[64speed]

What steps do I need to take here?

[steve25]

Running too rich on average and too cold of a heat range.

[indymanjoe]

I thought there was a specific process to get a good reading. Full throttle shut it off...someone will know what im talking about even if i dont LOL

[Formulajones]

Yeah Joe, to get a good read on timing and fuel you need a brand new plug, run it WOT and shut it down.

Plugs that have been run a while, lots of idle time, and just general around town errands aren't a good indication of the tune at all. Plus pump gas just runs a little sooty anyway and doesn't color plugs all that great compared to leaded fuel.

Yeah you can look at a plug like that and get an indication of the health of the engine and maybe a slight idea of a direction to go on part throttle fueling but it's kind of misleading.

Personally my first change would be to get rid of the cold Champion plug and either put an NGK in there or an Autolite 3924. Run that a while and look again. I'm betting the Autolite 3924 will run a bit cleaner than that cold Champion. If the car runs as well as you say it does I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[geeteeohguy]

Originally Posted by steve25

Running too rich on average and too cold of a heat range.

This, and possibly some oil burning going on. (shiny appearance)

[Jay S]

A 12 should not be to cold of a spark plug. The photo shows it to be cold though, and has the appearance it has idled around a lot and is burning very rich. Possibly you are not running a vacuum advance or it is not working?

[64speed]

Originally Posted by Jay S

A 12 should not be to cold of a spark plug. The photo shows it to be cold though, and has the appearance it has idled around a lot and is burning very rich. Possibly you are not running a vacuum advance or it is not working?

Yes it has idled a good bit but I am making more long trips

[Jay S]

Originally Posted by 64speed

Yes it has idled a good bit but I am making more long trips

Lots of idling, and very limited or inoperable vacuum advance makes the plugs run cold and will look black and wet like that.

[64speed]

The vacuum is hooked up

[Jay S]

Originally Posted by 64speed

The vacuum is hooked up

You can start by checking the vacuum advance and see how much timing it is adding and make sure it is working. May not be an issue at all. If it is adjustable and set for adding less than 15* it may like more timing from the vacuum advance.

I would not switch to a hotter plug yet, in a champion it would be a 14, which is pretty hot. I would consider changing to a similar NGK plug (start with a 6 heat range, I think it would be somewhat comparable to the 12 champ). Change the plugs and read them after a full throttle short run.

[steve25]

With brand new plugs and not being at a track it will take at least 3 full throttle thru the gears runs to see anything worthwhile in terms of the plug being too hot or not.
And they need to be looked with no idle time on them just like done at the track.

The OP should down load plug reading 101 by Mike Canter,

[Jay S]

FWIW…We run pretty cold plugs on pump gas engines that with a lot of street driving they can look a lot like that first picture. Usually not wet looking though. I don’t know if your interested in experimenting with spark plugs. I have ran a lot of Champion plugs, still have them in a lot of my cars. But lately I have stitched to more NGK for more options and making small changes within each heat range. I think these days the NGK is a higher quality plug also.

From the looks of that original photo, if the vacuum advance checks out and is doing its job, I think the next set of plugs I would try would be a projected reach. They should operates hotter at part throttle, colder at full throttle, likely burn cleaner and be easier to read. The champion 12 would actually be closer to a 5 NGK. Theoretically the BRK-6 would be a better fit, and that is what I would do if the car was one of mine. But this BRK 5 would be closer to that 12YC Champion.


https://butlerperformance.com/i-2445...html%3Fq%3DNGK

[JSchmitz]

That's burning excessive oil. It's even wicked up the threads. Impossible to assess fuel mixture, or heat range, with that much oil fouling.

[Jay S]

Originally Posted by JSchmitz

That's burning excessive oil. It's even wicked up the threads. Impossible to assess fuel mixture, or heat range, with that much oil fouling.

More time on those plugs would tell. If one plug looked like that maybe it has a cylinder pumping oil. But I would expect the carbon deposits to be much thicker if that was from burning oil. It looks more like the engine is idling around, mixture is rich, and the fuel is dropping out of the air and making the plugs wet. Rich and not much air velocity. I am guessing that is more what is causing that, and all the plugs look the about same. Center 4 are probably the worst.

[JSchmitz]

Originally Posted by Jay S

More time on those plugs would tell. If one plug looked like that maybe it has a cylinder pumping oil. But I would expect the carbon deposits to be much thicker if that was from burning oil. It looks more like the engine is idling around, mixture is rich, and the fuel is dropping out of the air and making the plugs wet. Rich and not much air velocity. I am guessing that is more what is causing that, and all the plugs look the about same. Center 4 are probably the worst.

If it were just fuel rich, I would think the plug would be dry black carbon. This is wet black. Idling shoudn't cause that unless something is very off on the carb. Blown power valve maybe. Hit the plug with a propane torch and see if it rolls smoke. If it's fuel it won't put off that much smoke. Or just taste it like Vice Grip Garage!

[Formulajones]

I always use the extended tip plugs. Those short sunken electrode plugs we always used to call "oil burnin plugs" Keeps the business end out of the path of most of the oil (and fuel for that matter), not great for any kind of performance work in my opinion.

I tend to run warmer plugs for a couple reasons. One is our engines tend to be rowdy, and as a result they like to idle a little more on the rich side of things. Usually low to mid 13's for an AFR. Sometimes I can idle them leaner around 14:1 if I can tune enough idle timing in it.

Second reason, we are 5000 feet up so everything runs a little richer up here anyway. On top of that we drive to near sea level frequently, and race down there as well, so having things a little richer helps when we drop in elevation and things naturally lean out a bit so I don't have to keep fiddling with the carb all the time.

So I step up a heat range to help keep things clean, and I also run a capacitive discharge box on most stuff here, not just for a rev limiter, but also the multiple spark below 3000 rpm really helps to keep the plugs cleaner when cruising around at low speeds and/or idling at the higher elevations.

Those plugs to me just look like they have a lot of idle time and low speed cruising on them with an idle circuit that is probably a bit on the rich side of things. Nothing there looks harmful to me or jumps out as a serious problem.
I don't really care for champion plugs, especially those. I think you would be better served with an NGK or Autolite with an extended tip. You may want to try a couple heat ranges and see how they look. It'll require buying 2-3 sets of plugs but that's just what we do with these things

[64speed]

It’s not burning oil and while it looks it the plug is not wet.

[64speed]

It is a lot of idling and slow speed driving. I live in a very small town and other than the beach trip it’s never seen the interstate

[steve25]

I thought just last month or so you drove it to FL, that wasn’t a highway drive?

[64speed]

Not FL coastal South Carolina and I said other than the beach trip