Reply to "Spark plug recommendation"

From what I am reading at the Sumit Racing page, the heat range needs to be specified.
I would NOT trust a salesperson to specify the heat range BECAUSE of the error in the listings.

I think that a hotter plug is going to make a lean condition worse. Maybe put a hole in a piston, maybe warp the valve seats.

A 42 heat range is pretty hot. Even under normal conditions it will show a chalk white electrode.

The electrode should have a medium grey-brown color to it and the tip should be clear, no deposits.

A double platinum is made for 100,000 miles. It is intended originally for hard to change plugs. You don't really need them in a Pantera but they won't hurt you either.

I forgot the 14mm part numer but the 18mm is an F9y champion. I know you can get it in a double platinum.

The temp range of that plug is right on it. With the Motorcraft solid state ignition the tips will just stay clear with about a .038" gap.

Ford actually recommended a .042" gap back in the '70s for similar applications but that can lead to premature coil failures.

That's what my 302 '75 Granada used.

.037-.038 is about right for your application. They will probably be .032-.035" out of the box.
Even .035" is ok.

I presume that you have been trying to cross reference over to another plug brand. I am explaining all of this to you because I just went through this with My 68Shelby and the unavailabilaty of the BF32's.

That's how I found the mistake in the listings.

Many if not most of the cross over charts are just plain wrong. The were caused by Motorcraft substituting the 42 for the 32 and stating that they are equal. They are not. That is simply not true.

If they were the same they would have the same number. Any tech who insists they are should at least be sterilized so that they cannot reproduce more little assholes.

The ONLY two brands that I know are right are the Motorcraft and the Champion. I did not try the Bosch or the NGK. They were not "stock" items locally and needed to be ordered.

I will not order something if I don't know for sure that they are right.

I should point out that Accell and Splitfire may have plugs that you can use. In the past Splitfire has offered triple platinum.

SF2D is the regular plug number and TP2D the triple platinum, Splitfire plugs.