mongo730

I have a 1999 WS6 Trans Am. I drive it daily with occasional street race :-).
I would appreciate and suggestions for a good brand of plugs/wires being as I would like to do a tune up.
I get better advice from this forum than any mechanic I have talked with.
Thank you in advance.
Charlie

01CamaroSSTx

iTrader: (3)

The stock stuff at the local parts stores works just fine but if your're looking to spend on a better wire then go for the MSD Super Conductors. I like how you can bend the plug end of the wire and position them away from the headers. I use to re-use those aluminum heat shields that protected the stock wire but they're PITA to deal with and went with the spark plug boot protectors from Summit Racing.

mongo730

Thank you. I really appreciate the information/advice.

LS1 TJ

I use the stock GM wires or parts store wires on my LS swaps. Never an issue. But I do use the stock tin shields. Never had a burned boot with headers. I would suggest putting in the spark plugs and install the headers and see what would work best for your set up.

mongo730

Thank you for the information. To be honest, the only modification I have made to my WS6 is a K & N air filter. I thought about headers, but I decided to just stay with the original exhaust manifolds. I have a 1999 WS6 and I bought it in 1999... I have had very little issues with it in 25 years so I can't complain. Thanks again for responding.

Y2K_Frenzy

That’s real cool man.

Finkledbody

Buy NGK TR55 plugs, they have the lowest failure rate out of all the spark plug companies.
Bosch is a close second. Never buy champion plugs, their failure rate is incredibly high.
I have no input on other companies products.

mongo730

Thank you for the information. I used Champion plugs in my old Camaro. I was always changing them. I have only changed the plugs on my WS6 one time.. and I used AC Delco. I will give the NGK TR55 plugs a try. My brother-in-law also recommended those plugs. Thanks again.

Charlie

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

I used TR55's for years because of recommendations on here. They are cheap and seemed to work well. But a friend tried them on his Trans Am (on my recommendation) and then replaced them because of a rough idle.

So the next time I replaced spark plugs I went back to iridiums (at 10x the cost), and yes, I noticed a smoother idle. And the cost is somewhat offset by the fact that they last longer. I won't go back to TR55's.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I tried the iridiums in place of TR55s once, and I can't say that I noticed any difference in idle quality (stock engine). On the other hand, cold starts actually seemed to take just a bit more cranking with the Delco iridiums gapped at .040 (per GM spec for this plug in this application) vs. the TR55s gapped at anything between .050-.060. So I've chosen to stick with TR55s.

Y2K_Frenzy

Copper is a better conductor of electricity than the hard metals. The copper plugs just don’t last as long. I don’t think we’d have iridium and platinum plugs if the spark plugs on modern engines were easily accessible. Think about the front wheel and all wheel drive cars where you can’t even see half of the plugs. That’s why we went to longer lasting poor conducting plugs.

Treburkulosis

I am running NGK TR55 plugs and MSD wires on mine. I ran the same combo on my 98 back 14 years ago.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Full Power

The only "problem" with the TR55 is the long GAP, they come out of the box at the OLD GM Spec of .060"
I prefer to start out at .040" and close as necessary. The TR5 has the same heat range, and out of the box gap is .040.
Light boost, I start with the TR6.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

The GM gap spec didn't change until the tip material changed for the service replacement plugs. The original plugs were platinum, and the gap spec was .060", but this changed with the iridium tips to .040". Considering the power level of an LS1 ignition system, I don't really see the advantage of a tighter gap with stock internals.