New LS1 Owners - Newbie Tech - Spark Plugs and Wires

Im going to change my spark plugs and wires and hope it can cause some of this power loss issue im having. What does everyone recommend for plugs, wires, and the gap? Im having a friend at his dealership see how much it would be to change them lol because im not attempting that.

I like AC Delco Iridium plugs, and MSD wires, The gap should be between .50 and .55. You should really just do it yourself, you could do it in the driveway and it'll take 30-45 minutes, and save you hundreds of $

its 1.5 hours i believe. just do it yourself and save yourself the money. lots of write ups on how to do it too

I like AC Delco Iridium plugs, and MSD wires, The gap should be between .50 and .55. You should really just do it yourself, you could do it in the driveway and it'll take 30-45 minutes, and save you hundreds of $

damn, 45 minutes, how many times have you done it to get down to 45!? haha. lucky.

damn, 45 minutes, how many times have you done it to get down to 45!? haha. lucky.

the first time i swapped plugs and wires...it took me about 2.5-3 hours. DS took me 30 min at a slow pace. All i did was remove the AIR hose on that side. PS took about 2.5, maybe a little more. Had to remove AIR and coil packs. Atleast and hour was spent trying to break the 2 rear plugs loose (fuggin 10yr old antisieze), and atleast a half hour spent trying to figure out the right combo of extensions and swivels.

If i had to do it all over again, itll probably take me 45min- an hour. Its nice i got long tubes now, and deleted the AIR and EGR systems

oh yeah, lts help, thats probably why it takes me so damn long.

ya they could be worse though.... lol i can usually get mine in under a hour with antiseize and gapping..seeing as in that i havnt even touched a tool or anything to the car in over a year it might take me a little longer , i used to have it down which swivel and where to get at them im sure it would allll come back :)

ngk tr-55's gapped at .055 if your stock or bolt on, ngk tr-6's gapped at .035 if your spraying or heads cam and msd wires. Do it yourself its not that hard my first time took me less than 2 hrs, take off the pass. side coil pack bracket and leave out either the last or last 2 bolts (not too sure whick it is) and get the last on the pass side from the bottom and your golden. I've realized its not hard working on these cars just time consuming

I run MSD wires and NGK TR-55 plugs gapped at .050, works well for me.

I run MSD wires and NGK TR-55 plugs gapped at .050, works well for me.

x2 :D

i can only find plugs gapped at .59

If you buy the plugs they come gapped to ball park specs because of bumps in shipping. .04 wont kill ya but if you want to get a feeler gauge and just bend the plug end on a table closed a bit and regap.
Dan-

I like AC Delco Iridium plugs, and MSD wires, The gap should be between .50 and .55. You should really just do it yourself, you could do it in the driveway and it'll take 30-45 minutes, and save you hundreds of $

i can only find plugs gapped at .59

haha I'd like to see yall run with that much of a gap....

alldata calls for a .06 gap, but as these other guys have said .055 will work just fine.

the mag article ls1 dos & donts recommends those TR55s because they run cooler. i have bosch platinum 2 that i like, plus crane fire wires i think i paid $40 for the wires. cheers!

I used NGK TR-55 plugs and MSD wires. Both can be had shipped for $68 from sponsor on here.

the mag article ls1 dos & donts recommends those TR55s because they run cooler. i have bosch platinum 2 that i like, plus crane fire wires i think i paid $40 for the wires. cheers!

No Bosch plugs!! :nono:

Bosch plugs tend to run very poorly in all but a few select German cars. They are designed differently than other brands, and I've even seen them cause misfires on certain engines. The problem is that they are designed for German engines, and then they create a cross reference based on the physical specs of the plug, not the actual performance in your engine. So just because it fits doesn't mean its designed to work in that engine.

I'd only reccommend AC Delco or NGK plugs for LS engines. I have the AC Delco Iridiums, and I've been very happy with them. Iridium is best because maintains its gap and will last much longer than other plugs.

while your probably right TPIS catalog from 2003 recommends, probably because they sell the bosch 4's, are you going to call a well known engine builder / racer an idiot? (myron cottrell). not sure of spelling. the back of the catalog has a 2001 zo6 vette they gained like 3 rwhp from the plugs. i will fax you the page if you'd like to see it.

ps i've had the plugs for 3 yrs and 3 diff dyno tests and never had a missfire. (knock on wood). the mag article says they run hotter, thats why tr55's are better. how much better can they be?

Just a note. Changing the wires yourself. If you can get a reputalbe place to do it under 100 dollars. Do it.

i have huge hands, and half the scars on them are from doing the spark plug/wire change on my old 02 t/a. Not to mention almost ever wire snapped.Major pita.

I;ll pay if i ever have to do it again.

while your probably right TPIS catalog from 2003 recommends, probably because they sell the bosch 4's, are you going to call a well known engine builder / racer an idiot? (myron cottrell). not sure of spelling. the back of the catalog has a 2001 zo6 vette they gained like 3 rwhp from the plugs. i will fax you the page if you'd like to see it.

I've seen the claims, and I've seen claims from other companies with similar results. I don't believe any of that. If the TPIS catalog is selling Bosch 4's, of course they are going to reccommend them. And while they do fit the application (reach, heat range, size, ect) they were not designed for our engines, period.

Electricity only follows one path - the shortest to ground. So its only going to travel down one ground electrode. Meaning the other 3 are doing nothing more than shrouding the spark from the atomized mixture. I don't see how thats beneficial at all.

I'm not calling anyone an idiot. I'm just saying you have to question a company's "recommendation" when its only in their best interest to sell the product that they are recommending.

Just a note. Changing the wires yourself. If you can get a reputalbe place to do it under 100 dollars. Do it.

i have huge hands, and half the scars on them are from doing the spark plug/wire change on my old 02 t/a. Not to mention almost ever wire snapped.Major pita.

I;ll pay if i ever have to do it again.

its not bad if you take the coil pack off to get the top side plugged in first. aside from that its not bad at all (number 8 is easiest from the bottom of the car)

I used NGK TR-55 plugs and MSD wires. Both can be had shipped for $68 from sponsor on here.

Which sponser?

Which sponser?

username 99blanoSS i believe. he sells them on ebay as well, but a little more expensive so he can recoup ebay listing fees.

I have had a bad experience with Bosch plugs. Car misfired like crazy, checked the wires and plugs again. Reinstalled them and same thing, misfired like crazy. Went out and picked up a set of TR55s that day, installed them and the car ran fine? I will never use them again.

The sponsors name is 99blancoSS which is C&C Performance, just call him.

username 99blanoSS i believe. he sells them on ebay as well, but a little more expensive so he can recoup ebay listing fees.

:) Thank you for the mention. Here is the link to the online store:
http://estore.websitepros.com/2120533/Detail.bok?no=2

NGK TR55 - gapped @ .54 with MSD 8.5mm wires.

i have huge hands, and half the scars on them are from doing the spark plug/wire change on my old 02 t/a. Not to mention almost ever wire snapped.Major pita.


i feel your pain. my hands aren't huge per se, but last time i did my plugs my hands looked like i went digging around in broken glass.

drivers side was easy, but passenger side took me almost two hours. unfortunately my lts have air and egr provisions, and they get in the way quite a bit on the passenger side.

its about time for me to change the plugs out again :bang: i wonder if i can talk my fiance into doing the passenger side? :D

One thing that does help is relocating the coils to the underside of the cowling. I do offer a kit for this as well..LOL but that's not why I mentioned it :)
My hands bear the scars of many LS1 plug changes :bang:

I just tried out the WeaponX plugs with MSD wires from CC Performance...no complaints so far. No interference, no misfires, fancy packaging. So, thanks to Chris for the plugs and wires, as well as the headers...fit like a dream, except for the limited space between the oil drain plug and the headers. Gonna have to be careful to not make a mess. As far as the plug change, it's not too bad if you just take your time so you don't get pissed off. Take the coil packs off (good luck with the passenger side back bolt), get #8 from underneath, and hook your wires on before you re-install the coil packs. Better than paying $400 for it.

:) Thank you for the mention. Here is the link to the online store:
http://estore.websitepros.com/2120533/Detail.bok?no=2

just purchased :D

I gots NGK vpowers with msd wires, changing takes a lil time for your first time