So I finally parked Maria (My maverick) and got myself a Jeep as a daily driver. The Maverick has 37,000 miles now after it getting me through highschool. So now that it's sitting, I can do some work to it. I don't have lots of money, so it's not gonna be a whole rebuild type thing. But If i can get alittle more performance out of the car, that'd be amazing. It'd also be nice if the suggestions weren't just the stock parts, that they give alittle more to the car. 1. Ignition coil- Had problems with it, so imma replace it, Any sugesstions on a model or brand to get? 2. pretty much the whole ignition system. Any suggestions on Sparkplug wires, Voltage regulator, Siloniods(spelling) Ignition Control Modules? Not looking to replace distributer just yet, but suggestions for later are appreciated. 3. Shocks for the front and rear, Brand? things like that, Thanks!
work on it a little at a time front shocks one payday -rear the next just improve it as your budget allows . don't let it sit and rot away
Well you forgot to say what engine you've got in it.....................so it's hard to make a recommendation on parts. Does it have a Duraspark ignition now ? 1975 was when it first came out, so it could be.
Oh yeah sorry haha. It has a 250 I6 in it, and i plan to keep it in there, no V8 not bashing it, I just like a challenge. and yeah it has the duraspark right now
Well since it's got a Duraspark, it needs no ignition upgrades. Spend your money on something that will help.
I won't even begin to argue the virtues of a hotter spark.. but a hotter coil sure wouldn't hurt the combustion event. Stock coils suck. And even more so when you rev the engine. Novice mod's Performance wires(lower resistance is better) Hotter Coil(which you seemingly have to replace anyways) Platinum spark plugs(last longer/resist gap erosion) Free flowing muffler Synthetic Oil Change Advanced mod's Re-curve the distributor to use manifold vacuum hooked to an adjustable vacuum pot(gives higher idle vacuum and greatly compliments off idle/low range torque) Recalibrate the fuel curve to best match the above mentioned distributor re-curve Full 2 inch mandrel bent exhaust Bigger Carburetor(retuned for the mod's up to that point)
I have a Thrush glass pack on already, and I did recently a synthetic oil change. I've heard that platinum plugs can be bad for a engine, specially with ford, Bosch
And I've never heard of recurving it to use vaccuum like you mentioned, what's that about if you don't mind me asking
It's a VERY long discussion and gets pretty dangerous to an engine if you don't understand what's up with ignition timing and its effect on cylinder pressure spikes and EGT's. Because of that it's best left to the folks that calculate required spec's and re-curve distributors as they tend to err on the side of caution when you take the distributor in to have them spin it on the machine. With all the computer controlled stuff these days.. it's a dying art and many hi-po shops don't even use the machines any more. I'll dig for the links I have and post them up for you to understand more. BRB
The plugs won't really hurt the engine. I think what you may have heard is that an extra half of a thread may stick into the combustion chamber, and rarely, while pulling the spark plugs out, carbon may have built up on that partial exposed thread and scuff up the threads in the head. I have a very old thread where I compared a bunch of standard plugs and found that Champions had the extra exposed thread... http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=44638 I have never seen it happen where that carbon ruins the heads. Feel safe to use them, millions of people do. How much money do you want to spend? Mods can be simple and cheap, and get get snowball expensive quick, depending on what you want to accomplish.
OK.. get your reading glasses out. Here's one of the main ones. For some reason the article I usually refer to on this subject is not working from this site.. so I'll have to look for another copy to link it for you. Click on the PDF file called.. "Timing and vacuum advance 101". http://www.corvette-restoration.com/resources/how_to_articles.htm Here it is on another site. http://www.460ford.com/forum/showthread.php?t=117504 I have ones specific to these Ford motors too but will have to dig into another boot volumes favorites folder to find my main data stash on this subject.
I have a pretty nice pair of KYB gas adjust shocks for the front if your'e interested. Summit has them for $39.98 each, I can make you a deal. PM me.
platinum plugs do not make any extra power. they actually only start making power over copper plugs after a couple thousand miles once the edges of the copper plugs have worn off. a spark needs a sharp point to jump from. platinum plugs have a very high resistance. this consumes a lot of the spark energy leaving less for the actual spark event. now technology has prevailed. iridium!!!! iridium spark plugs will provide better spark than copper plugs be cause of the ultra fine wire tip and and does not consume the spark energy like the platinum does. they also last as long if not longer than platinum plugs.
I like these kinds of discussions. Most of what you say is very true and I won't try to pick it apart. I will just add that using iridium alone is not where it's at for improving power over the long term. Gap erosion caused by the wearing of ground straps edges are still a very real issue. Some plugs are also using electrodes that are a tad bit too small which still leads to slight erosion of very sharp edges(you'd need a microscope to see them though). That's why "double iridium" plugs(actually they're Iridium Electrodes combined with Platinum discs imbedded into the ground straps) lead to the best of both worlds. Whereas many designs just use precious metals on the electrode combined with higher nickel content and or coated ground straps to reduce edge erosion. Closer to optimum.. but no cigars from me. From there we get into ground strap tip designs and simply using more edge surface area(the square tip design found in most copper plugs) to prevent gap erosion leads to increased spark kernel shrouding. Some Platinum and Iridium plugs also use square ground straps too which defeats some of the additional gains that could be had from fine wire designs. This is why all the old timers used to hand taper the tips, back gap or side gap their plugs by hand to improve power output. Unfortunately this also reduces plug lifespan as there is less edge area to reduce gap erosion. I side gap ALL my plugs(yes.. even on my lawnmowers and yard equipment) even though I have the option to buy them from most mfgrs these days. Many racing plugs have those features already built into their designs. The tricky part is finding a plug that has all of the best features(most proven) built into one plug design and it comes down to making certain compromises. For most engines.. I try to use the NGK Iridium's(with side gapping)..or Denso Iridium's(THE absolute best OEM design, IMO) with hand filed tips that hug right up to the edge of the Platinum disc welded into the ground strap. But.. in a perfect world.. if I could find a double tipped Iridium plug(or even an Iridium electrode with Platinum disc on the ground strap) that had a side gapped ground strap design?.. that's all I would ever use on every engine I own. EDIT.. Oops.. I fudged up the names and models and corrected them.
