Spark plugs.......

[SuperChuck]

So I'm definitely an idiot. I'm trying to get better but there's A LOT of room for growth. My questions here today are....

1. What type of spark plugsm Like I just had my engine rebuilt basically. With new cam install. He's asked me now to buy spark plugs. Ok I know I can just run to O'Reileys and ask for spark plugs for a 2013 SS. But are there any brands, and high performance types you guys would reccomend?

2. And uh also. He's asked for Valvoline conventional oil. I know this is super silly. But I've been to 2 different Wal-Marts and 2 different O'Reileys and the only conventional oil I've found is O'Reileys brand. Again is this something you guys would trust or should I stay looking around for Valvoline or Mobil 1 brand conventional?


Lastly I know I can just ask my guy but at the same time I would rather just do this over the internet and save some face.

[WHAMMO]

TR55 or Champion equivalent. Ive tried TR6, TR7 TR55 and stock stuff and no difference. TR6 shoudl be the right one, but seriously I doubt it'll make any difference. They come pregapped at the right 0.035ish iirc. I had to open the gap on the br7ef they were like 0.025. the BR6EF have the shorter ceramic end, which is a non-projected tip.

Id put synthetic, but most importantly, depending on the rebuild, the builder should spec you the right oil weight for the bearing clearance of your engine, Like "5W-30". I run Zrod 10-30 in my solid roller setup with a stock sbe.

Let me give you the advice to run something with higher zinc in it with the cammed setup. I like amsoil stuff. Its been great to me, but there's plenty of other good oil like redline, etc..

[SuperChuck]

Originally Posted by WHAMMO

TR55 or Champion equivalent. Ive tried TR6, TR7 TR55 and stock stuff and no difference. TR6 shoudl be the right one, but seriously I doubt it'll make any difference. They come pregapped at the right 0.035ish iirc. I had to open the gap on the br7ef they were like 0.025. the BR6EF have the shorter ceramic end, which is a non-projected tip.

Id put synthetic, but most importantly, depending on the rebuild, the builder should spec you the right oil weight for the bearing clearance of your engine, Like "5W-30". I run Zrod 10-30 in my solid roller setup with a stock sbe.

Let me give you the advice to run something with higher zinc in it with the cammed setup. I like amsoil stuff. Its been great to me, but there's plenty of other good oil like redline, etc..

Ok awesome awesome thank you so much. I'll be picking stuff up tomorrow. Yea really I don't have a clue anyway but not sure at all why he's going conventional. But I was looking at amsoil or the valvoline race pil I saw had a zinc formula.

[TheFlyingBananaSS]

The TR6 and TR7 are colder plugs for boosted engines. You should be OK with a TR5. And I would go Mobil1 for oil hands down the best out there imho.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

I run TR55's in my cammed SS per my builders recomendation, and my builder suggested Mobil 1 10-30, and I use the same as I have from the beginning, 5W30 and all is fine. 17k on the build.

[Risingson05]

I run joe Gibbs ls/30. Mobil one is awesome too , got a truck on 250k miles that’s only had Mobil one in it and it’s still reliable today as it was the day I bought it

[WHAMMO]

Originally Posted by TheFlyingBananaSS

The TR6 and TR7 are colder plugs for boosted engines. You should be OK with a TR5. And I would go Mobil1 for oil hands down the best out there imho.

Colder are important for nitrous, but its more about making more power when you need colder plugs. so for a cam only car, he should be at 550hp, 100hp more, one step colder is fine. But TR55 are more than ok. I use BR7EF because I make 650hp+N/A.

[SuperChuck]

Originally Posted by WHAMMO

Colder are important for nitrous, but its more about making more power when you need colder plugs. so for a cam only car, he should be at 550hp, 100hp more, one step colder is fine. But TR55 are more than ok. I use BR7EF because I make 650hp+N/A.

Lol I'm still safely under 500 HP unless you weren't speaking about to the ground.

[SuperChuck]

Alright guys tyvm. Maybe this sums it up. Let me know what you think. Looks like TR 5' or 55's will work. Is NGK the brand .....?

It seems like some builders just prefer to do the break in with conventional oil. After that I will be going to a synthetic Mobil 1. Or Amsoil. I going to look into both as I've heard lots about Amsoil but a few votes here for the cheaper Mobil 1 doesn't sound to bad either.

Lastly and I'm guessing most important here. Since my local O'Reileys is only carrying conventional 5W 30 I. Their O'Reileys store brand would you do that or Valvoline in 10W 30 or 20 I can't remember. As far as these oil choices (which are pretty sure only being used for the break in) does any if this matter?

[InFiD3ViL]

I ran Mobil 1 5w30 EP the entire life of my L99 and it looked beautiful inside when I snapped the rod, aside from the carnage of course. Virtually no oil staining and the bearings and crosshatching all looked great, especially for 153,300 miles.

On my freshly rebuilt LS3 I ran Conventional Valvoline VR1 racing oil for the first 2000 miles as a ring break in and then switched to Amsoil Z-Rod 10w30 once the cam when in. Had I not cammed it I would have gone back to using Mobil 1 5w30. But I wanted that extra zinc and phosphorus and wanted to give the Amsoil a try. My only complaint is that the Amsoil is fairly expensive in comparison. If you join Amsoil's Preferred Customer membership then it's $9 a quart, down from like $12 a quart.

My previous tuner and current tuner both recommended the Iridium NGK TR6IX for plugs, which are one step colder than stock plugs.

[byrds8]

Im still running stock AC Delco plugs. Tuner recommended the TR6IX but since I had just did a plug change I didn't buy new ones. As for oil, Ive ran Pennzoil Platinum in every vehicle Ive owned for over a decade. Never had an issue.

[SuperChuck]

Hey thanks all. I did go get everything gathered up real nice at O'Reileys. I think he just likes conventional for break ins then we can go synthetic. And turns out valvoline white jug 5 w 30 like he told me is synthetic blend. But they have to put that on die to dye's they use.


Only thing I might be slightly concerned about is the spark plugs. I just went with what O'Reileys told me was the stock options as that's what most people recommended. But.......I don't see anywhere that says they're TR5 or TR55 which also seemed to be the popular vote. I just figured if they're not right I could go exchange them.

[InFiD3ViL]

Originally Posted by SuperChuck

Hey thanks all. I did go get everything gathered up real nice at O'Reileys. I think he just likes conventional for break ins then we can go synthetic. And turns out valvoline white jug 5 w 30 like he told me is synthetic blend. But they have to put that on die to dye's they use.


Only thing I might be slightly concerned about is the spark plugs. I just went with what O'Reileys told me was the stock options as that's what most people recommended. But.......I don't see anywhere that says they're TR5 or TR55 which also seemed to be the popular vote. I just figured if they're not right I could go exchange them.

Conventional for the first 1k-2k miles is perfectly fine, or whatever mileage your builder suggests. That's what I did and is usually what is recommended for proper ring seating during break in period. Then you can switch to synthetic of your choice once you reach the suggested mileage.

After I had my engine rebuilt I changed the oil after the first 50 miles. Then again at 500 miles. I switched it synthetic at 2000 miles. It gets expensive, but since I was breaking in with a conventional it wasn't too bad.

You may also want to ask your builder how you should drive it for break in. My builder told me to drive it like I stole it and to not stay at any specific rpm for extended periods during break in, such as highway driving. Most of what I am saying here mainly applies if you had new rings installed.

[SuperChuck]

Originally Posted by InFiD3ViL

Conventional for the first 1k-2k miles is perfectly fine, or whatever mileage your builder suggests. That's what I did and is usually what is recommended for proper ring seating during break in period. Then you can switch to synthetic of your choice once you reach the suggested mileage.

After I had my engine rebuilt I changed the oil after the first 50 miles. Then again at 500 miles. I switched it synthetic at 2000 miles. It gets expensive, but since I was breaking in with a conventional it wasn't too bad.

You may also want to ask your builder how you should drive it for break in. My builder told me to drive it like I stole it and to not stay at any specific rpm for extended periods during break in, such as highway driving.

Yup yup sounds about the same.A start up and break in. Oil change. Then sent to the dyno. Oil change. And riding it out to 2k. It did have me worried that everyone is on synthetic and he wanted conventional but it's making since now for sure. And he will be there holding my hand through the whole break in part so very nice. He's telling me after i get it back from dyno and get that oil change done. It's all mine. Man i can not wait it's been down since FEB and my Bday is coming up in OCT so really hoping it's all drivable by then. Again man tyvm for the help and easing my worried mind.