2-liter Pinto sparkplug rule recommendation

[Art Smith]

recommend the 2-liter Pinto engine rules be updated to include an explicit and objectively verifiable sparkplug rule. stock hot Autolite sparkplugs intended for use in a street engine with crude early smog control is surely not the answer for road racing. the recommended language will accommodate the complete range of sparkplugs being sold for and used in 2-liter Pinto's.

insert between current dd. and ee.

sparkplugs are unrestricted provided that No modification is made to the cylinder head for the installation of the sparkplugs.


Reference-
dd. The use of non-standard replacement fasteners (nuts, bolts, screws, studs, and washers) which are not connected with or which do not support the intake manifold or any moving parts of the engine is permitted.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

ee. Only modifications or additions specifically covered by these regulations are permitted. All engine components not covered by these regulations shall remain completely standard and unmodified. When a system is specified to be “unrestricted” (e.g. paragraphs r and t), the restrictions of this paragraph do not apply.

ff.


Art
artesmith@earthlink.net

[JHaydon]

I second that.

It also appears that repairing stripped spark plug threads is prohibited. Isn't that cheaper than replacing a head?

Spark plug wires must also remain stock Ford units. Are those even available anymore?

I would like to recommend amending the proposal:

Add to the end of v. Distributors: H.T. Leads (spark plug wires and coil wire) are unrestricted.

and

Add a new second sentence to m. (permitted repairs): It is permitted to repair spark plug threads by means of an insert or sleeve.

(Obviously, please correct me if there is a better place for either of these)

[Greg Mercurio]

WTF Art: The spark plug does not support the intake manifold, and it isn't a fastener anyway. There is nothing in the GCR to keep you from using any stinking plug you want. This is a "need"?

At some point parsing the GCR will just create an even larger volume of silliness.

[gord leach]

WTF Art: The spark plug does not support the intake manifold, and it isn't a fastener anyway.

Greg, are you second guessing a "engineer"?

C'mon Man anybody that wears that fancy hat (white/black stripes) and has authority (choo choo) deserves respect

BTW, a spark plug is not a "fastner" i provides spark imagine that.

[Matt King]

BTW, a spark plug is not a "fastner" i provides spark imagine that.

Not it's not, but what about this line:

All engine components not covered by these regulations shall remain completely standard and unmodified.

Doesn't that mean the only spark plugs that are legal are whatever is specified in a factory service manual for the original engine application?

[Rick Kirchner]

That's what Art was aiming at. Evidently in FF plugs are identified as unrestricted, but not in FC.

Stock plugs are 4 heat ranges too hot......

[kea]

Do you mean to tell me that after all these years, someone now wants to enforce a spark plug rule different than what has (for the better) been interpreted as the same as F/Ford?
Who brought this up?

[Matt King]

No, I think he wants to ensure that there is actually a written rule that backs up the way the rule has been unofficially interpreted. How would you like to be protested and find that despite your assumption that it was legal "because it's just always been that way," you in fact have no basis of support in the GCR?

[Daryl DeArman]

That's a problem inherent with rule books that say "if it doesn't say you can, you can't" in one paragraph and then a couple sentences later says "xxxx is prohibited". One class says that any spark plug may be used implies that another IIDSYCYC class without that same allowance doesn't get to use any spark plug.

Accepted practice, or everybody has been doing it this way for years doesn't cut it in the tech shed. If it is truly the way everybody has been doing it then it should be an easy rule to change.

Look at the F500 sidepod rule for example. Do you really want to show up at the big dance and then argue your case? Or would it be more prudent to get it resolved before hand?

[Tom Irwin]

I just went to Art's profile page. It shows me on the list of friends 1 of 1. I'm not surprised.
I have known Art for awhile and have spent time at his high desert skonk works. He is very serious about engine development amoung other things he needs clarification when making legal horsepower. And then again it may not be what it appears to be.

If wearing red shirts is legal, then the fact of wearing a shirt is legal also.

[JHaydon]

If wearing red shirts is legal, then the fact of wearing a shirt is legal also.

But I think the point in this case is, "If wearing red shirts is not legal, then the fact that everyone does it doesn't make it legal."

[Art Smith]

bump

[Purple Frog]

The whole set of FC rules needs to be rewritten, and rewritten with no reference to FF, nor some 1986 rule in another section of the GCR.

But it is a club of volunteers, and who would volunteer for that unrewarding task?

e.g. If the sparkplug was put in with a head-saving insert, but the combustion chamber still has only 49 cc, what difference does it make?

OBTW, I inject nitros through special spark plug "wires", and custom plugs. Stole the idea from Morgan Homes Racing.

[Daryl DeArman]

e.g. If the sparkplug was put in with a head-saving insert, but the combustion chamber still has only 49 cc, what difference does it make?

Given that allowance I am certain that somebody somewhere would utilize the repair allowance and slightly change the location of the plug for some miniscule performance advantage.

I do agree that the entire section needs to be re-written, however, I don't have either the knowledge or the ignorance to take on such a task. I do enjoy looking for loopholes in what someone else came up with though.

[LAJ]

personally I like the Splitfire sparkplugs for their wide heat range.
amd if you want to run Nitros you run a line inside the fuel line and hide it in the chassis with the fuel cell like I know someone did on an Indycar back in the Mid 80s. dam that 2 year old car almost qual. too!!
Lee
http://metroevents.com/jordaneng/index.htm

[JHaydon]

The whole set of FC rules needs to be rewritten,

Agreed -- and that's the case with many classes. But for now, I think we should continue to make the little changes when the need is identified, rather than getting discouraged because it can't be done perfectly.

If the rules are cleaned up little by little, then a wholesale re-write may eventually not be necessary.

If the rules aren't changed when the competitors identify changes that are needed, then a future re-write may not incorporate the changes. If the rules committees go by what is currently written, then the re-write may end up being just as bad as what we have now.

[Peter Horvath]

Would somebody please protest Art's next engine, so we can all find out?

[Art Smith]

Peter-

what would you like to know?? protesting GCR compliant engines is a complete waste of good money and a very poor way to learn ................... do you think it's an accident I've paid $300 multiple times to get public disclosure of what others have been allowed to play by for some time??

Art
artesmith@earthlink.net