A good quality anti-seize is the best defense against bad plug threads.
Having worked at VW dealers for over 12 years, I can verify that the
mechanics swear by it. A light coat on the threads will leave metal
particles behind that prevent the alloy head material bonding to the spark
plug. I personally use it on every engine, not just alloy head models.
Jon Arzt
>From: Roland Dudley <cobra@scs.agilent.com>
>Reply-To: Roland Dudley <cobra@scs.agilent.com>
>To: Eganb@aol.com
>CC: Triumphs@autox.team.net, british-cars@autox.team.net,
>tr8@mercury.lcs.mit.edu
>Subject: Re: TR7 BFH#37y
>Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 12:53:46 -0800 (PST)
>
>I'm not so sure about the anti-seize. I suspect that it will just burn
>up when you run the motor. It's mostly grease. You could end up with
>an even worse mess; for example a plug that can't be unscrewed. My
>personal experience with the VW I once had with this problem was that it
>got worse and worse. Eventually I had to put an insert in the spark
>plug hole. One thing on the bug, was that I only had this problem for
>one cylinder, which was the one that got the hottest- #3 also, I
>believe. The others were just fine. Could be you some sort of an
>overheating problem on that one cylinder- or like VWs that one just
>normally gets much hotter than the others.
>
>Regarding "static" timing. Instead of a timing light, try rigging up a
>12V bulb with wires and alligator clips. If I remember correctly from
>my VW days, one side is clipped to ground and the other to the low
>voltage connection between the distributor and coil. When the
>distributor closes the primary connection to the coil, the light goes
>on. You rotate the crank until the timing mark is where you want it,
>then rotate the distributor until the light goes on, than back off until
>the light just goes out. Of course this was for a distributor with
>points. I'm not sure what setup a TR7 has. This procedure may not work
>or may have to be modified in some way.
>
>Roland
>
> >
> > Hah! Eventually the cards have to fall your way. With a $6 thread
>chaser I
> > was able to clean out the #3 spark plug hole. I used a lot of oil on
>the
> > chaser. Some bits of metal came out, but mostly it looks like the
>threads
> > were just dirty and corroded.
> >
> > So I'll be using liberal amounts of anti-seize on the plugs from now on.
> >
> > Almost done hooking everything up. Here's a question. Can I roughly
>time
> > the engine with my timing light by turning it over with the spark plugs
>out?
> > Will I get enough revs to make the strobe effective?
> >
> >
> > Bruce
> > 1980 Inca Yellow TR7 Convertible
> > Chapel Hill, NC
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