Ok this is going to be abit off the wall but does anyone have any thoughts on whether the engine running temp has anything to do with the gap on your plugs ?

I have a Jacobs ignition system installed, Pro Street Ultra Team, and the book says you could/should jack the gap up from 45 to 55 it makes the Pro Street work harder or more effectively. So this evening I pulled the plugs and changed the gap to 55.

I noticed two differences,
1) the bottom end is lacking a little torque now and the mid-range and top-end has improved noticeably and
2) the engine runs one notch higher on the temp guage.

???? any thoughts ????

thx,
RP.

 

Widening the plug gap will definitly make the engine run hotter.
The two differences you've noticed are exactly what will happen. Maybe that's what the Jacobs needs to work properly. Maybe try it at 45, if it runs to hot.

 

By increasing the gap, you allow more spark to be exposed to the chamber. This has the effect of promoting a larger ignition area for the flame which in effect at high rpm will help a lot since with faster strokes, the ignition is more even and complete giving you a good amount of even ignition at the higher rpm ranges and more power in essence. This does have a downside. More complete combustion at higher rpm gives off more heat than before at the same rpm because more fuel is combusting now. Another trade off will be low rpm torque loss since at low rpm, same power generation at the alternator, but more current draw from the ignition system to produce spark. You can offset the low rpm power loss with an upgrade to your alternator via a) an alternator that generates more current, or b) put a smaller pulley on the alternator.

Stick with the 55 gap. In theory it should help with gas mileage and emissions simply because even at high rpm, you get complete combustion. Well maybe not the gas milelage part... more power = more likely to push it faster hehe

 

I must be a glutton for punishment I am going to pull the plugs and gap them to 50 down from 55 which is still up from 45. Re & re the plugs on this car is a REAL PIECE OF WORK 5,7,6 and 8 can only be had from underneath it seems one micro turn of the socket at a time...

But I don't like how it behaves right now. It is a little too flat out of the hole and although it comes on like a banshee at 3500rpm that is where a TPI traditionally starts to cool down right ? I prefer to have more power from 1500-4000 rather than 3500-6200.

Oh yeah my TPI now pulls about 6200rpm but everything above 6k is pretty much just noise.

RP.

 

Could you also let us know what happens to the engine temp once you've shortened the gap to .050"???

I am curious- been having heat issues myself...

 

i just got water wetter to day and tryed it out works great. keeps the engine about 15 cooler
try it first before you go and pull all your plugs

 

TriggerGTA -- what is the deal on this stuff ? I am for anything that keeps my thin walled EFI'd SBC running cooler. Where did you get it how much, etc.

Eric2ndGen -- no problem when I get the new gaps setup and tested I'll let yah know if it helped.

RP.

 

i got it at rudy's.
$14
its made by red line
http://www.redlineoil.com/redlineoil/wwti.htm
read on man

 

I dumped some water wetter in my bigblock setup today and after driving about 30km have seen no difference (50/50 water antifreeze mix)- I will try for a couple more days- but so far I am not impressed.

Mind-you this was my last option before making a customized lower air dam and/or cutting vent holes in the hood. Air dam it is...

 

it wiill only work if the engine is running hotter. if you have a 180 stat in the car do not expect it to run cooler than that.

i have a 160 stat but i was running hotter. this stuff has taken the temp back down to 160

 

Try 220-230 degrees in the recent weather (against a 180* thermostat). Add a $15.00 water wetter- temperature change= nothing.

I can assure you there is no 'problem' with my cooling system except maybe impeded airflow. New water pump, block/heads have 5000km on 'em, new $600.00 all aluminum rad, fan shroud modified to match rad 100%. Using a 19" mechanical fan and a 14" electric to help. Each modification (except rad- it did more) modified temp by 2-3 degrees. Water wetter so far- nothing.

And for anyone who is not aware- hoses are larger on a bigblock, the waterpump has a small bypass straight to intake, thermostat is drilled for extra flow...

Bottle said ww was good for up to 20 quarts of coolant- so I used one- I might venture to try another to be sure (I am right around 20L of coolant in system)...

 

all that and you still have a cooling problem!!!!!!!

did you go with a 3 core rad?

what would happen if you ran without a sat or a 160