New Plugs & Wires

[98 softtail]

Today was such a nice day I decided to change my Spark Plugs and Plugwires. Much easier said than done. I thought I knew what I was getting into since I had changed the Plugs & Wires on Deb's Vette several months ago. How quickly we forget.

It all started when we were at the UCP last Saturday. East Coast Corvettes had a big ol' tent set up and were selling stuff at a pretty good price, and there was no shipping costs. I found a set of their performance Plug Wires show priced at $60.00, thats 40% off. I couldn't refuse. I couldn't hear my wife saying,"Are you sure you want to do that, remember the medical bills from the time you changed the plugs and wires on my car"? Somehow that went in one ear and out the other. That is until today when I started my "project".

If any of you have ever changed plugs and wires in a late model Corvette you know what I am talking about, for those of you that have not, don't be discouraged, lot's of "professionals" do this everyday, but without the trauma and therapy I ended up with.

Don't get me wrong, I have a pretty good collection of tools that I have gathered over the years and have been wrenching on cars since I was a kid, but sometimes the "engineers" just enjoy making things as difficult as possible for the Home Mechanic and sometimes for the "Pros".

Let's take my "project", a simple change of Sparkplugs and Wires. While I understand that the engineers at GM are very sucessful at sticking ten gallons of poop in a five gallon bucket, I just wish they would move some of that poop out of the engine bay. It is impossible to get both hands in between the engine and the surrounding body and suspension parts, not to mention the various hoses and tubing placed exactly where you need to get a wrench or a ratchet into.

The OEM Plugwires are a "joy" to work with as well. I am sure that GM has heard of silicon lubricants, I think that they mistakenly use silicon adheasive instead on the Sparkplug boots. This is a reminder to everyone, when it's time to change your Sparkplugs, expect to have to replace the Plugwires as well. They will most certainly seperate into several pieces during the surgery.

To wind this up, I replaced the GM plugs with Bosch Platinum+2 plugs, used anti seize on the threads and silicon(tune-up or di-electric) grease on the insulator and the plugwire. Everything went back together nice and smooth.

On a good note, with 147901 miles on the motor the plugs were clean with no build-up or off color to them. Everything seems to be working as planned inside the engine.

I did a couple of extras while I was having so much fun. I removed the screen from the MAS to add more airflow and also cutout around the aftermarket airfilter to create a "cold air" source. I also drilled my foglamp housings to create more airflow in and around the engine compartment.

After all my fun and games were done and I had put my tools away I only had to do a few emergency stitches to a couple of fingers and luckily only a small bump on my head before I could headout for a test drive.

While I can only give you my real world perception, no dyno or custom tune stats or data, the car felt like it really got a boost over when I drove it on Saturday. Of course it could be the ever growing bump on my head from hitting the hood latch when the #5 plugwire finally popped off. I don't think the loss of blood would have anything to do with it, I quickly replaced that with an adult beverage when I got back home.

I will get a better feel for it tomorrow. I think the ice is helping the bump. I wonder if I should put some on my head instead of in my drink? NAW, it's working fine.

["Backyard Mechanic"]

I did a couple of extras while I was having so much fun. I removed the screen from the MAS to add more airflow

No codes yet

Good job Joe,Don't you just love busted knuckles for the price of horsepower.

[98 softtail]

Originally Posted by "Backyard Mechanic"

I did a couple of extras while I was having so much fun. I removed the screen from the MAS to add more airflow

No codes yet

Good job Joe,Don't you just love busted knuckles for the price of horsepower.

Rob, no codes as of yet. I have heard that when the pros do an intake upgrade on a car, they always remove the screen. Hmmm

[Gary S]

I replaced the spark plug wires in my old C4 a while back. I thought I could do the job in 1/2 hour but like everything else it took me much longer then my estimate. I must admit that of the C3, C4 and C6 Corvettes I have had I think the C4 is the easiest engine to work on.

[C5Rick]

You guys are brave.

I'm skeeerd to use a wrench or even a screwdriver on mine.

[98 softtail]

Originally Posted by Gary S

I replaced the spark plug wires in my old C4 a while back. I thought I could do the job in 1/2 hour but like everything else it took me much longer then my estimate. I must admit that of the C3, C4 and C6 Corvettes I have had I think the C4 is the easiest engine to work on.

Nice suspension work.