Did a few things over the weekend

[MightyFine69]

I have a 1969 K20 with the original engine with only about 40k miles on it. My motors manual says the stock plug is an AC Delco R44. They don't make R44's any more (at least that's what I have been told by the parts stores). So I have been running R43's in her. I switched to R45's on saturday, and the engine seems to run much better, and seems to have more power going down the road. The next thing I did was to replace the old negative wire that went from the battery to a piece of flat steel that bolted to the passenger side head. I used a 2 guage wire from the battery to the head, and then ran a new ground strap from the head to the frame. That seemed to give the motor a little more power also. Has anyone else had a similar experience? If so, could you explain why the power seemed to improve? Maybe there is a mechanic out there who could fill me in. By the way, I still have my old points distributor with a set of Accel points and an Accel Super Stock coil. I know I should switch to HEI, but I like the simplicity of points, and I read the thread on here about the guy who had the HEI go bad on him. It seems like points might be a little more reliable in the long run.

[lukecp]

What was the difference in gap between the two plugs? The R45 plugs are colder than the R44's or ther R43's.

I have been running HEI in my truck for 2 years and 26k miles with zero problems. It is also a original GM HEI that was made back in '70 something. All i have done is changed the cap and rotor once. As far as the power thing, a friend of mine had a '67 Chevy with a stock 283 and points. Even with all new points, condensor, rotor, cap, plugs, and wires, the truck still wasn't running right. He took a completley stock HEI out of the junkyard, and dropped it in without even changing the cap and rotor. It made that little 283 come alive. It felt like it had 30 more horses under the hood, got better gas mileage, and started easier. That was enough to sell me on points for good.

[JIMs70GMC]

I'd have to say as far as changing the gauge of the wire to a larger size lowered the resistance of the wire and put a slightly higher voltage at the coil. When you went to get your R44 plugs what did they try to give you R43 or R45, my local NAPA gave me the R45 as a replacement.

[Blue_71]

i have to disagree with the "they dont make R44" anymore you guys are getting.... Ive got a set in my 2wd right now and i believe thats what's in my 4x4, im on my second or third set in the 2wd (old engine i had was bad about fouling them out, bad rings and valve seals in the heads)

[MightyFine69]

I live in Big Rapids, Michigan, and we have Autozone, Advance Auto Parts, and Napa. All of them told me they can't get R44's. All they can get is R43's and R45's. I thought the R45's were a hotter plug than the R43's. I thought maybe that was why it seemed to pick up a little power. Where do you get your R44's? That is what my motors manual says to use. About HEI, I have an old HEI distributor in my garage out of a mid 1980's 350. How similar do you think the advance curve would be to the points dizzy in my old 69 350? I don't really want to have to mess around trying to recurve the HEI so it works in my truck. By the way, the gap in my plugs was .035 with the old ones and the new ones. I had just replaced the cap and rotor about a month ago, but the plugs didn't get changed because I had done them in late fall last year. The old plugs still looked pretty good. What is everyone's opinion?

[Blue_71]

ive got a set at auto zone before, but the last two sets came from a little store at the end of my road... with HEI you should gap the plugs .45 by the way

now for my question, got a pick of that 69 on 33s? tire shop man told me they wouldnt fit my 71 K20

[MightyFine69]

I just got on AC Delco's web site, and found something interesting. I searched by part number for vehicles that the part would fit. I searched for R44 and came up with nothing. I searched for R43 and came up with several Chevrolet vehicles with 350's. I searched for R45 and came up with several Jeep and
GMC vehicles, the GMC's with 305's. Interesting isn't it? I wonder why they don't list them fitting my truck. As for the picture of my truck, I will have to take one. I will try to do that soon. How do I go about posting it?

[krazy_texan]

well help me on this guys i just went out and bought new cap and rotor, plugs, wires, and all that good stuff
well i went and put them on the caballero first and when finished started it right up no problem, now the truck is a different story, i did all this and now the truck wont start though it does backfire every time i try to start it what could this be

[MightyFine69]

May have plug wires crossed.?

[Blue_71]

thats what it sounds like to me too if you didnt mess with the timing any...

on the pic, you can attach it at the bottem of your post... by the submit reply there is a attach file button

[JIMs70GMC]

If not crossed all positions shifted clockwise or counter clockwise. From experience.

Mightyfine69- what type tires and rims?I had problems w/ 325/60R15 BFGs on 15x10" rims and no lift rubbed everytime I turned. The tires were equivalent to 31x12.5s w/ 11" wide tread.

[MightyFine69]

I am running 33x12.50x16.5. They were on the truck when I bought it. My truck is a '69 K20, and the sticker in the glove box says it has heavy duty springs front and rear and camper wiring. So I am thinking that is why it sits high enough for the big tires without rubbing. I am actually thinking about getting new spring packs made with a little more arch so I can run 35's. Only thing is then I will have to buy new shocks and maybe brake lines.

[krue]

I just bought a set of rims from a friend of my dad's. They are rallies off of a newer GMC 4x and they have 33's on them. I put them on my 2wd with no lift. They don't rub, but if they had any more tread on them they probably would! They have about 3/4 inch of tread on 'em, in case you were wondering, not too bad for $100!