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Spark Plug/Wires Recommendations?

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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 12:01 PM
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Default Spark Plug/Wires Recommendations?

anyone have any good recommendations for Plugs/Wires? I think that will be my project for this weekend...thanks
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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 12:38 PM
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About a week or two ago, I got the Red GM Performance Wires and the AC Delco Platinum/or were they Iridium? Plugs. Got them from Gene Cully at gmpartshouse.com.

It is a good project and as I had 40,000 miles on my car, it was time.

Last edited by BenC5; Jun 10, 2009 at 12:53 PM.
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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 12:47 PM
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Contact Gene Culley at gmpartshouse.com and get a set of the AC Iridiums and GMPP red performance wires. He'll give you a good price on them.
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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 04:32 PM
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That's what I bought and Gene is the man!
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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 04:38 PM
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Originally Posted by JDs00PewterCoupe
Contact Gene Culley at gmpartshouse.com and get a set of the AC Iridiums and GMPP red performance wires. He'll give you a good price on them.
For stock setups this is the way to go
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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 04:42 PM
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Does anyone know if the GMPP wires are 8.5mm, like the MSD ones? I saw the MSD wire set for only 10 bucks more.
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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 06:10 PM
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i took a look at the website and it looks like it should be around $225 for plugs and wires... does that sound about right? also, ive never done this before.. is it tough and take very long?
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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 06:22 PM
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The first time you remove the heat protectors can be tricky. I used needle nose pliers. Anyone know a better trick?
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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 08:08 PM
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Default 100,000 mile plugs

Originally Posted by BenC5
About a week or two ago, I got the Red GM Performance Wires and the AC Delco Platinum/or were they Iridium? Plugs. Got them from Gene Cully at gmpartshouse.com.

It is a good project and as I had 40,000 miles on my car, it was time.
are not the stock plugs and wires suppose to last 100,000 miles before replacing?
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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 08:09 PM
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I think the plugs and wires are about $115, check out this thread scroll down to "Genuine GM Tune Up Items"

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-p...-specials.html

It took me about an hour and a half to change out the plugs and wires. I fought three of the wires that seemed to be "welded" on to the plug, but I got them. #7 (back drivers side) was the most difficult one to get to. I used 1" wobble extension quite a bit, flex handle ratchet and a socket to fit the end of the plug socket. It really wasn't a tough job. I could probably do it much faster, but I was just messing around anyway.

Make sure that you use a little dielectric grease inside the plug boots to help alleviate the sticking of the boots to the plugs. I also used a little motor oil on the plug threads. Some people will tell you to use antiseize, but I had a GM master mechanic say that it can cause problems and to just use motor oil on the threads.

Last edited by teebee; Jun 10, 2009 at 08:20 PM.
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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 08:20 PM
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Originally Posted by 2003 electronblue
are not the stock plugs and wires suppose to last 100,000 miles before replacing?
Maybe, but I can say that my 01 with 70k miles, instead of the .040 gap (like on the new ones) the OEs were about .060 so, I think it was a good call to change them out.
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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 08:23 PM
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Originally Posted by BenC5
About a week or two ago, I got the Red GM Performance Wires and the AC Delco Platinum/or were they Iridium? Plugs. Got them from Gene Cully at gmpartshouse.com.

It is a good project and as I had 40,000 miles on my car, it was time.
I went to my local chevy dealer and got the red plug wires and the ac/delco iridium plugs. They sold me the stuff at wholesale prices, GMPP plug wires $55.00, Iridium plugs $44.00.
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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 08:23 PM
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I like the MSD or Accel wires myself. I also use NGK on all my LS based vehicles regardless of them being modded or stock.
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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 08:55 PM
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Zero need to change plug wires unless they're damaged... there is no performance benefit. Now if you're swapping plugs for the first time and your car is older you'll most likely tear up some plug boots getting them off as they'll be fused in place. Best thing to do is to get a spare set of stockers on here from someone selling them for $20 a set like they normally go for.

As for plugs the AC Delco iridiums are fine for moat all applications, but they're a bit pricey. NGK TR-55s work great too, but they're a copper core plug and need to be replaced every 30,000ish miles.

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Old Jun 10, 2009 | 09:17 PM
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Thanks for the referrals. I certainly appreciate it.
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Old Jun 11, 2009 | 02:36 AM
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Another vote for AC Delco iridiums
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Old Jun 11, 2009 | 12:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Cobra4B
Zero need to change plug wires unless they're damaged... there is no performance benefit. Now if you're swapping plugs for the first time and your car is older you'll most likely tear up some plug boots getting them off as they'll be fused in place. Best thing to do is to get a spare set of stockers on here from someone selling them for $20 a set like they normally go for.

As for plugs the AC Delco iridiums are fine for moat all applications, but they're a bit pricey. NGK TR-55s work great too, but they're a copper core plug and need to be replaced every 30,000ish miles.

If theres NO performance benefit, why does MSD claim so and WCC has them in their performance upgrade pkg?
What is the beneift, if any?
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Old Jun 11, 2009 | 12:43 PM
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Originally Posted by jpuli28
If theres NO performance benefit, why does MSD claim so and WCC has them in their performance upgrade pkg?
What is the beneift, if any?
Is this a serious question? Last I checked MSD was in the business to sell parts and WCC was in the business to sell them to you.

Years ago there were supposedly benefits to performance ignition components because the stock stuff was marginal. The C5 has coil on plug ignition and each plug wire is only 7" long or so... hard to have performance degradation in that type of setup.

By all means... go buy some MSD coil-packs and new wires if you wish. You're car will most definately be faster via wallet weight reduction.
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