Aligned Spark Plugs?

[_dave_]

hey everyone, im in the process of servicing my recently imported 32.

upon removing the coils and spark plugs, ive discovered that the (platinum) plugs have been marked with texta on the side of the porcelain in line with the electrode arm.

i also noticed when removing them that all these marks were pointing dead straight toward the front of the engine - obviously aligning the electrodes foward..

ive heard rumors that this makes the engine more efficient, and more powerful etc etc.. now is it worth my while to do the same thing when i install new ones? there is obviously no harm in doing it, but does it actually make a difference is what im curious to find out.

next question is, if i am to do this, how do i align them while keeping the correct torqe on them without over tightening and under tightenting to keep the electrode aligned?

[SteveL]

Do a google search on 'spark plug indexing', you'll find a huge amount of info. IMHO of highly debatable value except possibly where your going for that last pooftenth of power (ie race engines).

As to the second part, one way is to use shims under the spark plug. Some performance shops use to be able to get them, but I haven't looked for years.

[_dave_]

cool, thanks for the tips, ill check it out.

[Duncan]

actually there was a thread on here in the last week about indexing.

no-one seems to have direct experience with turbo skylines tho

[RB30-POWER]

thats not true at all.

this has been done on a gtr at various levels of power.

indexing the plugs made no difference.

case closed!

It was zoom or hiperformance mag, could scan it if anyone is interested, or you can just take my word for it.

[_dave_]

i would be interested to have a look if u could be bothered.. u can pm it to me if u want