Its for the stock 225 in the 65. The Magnums love NGKs, what about these older motors? Stick with Champions or.....?

Thanks!!!!!

I use Autolites in my "normal" motors. In the turbo or nitrous motor, NGK works better. Champions are for lawnmowers.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Champion is factory equipment. The motors where built with and tested using champion plugs and for champion plugs. Autolight is for ford and NGK is some foreign cars factory equipment. I forget what chevy is supposed to get.

Anyways, any plug will work if it's the correct size and heat range, but if my mopar parts guy catches me with anything but champions, it voids my 'lifetime warrenty'

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1980 Aspen 225 super six

GM uses Ac/Delco... Due to timing and mix and not having much that's stock on my Feather Duster I had to run a AC/Delco RTS-45 since it was the only one I could get that was hotter than the NGK(cold plugs for performance) and Autolites...

Start with the factory recommendation and then adjust by timing, fuel, modifications and heat range.

-D.Idiot
[/quote]

I tend to use NGK GR4. It doesn't make a lot of difference.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I use NGKs in the Valiant. I also used them in the 318s that I've had. They are the only plugs I have found that don't easily oil foul in worn engines. They also seem to resist fuel fouling better than my usual Autolites.

Nick

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1981 Dodge D150--225/727/8.25 w/ 3.21s

Going TBI fuel injection SOON!

Mopar or NO CAR!!
www.Moparsoflasvegas.us

Champions... none of my Mopars have ever run worth a crap with anything else! Especially stay away from Delco unless you like radio interference (yes, even with resistor type plugs), and definitely DON'T even think about the Bosch Supers (the ones that Useless Zone normally sells for $0.99)

As you can see, everyone's got an opinion on the matter. The truth is that any well-made plug of the correct characteristics will work just fine. The controlling factor is how well the plug was made (materials and build quality), for that's what determines how closely the plug actually conforms to its specified behavior, and for how long before failing.

When choosing what plugs to buy, it's best to go on practical experience. The best kind is your own practical experience (what plugs are available in your area that work well with your car), but a second preference is the practical experience of others with similar cars. Note, there is a difference between PRACTICAL experience and opinions/conspiracy theories.

Chrysler's been buying Champion spark plugs by the millions for many decades, and so has gotten very favorable pricing from the series of owners of the "Champion" brand over the years. That, and no other reason, is why most Mopars come with Champion plugs. Not because they're specially better, not because they were "designed and tested specifically for each other" or anything of the sort, just because that's the supplier Chrysler's worked the best deal with. I've had generally poor results with Champions over the years. Two actual spark plug failures, but mostly just not being able to rely on them as a product line. Quality control is all over the map, and they're very fond of "consolidating" plugs so that they have fewer plugs in the line. Every time a new owner buys the brand, you never know what you're going to get.

"Autolite" was a Ford brand name until the early 1970s when a legal dispute over the name resulted in the sale of the "Autolite" spark plug brand. There has been no affiliation between Ford and Autolite spark plugs for three decades. I've had generally good results with Autolites over the years.

"AC" is General Motors' spark plug brand. It stands for "Albert Champion" -- yep, the same guy who started "Champion". That's an interesting historical fact and nothing more; it doesn't mean ACs and Champions are just as good as each other (or just as bad as each other). I haven't used many AC plugs over the years.

Bosch makes a lot of noise about being a high-precision German spark plug, but there've been real PRACTICAL problems with their platinum plugs over the years, their "Platinum Plus 2" and "Platinum Plus 4" plugs are a marketing scam, and their "Super" (regular) plugs are all now manufactured in China. There have been some Bosch plugs over the years that I've really wanted to like because they looked/sounded neat. No more, I'm done wasting my money.

NGKs have worked well for me every time I've tried them.

As far as which *type* of spark plug to use: My favorite "problem solver" is the special spark plug originally designed for AMC and Chrysler in the late '70s when they were trying to make engines run reliably with extremely lean and stratified charges. This is Autolite 925 or Champion RN13LYC. It is of the same heat range and physical characteristics as the ordinary Autolite 56/66 or Champion N12Y/N14Y plug, but its electrodes are twice as long. This puts the spark point a lot closer to the center of the combustion chamber and moves it away from quench-prone chamber walls, which in turn results in a reduced chance of misfire.


It should go without saying that the gimmick plugs (with multiple ground electrodes, "splitfire", "Platinum Plus 4", etc.) are a waste of money.

Thanks for the inputs! A wealth of info here for sure. I dont like the gimmiks either- I want what works best. As far as Champions go, I know HP stuff runs better on em, and a side to side comparison is made idle quality even changes. I figure Champion was following a Mopar spec at one time, sort of like how Type F tranny fluid is for Mopar's trannies

If those "smog" plugs are gettable, I think I'll try em. Wonder if they'll work on a points ignition.

My former MIL had a /6 Aspen that would only run on premium. Maybe those plugs would have fixed that

KG

Type F fluid is for certain older Fords, not for Mopars. (Some people use Type F in Mopar transmissions for race purposes. I don't race, so my perspective is "what works and lasts on the street").

A particular brand of plug may work better in one particular engine, but a particular other brand of plug may work better in another particular engine -- it's not possible to generalize from one plug/application to a whole brand line.

The extended-nose plugs work just fine with a points ignition and are "gettable", though you may have to special order them from your Champion or Autolite jobber. Note that they are for the early ('60-'74) heads only, for they have a 13/16" hex and a gasket seat. They do not fit the '75-up heads that take the 5/8" hex, taper-seat spark plugs.

It's also worth noting that today's gasoline burns considerably cleaner than the formulations that were available when \6 cars were new, so it's often possible to drop down a heat range or two relative to the (old) factory spec, without running into the fouling that would have happened with older, dirtier-burning gasolines -- especially if you run a slightly wider plug gap and have a hotter (e.g. electronic) ignition. This can buy you some room to advance the ignition timing without pinging.

OK, so I'm a bit late chiming in here... but thanks, Dan, you're absolutely on target. Even though two different manufacturers might list plug numbers as "interchangeable" with each other, those plugs could act differently in the same engine simply because they are NOT actually both built to the exact same specs. Interchangeable does not equal Identical.

Here are a couple points of reference, if anyone wants them. Many years ago, my 66 Fish was running a 1976 vintage 318 with 100k miles and in extremely good condition (compression and oil pressure.) The stock N14Y plugs haven't been available since about 1985 when they were consolidated with a new number, N12YC, which was supposedly the same except the C indicated a Copper core... so I ran the N12YC plug. It was perfectly satisfactory.

For giggles, I tried the "equivalent" Bosch Platinum plug (single electrode was all they were making at the time.) It was frighteningly expensive, so it must be frighteningly good, right? I lost between 1-1.5 mpg highway, and my perception was that it cranked an extra few milliseconds each time before starting. Could have been 1/4 second difference, maybe, though I never actually timed it. Still, being used to perfection and an engine which started upon the first plug firing, this was too much to tolerate, so 1000 miles later I yanked out the expensive Bosch plugs and went back to Champions. The starting issue was instantly back to normal, and my mpg went right back up, during the next tankful. My conclusion was that this engine preferred the Champion N12YC.

Another point of reference-- pretty much the same story, different car: My 1989 Ford 5.0 uses Autolite plugs, and quite happily. I tried expensive AC Rapidfire plugs (with a serrated electrode) and found exactly the same types of problems as described above, took them out and found the Autolites corrected all issues. My conclusion was that that engine perfers Autolites.

Taking it one step further, I later concluded that any given engine works best with whatever the manufacturer prescribed. Admittedly, though, performing only 2 experiments, each using a sample size of 2 makes that a leap of faith... and I've thought about doing more testing, now that I have better measuring equipment, but never got around to it.

But what about advances in technology, new materials, new electrode configurations? Are all the marketing gurus just full of hot air? Lots of them are (and I base that opinion on a my electrical engineering knowledge.) On the other hand, I must admit, after reading the technical description of the iridium plugs (see just about any mfr website) I'm pretty impressed about the possibility that these may be superior, and therefore worth a little more money. Are they actually worth $12 per plug, though...? I dunno.

- Erik

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Lots of early Valiants and Barracudas have crossed my path.
Also a handful of other toys for variety now and then.

Thats the beauty of this great nation and the web. /6dan said it great, in a nutshell if the plug fires it wil work and everybody like there own brand. Me? I have never had a complaint with Splitfires, and in a old Mazda beater thats now dead had tons of problems, they seemed to fix afew.

Slant6Ram,

Your Mopar guy needs to wake up. Every slant that I have put Champion plugs in has a high-speed miss. I switched to the Autolite plug 20 years ago when I had my shop. I tested every plug I could get at the time and the Autolite was the best for performance.

Chuck Rivers, Webmaster

Autolite 925 has been superseded by the $1.50 985. Its a 5/8 hex long reach plug that has a GASKET on the non tapered bottom that doesn't just come off, you need to use pliers to grab it and a wrench to turn the plug out of it. I have not put them in yet, but just tried to buy some of the 925's and the guy said they are not available (or stocked) maybe still special order? And the Fel Pro tube gaskets are still under 5 bucks.

Autolite = Chinese garbage now. Use NGK ZFR5N in stock or kinda-stock '60-'74 slant-6s.

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