horsepower & sparkplugs

[junkyardhunter]

just want to know what you guys think about my setup what can I do to finetune it. Well here it is
:crossx: BBC 454 (.030), 10-1 comp, Edelbrock performer oval ports,Edelbrock victor intake with 2" adapter, speed demon 850dp,Clay smith cam flat solid 264@.050 .620 lift 110 lsa installed @ 108 lca,roller rockers, stock HEI with msd 6al it has about 6hrs of run time on it.
I can turn an aggressor b impeller to 5500 rpm thats about 525 lake HP
I am currently running chanpion rn14yc plugs but there color is greyish black not the golden brown we look for I am not sure if its from the carb or just the wrong plugs.
oh ya she runs great & starts real nice

[poncho-pwr]

How are you going about reading your plugs? Are you just pulling them out after an outing to the lake, or did you kill it at speed(tricky in a fast jet) and then look at them. The best way to get a good plug reading is to kill it at W.O.T. and then get towed back to the pits/beach, pull all eight and read them. It is never recommended to just click the ignition at W.O.T. in a jet boat but I would recommend getting the engine good and warmed up, then put in a new/clean set of plugs and go make a hard pass killing the engine as soon as you can after safely bringing the boat to a stop. After doing that pull the plugs and read them. Try not to idle around a bunch after your run. Maybe post up a picture of the plugs after doing this(if you can figure the picture thing out...I can't) and some of us could probably help you a little more. I personally would recommend running NGK plugs, I like them a lot!

[bigblockbill]

If your refering to the white (when new) center ceramic part of the plug being black instead of golden brown that really does not have much to do with the air/fuel mixture (unless your way off) but more the heat range of the plugs. If its white then go to a colder plug, if its black then go to a hotter plug. Either way it is true if you have been doing much idleing it will not give you the true reading.

[junkyardhunter]

if I am running champion RN14YC what would the part # for a hotter plug or a colder one not really sure how this works
When I checked the plugs it was after aday of boating I did not check them after a speed run

[poncho-pwr]

I would put either an NGK BPR5ES or BPR4ES in it and then read the plugs as mentioned in my earlier post. If you are dead set on running the Champion plugs what you need to know about their heat range is denoted by the number, i.e."14", and in Champion brand plugs a lower number dictates a colder plug and a higher number dictates hotter. That is not the case with all manufacturers though.

[junkyardhunter]

how does the HGK heat ranges work is it the same as champions .Im not dead set on champion its just what I am using right now.

[Fiat48]

NGK higher number is colder.

[junkyardhunter]

thanks think I'll give the NGK's a try

[bigblockbill]

My experience has been the higher number american plugs are hotter, and the higher number foriegn plugs are cooler.... sure wish there was some standard. Anyway the way you tell is look at the center conductor and hotter plugs are longer.
I think a Champion 14 is too hot for that much compression, eldelbrock recommends a 12 for their heads at 9 to 1 or so. I would then cross that over to the equivilent NGK or Denso plug.

[junkyardhunter]

thanks for all the help guys