I haven’t had too much luck with spark plugs in my big-block Chevelle. You may remember my April editorial where I wrote about some of the small problems I’d been having. One problem in particular was that after only a few hundred miles, I was fouling a complete set of spark plugs. Based on a recommendation from someone who read my editorial, I changed to a colder racing plug. When that didn’t work, I switched to an expensive (read: $10 a piece) plug with a platinum electrode. No dice on that one either.
As sort of a last resort, I reached out to ZEX (the fifth different plug I tried), which is a recent entry into the spark plug market. After telling them about my engine output (a 622hp 496ci big-block) and the recent problems I’d been having with plug fouling, they (ironically) weren’t that optimistic about how appropriate their plug would be for my 496 big-block. Nevertheless, I gave it a try, and it blew me away.
The ZEX plug has three side-gapped electrodes, and I gapped them all around 50 thousandths. The rest of my ignition system consists of a budget MSD Street Fire HEI distributor, and MSD 8.5mm Super Conductor wires. That’s it. I used ZEX’s 82003 Hyperformance plugs (14mm, .708-inch reach, 5/8-inch hex, flat), which work great with the RHS 320cc Pro Action aluminum heads I run on the 496. I put these plugs in back in March, and they haven’t fouled out or detonated once. I drive this car all over—in heavy traffic, in heat-soaked conditions, early in the morning cold, and everything in between.
I had been paying over nine bucks a piece for name-brand racing plugs that were supposed to be “the best,” all while changing them every week or two. It was sending me to the poor house, and my car was acting up, using too much fuel, and was just plain embarrassing. With the ZEX plugs, all that drama is gone. I’m really glad I called ZEX, and I plan on recommending ZEX spark plugs to anyone who asks. I don’t know what’s in these plugs that makes them work so well for so long (and in an engine that probably isn’t tuned optimally), but they work like a dream.
Source:
ZEX
888-817-1008
www.zex.com