Aluminum heads and spark plugs

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I have done it in the past... just get it on the threads
so it can ground via the compression washer... it
still has to ground... the only reason I did it on
that engine was the threads in the heads were a bit
messed up(I chased them but they were still weird)

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That was exactly what I was getting to - the ground issue. Thanks Cab.

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MSD advised us not to use it on our park plugs while using there 44 amp mags on our top alcohol engines. It has a lot of resistance and can cause misfires. They also advised us to ground each head separately to insure proper grounding with aluminum heads.

For a race car that get's it's plugs changed often a drop of oil is better.

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Been having some misfire issues above 5K. I think I used too much anti-seize on the plugs. When I pulled them to put in a fresh set, had lots of it in the plug gasket seat area. Wiped the seat area down and put the new plugs in with just a drop of oil. Misfire was gone. I have one head grounded. Will do the other. Thanks all.

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Can't you just do as you say with grounding each head to the block and then grounding the block on both sides to the chassis instead of running a whole other cable to the negative side of the battery?
Learning curve here as well.

No MSD says thats not good enough,they say ground it to the -neg side of the battery only.

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Can't you just do as you say with grounding each head to the block and then grounding the block on both sides to the chassis instead of running a whole other cable to the negative side of the battery?
Learning curve here as well.

No MSD says thats not good enough,they say ground it to the -neg side of the battery only.

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In a frame car thats true... but on a chassis car
I just weld a 3/8 stud to each end of the chassis
for a ground lead.... on the frame car most of the
spot welds have corrosion in them so thats a weak
link

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Chassis being a factory production chassis and frame being a tube frame as in fabricated car?

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From what you are saying I call it backwards then...
when I say a chassis car.. thats meaning a tube chassis
car.. frame as in a production car... I do ground the
heads to the chassis but I use the chassis as the
ground link... so far I've never had a problem.. I
always looked at it like.. if you roll that .083 tubing
into a solid roll its greater than the 1/2" ground
cable... and thats just one side of the chassis...
electricity will always travel the easiest way(least
resistance)

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I do agree the chassis should be a good ground being you run your Neg off the battery to the chassis.I was having problems a few years back when I put my 1st all aluminum engine in my dragster and thought the chassis was good enough I even had my MSD ground bolted to it instead of the battery.But when I grounded each head to the same spot on the block as well as my MSD ground and run a ground cable to the Neg (which is ground to the chassis)like the MSD tech. said all my problems went away. I can grin about it now but when I was having problems,I did not think it was very funny and the tech. at MSD had a hard time making me believe it had to be that way.

PS I like to think that sometimes us Racers are just to smart for our own good....but I guess the Truth be told we are just to Hard-Headed to listen.

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Sometimes I don't know why my car even runs
My hole car needs rewired and I'm not looking forward to it.

That's interesting 1967artGT

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They also advised us to ground each head separately to insure proper grounding with aluminum heads.

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Interesting discussion...especially in regards to grounding the heads individually. Never heard any of this before

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I`ve checked the non-grounded head and it completes current and is fine reading voltage.............interesting. I also probably use too much ante-seize so time to clean out the plug holes I guess.

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Interesting discussion...especially in regards to grounding the heads individually. Never heard any of this before

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I`ve checked the non-grounded head and it completes current and is fine reading voltage.............interesting. I also probably use too much ante-seize so time to clean out the plug holes I guess.

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I would say NO dont use it! Reason is it will NOT be grounded as well as it could be. How many of you have ever checked the fluid in the radiator to see how many volts are there? The fact of the matter is that most cars seem fine but the electronics Dont work as they should. Heck yes you should ground your heads and 4130 chassis is the worst but mild steel chassis car still needs alot more than you want to believe to be properly grounded.If your having problems misses,running the same time-get a volt meter out and check the DC/AC in each circuit on your ride. This is what I have learned

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Interesting discussion...especially in regards to grounding the heads individually. Never heard any of this before

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I`ve checked the non-grounded head and it completes current and is fine reading voltage.............interesting. I also probably use too much ante-seize so time to clean out the plug holes I guess.

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I would say NO dont use it! Reason is it will NOT be grounded as well as it could be. How many of you have ever checked the fluid in the radiator to see how many volts are there? The fact of the matter is that most cars seem fine but the electronics Dont work as they should. Heck yes you should ground your heads and 4130 chassis is the worst but mild steel chassis car still needs alot more than you want to believe to be properly grounded.If your having problems misses,running the same time-get a volt meter out and check the DC/AC in each circuit on your ride. This is what I have learned

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I have actually been battling this problem for over a month now. Car ran fine below about 4K. Get above that and start running some boost and it starts missing. Seemed like an ignition problem, but after going through the entire ignition system ( multiple times ) I moved on to the fuel system and engine mechanicals. Verified the alternator was good. Volt gauge always ran around 14 volts. Ran a separate volt gauge directly off the distributor feed wire to make sure I was getting 14 vlts to it. When I would pull the plugs, they would always look good. Didn't even look at how much anti-seize was on the plug threads / washers. I was running out of ideas. Decided to put in a fresh set of plugs. Noticed there was a lot of anti-seize in the plug gasket area in the heads, so I wiped that area down and just used a drop of oil on the new plug threads. Engine missing problem gone! Blasts right up to 6500 and 15 lbs of boost without a glitch. I now have a spare ignition module, cap, rotor, alternator, valve springs, and a very clean fuel system.

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This will answer the question about antiseize.
http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/pdf/tb-0630111antisieze.pdf

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Good piece of info there, I don't use autolite plugs myself(even though others love them) because they turn to rust in about a week.

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I see almost ZERO benefit to that article other than the plugs with plating on them were developed to be used on aluminum heads.

I'd like to know who in the heck would tighten a spark plug enough to break it off at the base of the threads

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This will answer the question about antiseize.
http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/pdf/tb-0630111antisieze.pdf

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Good piece of info there, I don't use autolite plugs myself(even though others love them) because they turn to rust in about a week.

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I see almost ZERO benefit to that article other than the plugs with plating on them were developed to be used on aluminum heads.

I'd like to know who in the heck would tighten a spark plug enough to break it off at the base of the threads

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They also advised us to ground each head separately to insure proper grounding with aluminum heads.

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yea because the single bolt and wire you're going to use to ground the head is going to have less resistance than the 17 head fasteners and four fire rings

idk where thy come up with this stuff, if the block and ignition are properly grounded i just don't see where this is necessary

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I can tell you never raced with a super charger, a super charged engine needs every edge you can give it because it's on the ragged edge, it's where I live.

In alcohol racing MSD techs came around to each alcohol team using MSD to help us. We listened and did what they suggested. So did many other venders because we are the one's spending $$.

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