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lowN2slo
Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2008
Posts: 50
Location: Canada
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 Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 9:06 am Post subject: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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Stock 1967 1500
Need plugs, what's a "hot" plug vs "cold" plug?
Need tune up in spring, trying to be prepared. Not a daily driver, but would like a good plug. Currently running BOSCH.
Also correct gap? Just google? So many opinions..
Thanks! |
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67ctbug
Samba Member
Joined: January 24, 2016
Posts: 3619
Location: CT
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| Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 9:32 am Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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Bosch would be my last choice. The last set I used, the Bosch wires wouldn’t stay on the plugs.
_________________
'67 Beetle L41
'74 Westfalia
'69 Plymouth "Adam-12"
'63 Ragtop
'73 914
'73 Dodge W200
'72 Dodge Wrecker
Go Cubs!
World Series Champions 2016
| KentPS wrote: |
...or the PO envied the terrorists' bus in "Back to the Future".  |
| mukluk wrote: |
| He's fine, just waiting for the dragon in winklepickers to move out of his lane. |
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lowN2slo
Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2008
Posts: 50
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 10:25 am Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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| What are you running now? Stock 1500? |
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67ctbug
Samba Member
Joined: January 24, 2016
Posts: 3619
Location: CT
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| Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 10:30 am Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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Stock 1600, I swapped my Bosch for NGK, and then I did a rebuild and put in a set of Champions. Didn't notice a difference between them.
_________________
'67 Beetle L41
'74 Westfalia
'69 Plymouth "Adam-12"
'63 Ragtop
'73 914
'73 Dodge W200
'72 Dodge Wrecker
Go Cubs!
World Series Champions 2016
| KentPS wrote: |
| ...or the PO envied the terrorists' bus in "Back to the Future". |
| mukluk wrote: |
| He's fine, just waiting for the dragon in winklepickers to move out of his lane. |
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mukluk
Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2012
Posts: 7023
Location: Clyde, TX
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| Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 11:50 am Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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Hot versus cold refers to how the plug is designed to shed heat at the electrode. A plug that is too cold will foul as the carbon will not burn off in normal operation, whereas a plug that is too hot will lead to preignition. One must pay attention to how each manufacturer labels the heat range when purchasing since there is no standard. An example of this is Bosch uses an increase in the heat range number to indicate a hotter plug while with NGK an increase in heat range number indicates a colder plug. The numbers for comparable heat ranges don't cross exactly either, again with the Bosch and NGK comparison, a Bosch number 8 heat range is comparable to an NGK 5.
VW typically recommended a somewhat hot plug for normal use, but if you tend to do mostly highway cruising then a plug one heat range cooler was prescribed. I personally used to use Bosch exclusively, but have changed over to NGK plugs in response to Bosch's marked decrease in quality. The NGK BR5HS plug is the standard use version for a stock 1200-1600 engine, and the NGK BR6HS is the one step colder plug used for cars that do mostly highway driving.
Normal gap for any plug you decide to use with a stock ignition system is 0.028", though in colder weather a smaller gap can be used to facilitate easier starting.
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1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga" |
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lowN2slo
Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2008
Posts: 50
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 1:56 pm Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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| Awesome.. Thanks! |
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lowN2slo
Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2008
Posts: 50
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 5:51 pm Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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| So I dropped some NGK plugs in my beetle. Ran fine of first start up. Took it for a drive, all good. 2 days later I fire it up, its got a misfire. I pulled plugs and re-gapped all was good. 0.28 - still runs like crap. Any ideas? Damaged plug? |
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67rustavenger 
Samba Member
Joined: February 24, 2015
Posts: 9754
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:18 pm Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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Incorrectly mounted plug wire, at the plug?
Been there, done that!
You think you have it seated on the plug. When in reality, it's just barely hanging on.
Check um again.
What heat range NGk's did you install?
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!
There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo! |
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olorin67
Samba Member
Joined: October 20, 2021
Posts: 79
Location: Milwaukee, WI
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| Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 10:10 pm Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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| Old manuals recommended changing plugs frequently, the lead in the gas fouled them. With unleaded they last a lot longer, I have 200k on the plugs in my modern car. It depends on your oil control and carburetor too, any rich running or oil burning can foil them. |
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Pruneman99
Samba Member
Joined: February 22, 2012
Posts: 5013
Location: Oceanside
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| Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2022 12:34 am Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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| olorin67 wrote: |
| Old manuals recommended changing plugs frequently, the lead in the gas fouled them. With unleaded they last a lot longer, I have 200k on the plugs in my modern car. It depends on your oil control and carburetor too, any rich running or oil burning can foil them. |
I just pulled the plugs out of my moden Nissan at 196k miles. To my surprise, they still looked new. Crazy. At 160k the plugs in my Mazda were completely missing the electrode  I'm surprised it even ran. It just had developed a slight misfire when cold.
I can't even remember what plugs are in my Bug. I think I may have put some iridium ones in because they didn't have the standard copper core ones. Now, this is by bad memory, as I haven't pulled a plug out in over 12 years.
I'm assuming better fuels and better plugs are contributing to my laziness. |
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AoxoMoxoA
Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2019
Posts: 55
Location: New England
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| Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2022 5:48 am Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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| lowN2slo wrote: |
| 2 days later I fire it up, its got a misfire. I pulled plugs and re-gapped all was good. 0.28 - still runs like crap. Any ideas? Damaged plug? |
Did you remove the terminal nuts on top of the new plugs?
Bad wires?
Dirty points, or point gap not set correctly?
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'66 Beetle 1300 / Bahama Blue |
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lowN2slo
Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2008
Posts: 50
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:02 am Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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Thanks for the replies! I tried the NGK BP5HS plugs. All are seated correctly, quite fouled when I pulled them out. I cleaned them up and re-installed still running awful. How do I know if plug wires or points are bad?
New rebuilt stock 105k dizzy installed 2 springs ago. Brand new points. |
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viiking
Samba Member
Joined: May 10, 2013
Posts: 2667
Location: Sydney Australia
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| Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2022 4:11 pm Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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Don't discount a bad plug. It happens even brand new ones.
Do the "remove the lead from each plug in turn" process to see which plug is giving the least amount of difference in idle performance and replace it. If there is a noticeable difference you can swap leads and see if the problem changes to a different cylinder.
_________________
1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3 |
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vdubmyk
Samba Member
Joined: October 24, 2008
Posts: 508
Location: Corona, CA
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| Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2022 4:15 pm Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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I only run NOS Bosch plugs, W8AC or 7502. You can still find them online or at swap meets.
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64 stock bug, 12V (converted 6v unit), 40 hp, all documents even sales contract and dealer window sticker! |
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rcooled
Samba Member
Joined: September 20, 2008
Posts: 2502
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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| Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2022 3:45 pm Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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| lowN2slo wrote: |
| Any ideas? |
Have a look at the condenser and coil.
Testing the condenser
Remove distributor cap.
Turn crankshaft until the points are fully open (any cylinder).
Disconnect the green wire from the coil.
Connect a test lamp wire to the ignition coil terminal and the other lead to the distributor wire.
Switch on the ignition. If the lamp lights, the condenser is grounded internally and must be replaced.
Now reconnect the distributor wire to the coil and replace the cap.
Pull the main high tension wire from the cap and turn the engine over. The spark should jump a 1/4 inch gap to earth if the coil is known to be good.
If it won't jump this distance, replace the condenser.
Using an Ohmmeter to test the coil
Remove all the wires from the terminals of the coil.
Attach the positive and negative (red and black) wires of the meter to terminal 15 (positive) and 1 (negative) on the coil.
A reading of at least 3 - 4.5 Ohms indicates a good coil.
A bad coil will show a reading higher than 3 - 4.5 Ohms.
Place the red or black lead from the meter to the center of the coil (secondary post), and to either one of the terminals (1 or 15) on the coil.
A reading of 9,500 - 10,000 Ohms (sometimes less) indicates a good coil.
A reading of 11,000 Ohms or more, or a reading of zero indicates a bad coil.
_________________
'63 Ragtop (current)
'65 Ghia coupe (totaled)
'67 Ghia convertible (current)
'69.5 Ghia convertible and
'62, '63, '65, '69 Bugs (all long gone) |
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lowN2slo
Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2008
Posts: 50
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 12:09 pm Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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| Back to the Bosch WC8 plugs. Running Beautiful. Thanks for all the replies, appreciate the feedback! |
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earlybaymitch
Samba Member
Joined: April 19, 2022
Posts: 3
Location: Redding, CA
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2022 7:34 am Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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| Hello I have a 1970 westy. I am wanting to replace my spark plugs and I have a 1915 cc motor with a 019 distributor with electric ignition. Any advice on spark plug gap and what spark plugs to get with part number? |
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Glenn
Mr. 010
Joined: December 25, 2001
Posts: 76897
Location: Sneaking up behind you
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2022 7:49 am Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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What heads?
M14 or M12?
1/2" or 3/4" reach?
Common sizes are:
M14 with a 1/2" reach
M14 with a 3/4" reach
M12 with a 3/4" reach
_________________
Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"
Member #1009
#BlueSquare |
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earlybaymitch
Samba Member
Joined: April 19, 2022
Posts: 3
Location: Redding, CA
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2022 8:23 am Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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| CB panchito 44 heads is all I know… |
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Glenn
Mr. 010
Joined: December 25, 2001
Posts: 76897
Location: Sneaking up behind you
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2022 8:43 am Post subject: Re: Spark Plug Brand - Help |
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| earlybaymitch wrote: |
| CB panchito 44 heads is all I know… |
Then it will be M12 and 3/4" reach.
NGK D6EA
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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"
Member #1009
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