Spark plug and injector swap for Vortech

M

Melmark93

Registered
In preparation for finishing up the Vortech install, I pulled the factory plugs
out of the 18k mi. Garage Queen. Much to my surprise all 8 were ASFW-32c
Motorcraft coppers. I was expecting platinums of different numbers from
each bank, but then I realized that must have started with the Intech 4.6
in 95.
I installed ASFWA-12c's gapped to .032" (as spec'd by Vortech) which is
hard to get done accurately, since the plugs are built to be gapped in the
.050" range. I saw a tool on the Vortech (& Steeda) site, that pushes the
side electrode to close the gap ($39.95) and thought "Sure, I'll take 2 at
that price!" Before I was done carefully tapping the gap smaller, I was
wishing I had one.
Next is the swap to 42lb. injectors. It looks pretty straight forward to
loosen up and lift the fuel rails, disconnect the elect. connectors and
pop out the injectors. But, is it that easy or is it a sucker trap?
Any words of wisdom from those who have been there-done that?
Thanks,
Mel C.
93 garnet/grey X2
Garage Queen w/ ugly twin
 
I doubt the 32Cs were factory. From what I've read, all Mark VIIIs came with platinums from the factory and somewhere along the line they were equipped with "hybrid" platinums where only the center electrode or the ground electrode(depending upon which cylinder bank) was platinum.

I have a gapping tool that does well and I think they are worth it.

I've changed the injectors in the '93 Blue Flame. It was relatively painless, but I did question the 'o'-rings. The new 'o'-rings looked small? I would've expected them to look big compared to the 'squashed' OEM injector 'o'-rings. A quick phone call to a mentor assured me the old 'o'-rings were 'swollen' and would appear larger than any new ones. You have to be aware of those pesky injector tips that like to come off and lay in the bottom of the injector bosses when you remove the old injectors.

Good luck with the build! :)
 
JP,

The 32c's have to be factory, I bought this Mark off the showroom floor in
93 and nobody but me has touched the engine since.
I looked in the shop manual for the torque spec. on the plugs and I recall
right on the back cover is a quick reference that says AWSF-32c and 7lb/ft.
I think we can add this to the list of 93 model differences. The Ugly Twin
has 75k mi. and was going to get a nice set of low mileage platinum
hand-me-downs, but now I guess I'll have to buy her some new coppers.

Mel C.
93 garnet/grey X2
Garage Queen w/ ugly twin
 
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Wow, how cool is that! An original owner, and only 18K. Nice!! Good luck on your install and keep us posted.
 
On the back DS fuel rail I dropped a bolt and never found it, had to get another from a JY. Use a Neodymium magnet in your socket when securing those back in. Otherwise installing new injectors is a piece of cake. You can get these magnets at many hardware stores, I got mine at Ace.
 
The injector swap went ok. The little suckers were really stuck in the fuel
rail, but not so bad in the intake. Also no parts lost down little holes!
Big problem now is that I decided to test run it NA w/ the 42# injectors, the
SCT maf on the end of the air tube and the chip on the pcm and it won't
fire up. When I finished installing the injectors I spun it with the starter
4 or 5 times to get fuel back in the rails to check for leaks. I noticed that
all it wanted to do was chuff-chuff-chuff and kind of halfway run as long
as you were on the starter. That was with no maf or IAT sensor connected.
So I put it all together and I still get the same halfway attempt to run.
It's got to run NA before it can blow.
I called Dennis R. and he suggested pulling the chip and putting on the stock
maf, which I plan to do tonight.
Nothing good is ever easy!

Mel C.
93 garnet/grey X2
Garage Queen w/ Ugly Twin

PS - Ugly Twin went to the strip in Queen's place on Sunday and ran a
15.1 sec. @ 94 mph, totally stock on street tires.
 
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