with these is because 3SX lists them.
the R would be resistor-type plugs

[ShdwMastr]

damn! beat me too it!.. yes it's for the version with the resistor :)

[Need4Speed]

Resistor, hmmm this would be better because it takes out any interference? is this needed should i get the R's??

[95teetee]

Resistor, hmmm this would be better because it takes out any interference? is this needed should i get the R's??
I don't know how much difference they make on modern cars (my bro had non-resistor in his 340 Duster, and when he was about a block away you could tell he was coming because the tv would start to act up:p -no radio though so it didn't bother him in the car lol)

[Need4Speed]

maybe ill just get the R's, would 3sx sell something that would create such problems though? seems odd to me.

[95teetee]

maybe ill just get the R's, would 3sx sell something that would create such problems though? seems odd to me.
I think the only proplem you would see is a possible ignition-whine through the sound system

[Need4Speed]

Thanks for the info Tee tee i think ill try and return those for resistor plugs, do you ever attend the Dragons games?

[95teetee]

Thanks for the info Tee tee i think ill try and return those for resistor plugs, do you ever attend the Dragons games?
yep been to a few (one of the players- Brock Hunter- was admiring my car one day outside the video store so I gave him a ride- he was grinning like a little kid when I stood on it:p )

[Need4Speed]

Haha yep these cars can do that, i had my buddy laughing for 2 minutes straight.