spark plugs

[ron hebb]

hi I have a spark plug question.
what would be the best spark plug brand and # to use in a 1937 ford engine ?
the engine is a 221 with alum heads .

[OhioRick]

NGk or autolite.

[joe 1950]

I like to use champions H-10 that's what henry put in them , my friends and I have had zero problems

[ron hebb]

a lot of people give the champion h-10 a bad rape

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

We have ran nothing but Champion H-10 for years and love them..........

[51504bat]

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Originally Posted by ron hebb

hi I have a spark plug question.
what would be the best spark plug brand and # to use in a 1937 ford engine ?
the engine is a 221 with alum heads .

I've heard but don't know if its internet fiction but you should always thread new plugs in a cast iron head to remove any burrs on the plugs so as not to damage the threads in the aluminum heads. Again don't know if its BS or not but it couldn't hurt.

[johnh7]

Does anyone know why Champion's get a bad rap? I too have read that they are not as good as other brands, but then I see guys like Bubba who know about ignition systems using them. So what's the real deal?

[Tony, NY]

I'm going from memory, but I think they moved their mfg out of the USA and people got caught up in this poor product coming from ? Mexico?

[Gary in La.]

I was running Champion H-10's up to 2003. Then I had 2 sets that were having "ignition missing" problems within a 1000 miles. I switched to Autolite 216 and haven't had a bad plug since. When I checked the H-10's from the 2 sets I always had several plugs that would have intermittent spark on my tester.

[joe 1950]

champion plugs do have a problem cleaning up after a over rich condition , such as flooding out ,start and stop cond. b-4 full engine temp is reached to clean the unburned fuel off but all in all there very good for the stock engines in the old girls

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Ok here goes, i wasnt going to get in to this one as i have been there many times over the years....
SPARK PLUGS

Once upon a time i was a much younger mechanic working for a fleet ( Town of Speedway) part of our fleet was a few F600 Ford trucks. At the time they were shipped to us with no bed either v8 FE Big block or 300 six engines. Once recieved we took the trucks to a local company and had dump beds and "in city" rear ends installed in them.
One of the problems we had was they eat spark plugs !! Sometimes needing the plugs changed weekly.....every one of these trucks eat plugs , fouling etc very quickly. Happens to be they used autolite or motorcraft ( later) plugs from the factory.
The champion plug guy came by the shop one day , took one luck at some of these plugs and said " i can fix that these autolite plugs are junk". He gave me a couple sets of champion plugs to try for a while and a hat and jacket. ( the hat and jacket are very important in this story)
The champions ran better and fixed the problem !!!!!!!!
Now as a young mechanic what do you think we said for a long time???? Of course i said the autolites were junk and champions are the way to go!!!!
The champion sales guy was very happy to supply plug for our 100 vehicle fleet, we even started using them in our chainsaws, more jackets , hats and a few shop stools came with the deal!!!!
Years later teaching a four hour class at Lincoln Tech on spark plugs it dawned on me , champion had nothing to do with the fix.
Heres what really happened:
Ford had the correct spark plug in the engine to start with , the correct heat range, the correct extended tip and electrode. We changed all that by changining the rear axle ratio to suit our needs. The rpm band of operation was changed and the engine needed another heat range for proper operation. The champion guy gave us another heat range ( maybe by accident) and we chose champion every after.......
The champion sales guy went on to buying a new dodge, white shoes and white belt as he was very popular for many years.

Many times today i see this story unfold with other plug example, on the flathead we add a cam shaft, change the engine size and install new multiple carbs not to mention gear ratio and tire size with a new exhaust. Does all this need a plug change , you bet it does , then we buy another brand that accidently ( wrong heat range design etc) and guess what thats the brand we use , AND if we can get the free hat, jackets and cabinents thats even better.



Have i ever told ya the story about missing second gear on a medium riser 427 Ford and blowing the engine up at appro 10,000 rpm???? Yep that was caused by STP used on assembly !!!!!!! Yep thats what it was !!!!!!

" Bubba Vision is a terrible thing sometimes"

[Gary in La.]

Good story and logical but just to be clear I am running a stock 1946 Ford with a stock 59A engine.

[Bassman/NZ]

I bought a new set of Autolite 216s from the US, ran 50 miles and 4 or 5 of them cracked. Have since heard from others with a similar story, yet many people swear by them. Tried NGK B6Ls and Champion H10s, both fouled. Tried Champion H12s ... now we're cooking!

[restoman]

All you guys are talking about H10's without realizing that a 37 takes a #7, the large thread type. The first H10 was used part way through 38 when the 81A motor was introduced. PHIL

[scooder]

Originally Posted by BUBBAS IGNITION

We have ran nothing but Champion H-10 for years and love them..........

Is this the plug you use in all flatheads, stock to hop up jobs?
Martin.

[scooder]

Originally Posted by restoman

All you guys are talking about H10's without realizing that a 37 takes a #7, the large thread type. The first H10 was used part way through 38 when the 81A motor was introduced. PHIL

That's what I thunk, the stock 21 stud heads are for 18mm plugs.
Martin.

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

I worked for a Cad an Olds dealer back in 57-61. Those engines came with AC plugs. Back them we tuned the engine ever 10'000 miles. Once in awhile we would get a car in with a skip, remove the plugs and someone installed Champion plugs, we would install a set of AC and tell the owner these engine won't run on Cham plugs. I'm sure if we got the right heat range Cham plugs the engine would run fine. But no one want to bye a 1/2 doz set of plugs. Walt

[oldford2]

I used Champion H12's in our 46 with 50,000 miles on the engine. No problems and they ran a nice straw color. I just did a ring and valve job on it and may go back to H10's. The original main and floaters measured within spec so there are still in there!
John

[42merc]

It was two weeks ago on the Barn we went thru "Champions versus the world" thing.
Two pages worth.

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Originally Posted by scooder

Is this the plug you use in all flatheads, stock to hop up jobs?
Martin.

8s - 10s-or 12s......

The newer plugs with the extended insulator tips will auto correct for a few heat ranges up and down.
Kinda a neat design driving slow intake air is hot (warm) hotter plug, driving fast intake air is cooler (chilled) colder plug..
Before the extended tips we actually needed to adjust the plug for driving....