Thread: I did it. Side gapped the plugs

Well me and a friend with a redline ion decided to try this out.
First impressions are good ones.

With the regal idle seems smoother and while driving its hard to explain but more like a lighter reving motor.

Friend with the ion stated the same thing.

I will update this post when i get more driving time on these plugs.

PS. I used my AL 104's

Just keep an eye on your plugs. The ALs seem to be only good for 5 to 10K miles and side gapping them reduces this even further.

I have a few sets of AL laying around and had planned on trying this myself.

if u mean cutting the electrode arm in half, i already did that technique. the changes were somewhat good, i had no more random misfire on cyl #5 as well as slightly lower knock(still had some), however cutting them also diminish the life even further if using the copper plugs FWIW

i all aways change my pluges every 3 oil changes so its all good

Hey Lee, are you saying side gapping reduces the plugs life? I don't mean cutting the electrode either, I am just talking about the metal piece that bends over the plug, Webracin had a write up on that and I was curious and meant to ask you about that the other day, but I forgot to mention it.

All the stuff i read up on. Yes it does reduce plug life

IIRC, and correct me if im wrong. if the stock platinums are good for 25K, and copper are good for 15K and cutting the copper plugs in half then one is looking to swap them every 7-8K miles lol

Originally Posted by archemedes

which is fine if racing, but hardly cost effective for a daily driver

My thoughts too.

Originally Posted by GeddyLee

Hey Lee, are you saying side gapping reduces the plugs life? I don't mean cutting the electrode either, I am just talking about the metal piece that bends over the plug, Webracin had a write up on that and I was curious and meant to ask you about that the other day, but I forgot to mention it.

Samething my friend. Cutting the ground electrode back far enough to use the side gapping method. One would never mess with the center electrode anyway.

Another option is the cutback electrode, which only cuts the ground electrode to the center of the center electrode. This is what the AR 103 plugs have as well as the Nology and Brisk Silver Racing plugs. I'm sure this reduces the plug life some too.

how do you do this? im interested in results it would give my car.

Originally Posted by Bio248

how do you do this? im interested in results it would give my car.

Cut back is just cutting the ground electrode to where the end is half way covering the center electrode. In the How-To section there is a write-up for side gapping. http://www.grandprixforums.net/f73/s...lugs-1026.html

Ive been running sidegapped plugs for a number of years now but I have never noticed a significant reduction in plug life. In fact, the ones I pulled out of the GP before installing BRISK plugs had about 8k on them and they still looked top notch.

A few things to keep in mind to help with plug life:

1. Be CERTAIN you do not cut the ground electrode beyond the radius of the center electrode. Doing so will shorten the life of the plug because it causes the center electrode to wear at an angle.

2. Be sure to de-burr the ground electrode. Get rid of those sharp edges. They can create hot spots.

3. Reduce your gap by about 5 - 10 thousandths.

I have been told by a few racers to bevel the sides of the ground electrode. Whether that helps or not Im not sure, it would go towards #2 above though so I dont suppose it would hurt.

The biggest single contributor to plug wear in side gapped plugs I have seen is cutting the ground electrode beyond the radius of the center electrode. You dont want it half way over the center electrode, you want it closer to the edge without going beyond it. I have never seen a side gapped plug that was cut half way over the center electrode and Ive seen the drag strip drivers do it, circle track drivers do it, etc and none of them were cut so that only half of the center electrode was exposed.

However, if you prefer to be more on the safe side, that would be a good starting point and then slowly grind the ground electrode back. I personally use my dremel with a cutoff wheel and then I use the round sand paper discs to knock down all the sharp edges, burrs and so forth.

cut backs are different than side gapped. Look at the autolite AR103's and Brisk Silver racing plugs for reference on a cutback electrode.

Are you saying you are filing down all four edges on the ground electrode? I thought the edge closest to the center electrode was supposed to be left sharp to promote spark. At least thats what the write-up says. I've already used cutbacks and want to do the side gapped correctly.

Originally Posted by IndeedSS

Are you saying you are filing down all four edges on the ground electrode? I thought the edge closest to the center electrode was supposed to be left sharp to promote spark. At least thats what the write-up says. I want to do the side gapped correctly.

I thought so as well. But when I began deburring the edges my plug life got better. I dont do anymore than just knock the edge off. I dont bevel them like some come from the manufacturer as, just file it enough to keep it from having a razor sharp edge from the cutting process.

Sharper edges do promote spark but the burrs and stuff also promote hot spots that can cause knock. When you knock those off and file it just enough to keep from being a razor edge, you are still left with an edge that will promote spark but seems to also help with plug life in relation to side gapped plugs.

If I still have the set I pulled out after tearing down the GP I'll take a picture, that should give a better idea if I still have them.

Originally Posted by archemedes

basically you want a sharp clean edge right?

relatively sharp with no burrs and what not.