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Apologies in advance if this seems like a bit of a noobish question.

The '02 SSEi I just bought has seen some mods from the previous owner. He mentioned that someone who used to work at ZZP did a lot of the work so I'm pretty sure everything's correct. However, I'm going to be replacing the coolant elbows and rocker cover gaskets fairly soon(the car already has aluminum LIM gaskets, score!) and it's probably a safe bet to replace the plugs and wires while I've got everything apart. The problem is that I'm not entirely sure what plugs would be best for what this car has.

Environmentally, I live at high altitude(around 6500ft, with regular trips up to 7500-8000 and occasional runs up past 10,000ft). The highest fuel grade that's available is 91, though less octane is needed due to the altitude. The PO sold his Aeroforce separate from the car, but claimed that KR was just fine with his setup. I plan on getting one after getting typical maintenance and repairs taken care of.

The car has a ZZP ECM tune, 3.5" S/C pulley, fone filter intake(inside the engine bay, though... eigh) a ZZP powerlog, 3.5" downpipe with new cat, and 1.9 roller rockers. I'm assuming this setup needs something a little colder than stock, but by how much?

You can run two steps colder no problem.

Thanks once again! Your responses have been an immense help to this newbie!

I went for middle of the road and plug longevity; I know these cars don't like Iridium plugs if they're pushing past stock levels but I came across posts elsewhere that highly recommended AC Delco 41-919s so I pulled the trigger on a set. I also have a pretty hefty parts order on the way for the other issues; now my issues are primarily going to be finding time to wrench, friends to help(or a shop if need be), battling weather and a few other minor issues that have cropped up here and there.

Still, I'm loving this car even with it being not that much up to snuff. I'm not sure how much power it's pushing with these mods, but it's certainly more than adequate when it needs to be. I've absolutely no idea what she's putting down, but I'm thinking 260HP/300ft-lb at the crank is a conservative estimate? Either way I'm liking it, even if I don't use the happy pedal that often these days.

Iridium is okay, but copper is better, just need to be changed more often. Just make sure you NEVER use platinum plugs because they essentially turn into a glow plug because of the waste spark system.

I think your power estimate is pretty reasonable. These cars are much more eager to produce torque than horsepower. Should be quite fun to drive once you get everything sorted out.

You'd probably want to try Autolite 104's or NGK TR7's, and pull a couple after 1,000 miles and make sure they're not too cold. If you don't know how to read plugs, you can post up some pics and we can tell you if you should keep them or jump one step hotter.

00Beast wrote:You'd probably want to try Autolite 104's or NGK TR7's, and pull a couple after 1,000 miles and make sure they're not too cold. If you don't know how to read plugs, you can post up some pics and we can tell you if you should keep them or jump one step hotter.

Good advice. It's been a while since I've done a lot of this; last time I really messed around with forced induction is about ten years ago. IIRC if the heat range is too cold I'm going to be getting carbon fouling on the plug, right?

Yep, it'll have dark deposits, if it's too hot, it'll be whiter than it should be.

Hello Fellow Colorado Mountain dweller!

I have basically the same mods excpet for the rockers, but i have a Gen V blower.. I had Copper TR7's in my car for a short time and swapped back to TR6 Irridiums, seems to run smoother with the Irridium NGK TR6. and with the pulley being a 3.5" you dont need to go too cold, I run a 3.4-3.25" on my car with the TR6 no issues.

My setup:
* Gen V Blower
* 3.4" Pulley
* 3.5" intake (swap between a FWI or Short Ram depending on season)
* 3" ZZP Downpipe w/ large Magnaflow cat
* Tune..... Modified by a local dyno tuner (originally a ZZP Tune).
* Beldin napa wires with NGK TR6 Irridium (XI) plugs