Gage - Exocar Addict

[Gage]

I'm Gabe, or Gabriel. A one letter change yields by forum name of Gage.

I've been following the Atom since well before it was available in the United States. To share the expense, I bought Brammo Atom 044 with my best friend as a co-owner. It was the first blue Atom sold by Brammo. We later sold the car to become debt free. All normal sports cars are forever ruined for me. They are whales, sometimes sexy whales, but still whales.

A few months ago I found another Brammo Atom and circumstances allowed me to buy it. I am having a blast again driving one of the greatest cars ever made. I hope you are too.

[Norm]

Welcome Gabe! Is the honeymoon with the "new" car still on?

[Gage]

With an Atom, I don't think it ever ends. I am however changing my spark plugs and oil at the moment, and it is COLD.. so even with ski gear, I've been driving less, only once or twice a week now. Grin! My new sparkplugs are pre-gapped to 32. I'm guessing I need to take them out to 38 or 40 based on what I read here and there. Suggestions are welcome! I should go start a spark plug thread.

[Terry Kennedy]

My new sparkplugs are pre-gapped to 32. I'm guessing I need to take them out to 38 or 40 based on what I read here and there. Suggestions are welcome! I should go start a spark plug thread.

NGK doesn't recommend opening or closing more than .006, so you could take a .032 to .038 but not .040. A NGK technical document (which I don't have handy at the moment) says that if your desired gap is between two sizes they make, go with the bigger one and gap down, rather than gapping up the smaller one. I don't know if there is any reason for this other than being less likely to damage the center electrode.

[bolus]

Hey, did those uprights ever work out? I cant remember if you told me

[Gage]

Bolus,
I have not measured the distances to see if the uprights are a match. I'm doing several things to the Atom right now and I'm going to measure and finally find out if they will work. I'll let you know. Thanks again!

Terry, Thanks for that info! I already gapped my plugs out to 40. To my observation it seemed like a tiny tiny adjustment, but next time I would rather do it the "best" way. I have another set of those 32 plugs coming that will get a 38 gap. I want to find out if summit (or other) has the next gap size up plug like you found that can be adjusted down to 40 rather then out to 38.

[DarthChicken]

There is nothing wrong with 32 Gabe. 38 will get you a bigger spark, but is more likely to be blown out at higher RPMs/pressures.

[Gage]

There is nothing wrong with 32 Gabe. 38 will get you a bigger spark, but is more likely to be blown out at higher RPMs/pressures.

I hear you. I was using this as a guideline:

The stock spark plugs for the LSJ motor are NGK PFR6T-10G platinum plugs. Platinum and iridium plugs are much harder and more expensive metals that can last up to 100,000 miles however they are not the best metal for heat dissipation. In our experience copper based plugs are far superior in supercharged applications and while they may not last as long as platinum or iridium plugs they will offer better performance. In addition to being copper based these plugs are also one heat range cooler than stock which helps reduce the possibily of detonation and the resulting knock retard.

New spark plugs should always be gapped prior to installation. The stock LSJ spark plug gap setting is .045", and that works fine for the lower boost settings. As the boost increase, smaller plug gaps are required to prevent spark blow-out. Following are our dyno-proven LSJ spark plug gap recommendations:

Stage 1 - 3.30" to 3.20" supercharger pulley - .045" gap
Stage 2 - 3.10" to 3.00" supercharger pulley - .045" gap
Stage 3 - 2.90" to 2.80" supercharger pulley - .040" gap
Stage 4 - 2.70" to 2.60" supercharger pulley - .035" gap
Stage 5 - 2.50" supercharger pulley - .035" gap

I'm not a spark plug guru. But I am mildly confused. I'm just getting different information from different sources. 32 works for you, Positron, and who knows how many others. Several tuners I've been reading posts from recommend the above.

So are we good anywhere from 32 to 40? The plugs that came out of the motor were at 45. I put one set in this morning gapped at 40.

I'm going to ask an embarrassing question. Which pulley is the supercharger pulley that I measure? The pulley on the end of my supercharger is about 3 and 1/8 inches. The tensioner like pulley below that one to the right of the alternator.. is larger.

[Norm]

It is the nose wheel on the supercharger. That is the one you can buy different sizes for. Crank pulleys can vary, but, generally not.

[DarthChicken]

You can't really measure the pulley unless you take the belt off and put a caliper on the pully. Measuring the outside diamter from the side will get you nowhere fast.. well actually slow, because you'll measure a much larger number which means a larger pulley which means less boost.... yes, I've drank a lot of coffee today, why do you ask?