After buying my Cutlass in November, I have spend a lot of time chasing down small issues, one of which was a pesky ignition miss. I replaced the cap, rotor, points, condenser, coil and that took care of most of it. The plugs(cleaned and regapped) and wires seemed good so I just reused.

But recently the miss came back again and it was pretty bad. I pulled the plugs again (AC Delco R45S) and replaced them with Autolite 86's. Now the car purrs like it should. Surprised me as I can't see anything visibly wrong with them. Guess I should have replaced them to begin with.

Which brings me to a few questions. What spark plugs are you all using for the small and big block Olds motors? Has anyone used the expensive platinum plugs? Are they worth the extra $$$? Just curious, sound off!

 

In my recent ignition fix up, I put in a set of the E3 diamond fires. They are not as expensive as the Platinums, but at about $5 bucks a piece, it adds up. As for performance....ehhhh...I certainly didn't have any sort of magic power boost. They look really cool though! I think the more expensive plugs are one of those things that will give you alittle bit more kick if everything else on your engine is top notch. My 455 is in ok condition, but pretty tired, so I couldn't see any difference. All I know now is that I was thinking about switching to HEI, even have a used Olds HEI to pop in there, but I cannot regap the E3's. My vote, stick with the stock plugs unless you have some sort of crazy, high-comp monster under the hood.

 

Glad to hear you've got your car running right again. Spark plugs and wires are reasonably inexpensive and often overlooked in the routine maintenance of cars. If the wires are old, I'd replace them too. Contrary to popular belief, they don't last the life of the car and do break down over time.

I've tried platinum and don't see or feel any noticeable change from the AC Delcos. I'm running Champion Copper Plus in my 98 right now and they seem to run very nice. Quick starts, run smooth.

Are the expensive plugs worth it? For my applications - no.

BTW, I changed my 72 Cutlass over to HEI a few years back. I didn't really notice any big change in starting or running. I know that HEI is more reliable in the long run, but I think I'm going to change it back to stock, since I just got a stock dual snorkel air cleaner that I want to put on. The HEI distributor will NOT let me use a stock air cleaner without modifying it. I did that to my 4bbl stock cleaner, but I don't want to do with the dual air snorkel.

 

I've got AC Delco R45S on my 455. They seem to be doing their job.

 

Hey Ken!
I see ya gots a new avatar. That just for playoffs?
Not looking good 6-0 and 3-0 in the first 2. Maybe Friday it'll change. If it goes more than 3-0 against the habs by the middle of the 2nd, I'm gonna watch 2 1/2 men reruns instead.

 

Just for the playoffs. Gotta believe. Habs in 7.

 

Thanks Allan. Did not think they were bad, they only had about 3,500 miles on them but then again they have been in there at least 8 yrs. I will do the wires too, there next!

 

Hey, my wifes making pea soup for the game, you know the good old fashioned kind made from scratch???. It should be a real gas. You know it's gonna go 7 games right? Gotta make some $$ on game seat sales.

 

Deleted