All slant-6 heads from 1963 to 1974 are designed such that the spark plug tubes themselves are the gaskets. Sometimes the ring gaskets are tough to remove, but that's the correct thing to do. The factory service information is very clear and emphatic on this point. That said, it's not totally disastrous if you leave them on, but the plugs will run hotter and you are more likely to get pinging under some circumstances, which in turn limits the amount of spark advance you can run. So there is a performance/driveability issue here.

'60-'62 heads are designed such that you are supposed to use the gaskets, while '75-up heads use non-gasket taper-seat plugs.
See Here .

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks man. As soon as this chariot is mobile again, I will do a tune up and remove the gasket rings. It will get new plug wires at that time. Any recommendations there? These are kind of tired by now.
Sam

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Magnecor all the way!

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Hey Guys,
Thanks again for all the great replies and insights.

Here's the backstory. I picked up this van about three weeks ago and have been going right through it to get it dependable and reliable. Before getting into the carb., I went over the ignition system. I pulled out the dist. that was in the van when I bought it and tested it on my buddy's distributor machine. No mech. advance at all. I decided to put in a fact. rebuilt dist. (I know, I know- but I didn't know then...) I picked it up at a reputable parts house. It ran much better, but still not right on. I pulled it back out and tore it down. Discovered the dist. shaft upper bushing was a mess. (Great call Charlie- inconsistent dwell). It looked like it was rebuilt by drunk monkeys. So I rebuilt the dist. using the best parts of both the "new" fact. rebuilt one and the old one. Spun it again on my friend's dist. machine and everything is right on the money. Consistent dwell, perfect fact. spec advance. This all happened before I posted to the site for help tuning this thing.

This leads to the Carb. The van came with a "new" factory rebuilt Holley 1 barrel carb. I'm getting really sick of this P.O.S. ( the carb., not the van!) I'm thinking the way out of this mess is to put on a N.O.S. carb. and start driving this sweet van! Any ideas where I can get one or which one is best for me? (carter vs. Holley, etc...) Sounds like 2nd choice is a good, rebuildable core.

One other thing, and this might be a dumb question, but please bear with me. Is a #56 jet the same size as a #56 machinist's drill bit? If so, does that make a # 53 jet bigger in dia. that a #56? if anyone can help clear this up for me it would be great.
Thanks,
Tom

Jet sizes are not numbered drill bits.


See

http://www.barrygrant.com/bgfuel/defaul ... ifications


for jet specs

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Welcome to the wonderful world of "remanufactured" parts.
Grand idea, and I'm not just saying that because...
...because I'm pretty sure I still have one that'll fit your van.
There is close but not exact agreement between Holley jet numbers and machinist's drill bits. Some of them are a precise size match, and some are not. Probably because of the desire to maintain sequential jet numbering together with the need to provide specific jet size increments that don't always match up with the drill size increments. The #56 jet is 0.55". The #53 jet is 0.052". Smaller jet number = smaller orifice.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.