Hidden HORSEPOWER in Side Gapping your Spark Plugs?

[savatreatabvr]

I first heard of "Side Gapping" spark plugs here on this forum, it made sense to me so I tried it on a fresh set of plugs. Before I got started I read articles on SG that explain exactly how to modify the plugs in detail and also say racers have been doing this since the 60's to increase performance, well I'm quite disappointed with this SG trick because it did nothing for my performance. I wasn't expecting a major gain in horsepower or gas mileage but I expected something, anything, I just didn't see it! I hope you guys have had better results SG your spark plugs, I'm not impressed!

[king-918]

Electricity will only seek out the shortest/ lowest point of resistance. That why the power3 plug don't do anything but last longer as you have 3 points to wear. point blank at most you risk a short
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[INSIDIOUS '86]

Originally Posted by savatreatabvr

I first heard of "Side Gapping" spark plugs here on this forum, it made sense to me so I tried it on a fresh set of plugs. Before I got started I read articles on SG that explain exactly how to modify the plugs in detail and also say racers have been doing this since the 60's to increase performance, well I'm quite disappointed with this SG trick because it did nothing for my performance. I wasn't expecting a major gain in horsepower or gas mileage but I expected something, anything, I just didn't see it! I hope you guys have had better results SG your spark plugs, I'm not impressed!

You don't have a tonight quench combustion chamber like high performance engines have.
So results will vary.
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[king-918]

You shave these then did you make sure that they all point in the same direction after being installed?
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[bk2life]

indexing them will work better then SG

[cory d]

did that on a honda 1.8 with CVCC just for the hell of it. no point on doing it on that, it just ignites a small chamber behind the exhaust valve then blows through it to ingite the charge in the cylinder

[Keith Seymore]

Racers are looking for performance gains measured to the thousandth of a second (.001).

Did you think you would be able to perceive that via "seat of the pants"?

K

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Racers are looking for performance gains measured to the thousandth of a second (.001).

Did you think you would be able to perceive that via "seat of the pants"?

K

That's about the size of your bumper vs the other car at the finish line
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[kalbert]

"Side Gapping", indexing, using fancy Split Fire or copy cats don't do much if anything. In high power precision applications where a couple thousandths of a second matter, it equates to a near immeasurable power increase.

I did try an E3 plug in my weed whacker, it starts easier, but I contribute that more to the plug being new. It did not cut through weeds noticeably faster. It still would not cut down a tree.

Synthetic oil falls to this as well. Superior lubricating qualities for longevity, but any power gain achieved would be insignificant.

[savatreatabvr]

I've heard changing to a hotter plug doesn't do anything either except make your engine run hotter? I've seen people flip their factory air cleaner lid upside down to increase air flow which would increase performance right, also never worked for me!

[kelsfine69]

Originally Posted by savatreatabvr

I've heard changing to a hotter plug doesn't do anything either except make your engine run hotter? I've seen people flip their factory air cleaner lid upside down to increase air flow which would increase performance right, also never worked for me!

That does work(flipping the air cleaner), proved it one night with a couple races, was a good couple car length difference, same night same trucks...

[Redcap]

I have some snake oil to sell you.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Beaver another reason to do this is also it helps deter detonation from the ground strap being to hot as well. Flipping the air cleaner base in the stock aircleaner does work. Especially so with a high flow filter. Indexing the plugs helps at higher rpm as well.

All these tricks are small on engines with a lot of power tapped out and many mods and improvements to make more power efficiently.

For you a stock 454 isn't going to see anything.

Try the big three. Intake, exhaust, cam. In that order. Don't want to tear down for a cam? Higher lift roller rockers can essential make your stock cam seem bigger. That's 10-15 hp guaranteed.

Do all these things and I will assure 75+hp gain
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[kalbert]

Originally Posted by savatreatabvr

I've heard changing to a hotter plug doesn't do anything either except make your engine run hotter? I've seen people flip their factory air cleaner lid upside down to increase air flow which would increase performance right, also never worked for me!

Flipping the lid or using an open element housing doesn't net much on it's own. In most cases the air filter system is engineered to meet the stock engine's airflow requirements. If you do things to other parts of the engine to allow it to use more air, then you would need to change the filtration system to accommodate.

Hot/cold plugs refer to the center electrode's ability to dissipate heat, changing to a hotter or colder plug is usually done to control preignition. Often in an older engine a hotter plug is used to keep clean and free of oil deposits that can retain heat and cause preignition. The tip being too hot itself will result in problems with preignition. Colder plugs are often used in high compression and forced induction engines where having the tip disipate heat faster reduces the possibility of preignition. Too cold and the tip won't be able to burn off deposits (which also cause preignition).

[Hevy]

If you have a 600 cfm carb, flipping the air filter lid still leaves you with a 600 cfm carb. It can't take in more air than it's maximum.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Originally Posted by Hevy

If you have a 600 cfm carb, flipping the air filter lid still leaves you with a 600 cfm carb. It can't take in more air than it's maximum.

False a Venturi fed the right way can take more than it can support but that's a whole other discussion
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[Pyrotechnic]

Originally Posted by kelsfine69

That does work(flipping the air cleaner), proved it one night with a couple races, was a good couple car length difference, same night same trucks...

Depending on outside temperature, an open element air cleaner can actually be worse than the factory setup that has a tube that goes straight to the radiator support.

For example, on a 100 degree day with a 14x3 open element K&N filter, I installed a temperature probe inside the filter housing to measure the temperature of the incoming air. I did some stop and go driving the average temperature I saw was 180+ F. Not good.

Yes, the factory air cleaner is restrictive and there's no denying that, but by changing one thing you sometimes create another problem that slows you down.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Originally Posted by Pyrotechnic

Depending on outside temperature, an open element air cleaner can actually be worse than the factory setup that has a tube that goes straight to the radiator support.

For example, on a 100 degree day with a 14x3 open element K&N filter, I installed a temperature probe inside the filter housing to measure the temperature of the incoming air. I did some stop and go driving the average temperature I saw was 180+ F. Not good.

Yes, the factory air cleaner is restrictive and there's no denying that, but by changing one thing you sometimes create another problem that slows you down.

Very true. This is why people use coated headers and no heat risers in the intake along with lower thermostats and true cowl inductioning. On my old 305 I took the stock air cleaner an cut the baffles and screens and removed and sealed the heat riser and cut the front off the cure support adapter to make ram air. That 305 loved it
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[savatreatabvr]

Originally Posted by INSIDIOUS '86

Very true. This is why people use coated headers and no heat risers in the intake along with lower thermostats and true cowl inductioning. On my old 305 I took the stock air cleaner an cut the baffles and screens and removed and sealed the heat riser and cut the front off the cure support adapter to make ram air. That 305 loved it
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I'd like to see a pic of that home made Ram Air!

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Well I will try and make it but basicly it's just all the stock stuff remade to work how I wanted
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