I hope this is'nt too noobish question but i have never had the occasion to gap a fine wire plug.They look fragile and i believe you don't want to even scratch the tops of them.I want to drop these autolite iridiums in the lnf with a slightly closer gap than stock.Appreciate any tips.

 

Be very careful when gapping them but the electrodes are actually are tougher then they look. stock gap works just fine 0.032" is just fine even tuned I would say you could even go 0.035 I have mine at 0.032 I tried 0.028 and it seemed to loose some response on tip in and part throttle driving. About then same at WOT from what I could tell.

 

I put the autolite xp's in used needle nose pliers a small set it is what is recommended , and stay away from the fine tip. To reduce the gap lightly tap on a hard surface I used my bench vise a cpl times I went too low and then just use the needle nose pliers to open it up a little then check gap also do not force the gap checker tool in the fine wire slide it in carefully. It is not a hard job just use caution and go easy. I think the xp's were pre gapped to .43 all the plug specs seem to be wrong for our car no plugs say .30- .35 Mine are at .32.

 

Thanks alot.All done now.I went for a .33 gap and see how it goes.

When you guys pulled your plugs were the insulation core or what the name of the surround the tip area.Mine were all dark shades of orange and one plug the tip looked a little deformed very pointy not flat tipped..3800 miles on the car so far.ac delco pn# 12620540

 

Were they a light tanish color that is normal dont know about orange color I guess they do kind of look a shade of orange not rust colored though, and the tip being pointed sounds like it needed changing just go easy with the needle nose pliers when opening up the gap it's easy to slip , and tap lightly to close the gap it doesn't take much to bring the gap down.

 

A tuner told me the orange tint is probably from running a certain brand of gas.These new plugs probably fixed an issue as the car runs better than ever now after some pulls and a bit of driving now.

 

No, that red orangish tan color is normal. Mine look like that too.