Spark plug woes- how to proceed

[mr_josh]

In an effort to be a nice guy, I told a coworker that I'd do a little work on his truck for him. He's got an '81 F-150 with a 300 I6. Among other things, I told him I'd do the plugs.

I did the first five plugs with no problem. Number 6, on the other hand- not so good.

Here's the situation: the plug is mostly rounded off, has been regularly soaked in PB Blaster daily since Friday, the center electrode and ceramic has been pulled out (didn't go into the engine), and I've got a big easy out hammered in there. Started turning the easy out and it's obvious that what's left of the plug is still very stuck and now I'm wondering if I'm going to break the easy out.

Tomorrow when I go back to it, I'm going to hit the whole works with a MAPP torch and try to turn it out after that. If that's a no-go, I'm kind of running out of options.

A thought: would it be better to forget the easy out and try to weld a big bolt to the top of the plug body. That way, I wouldn't have to risk breaking off the easy out.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? It's getting kind of frustrating and I would rather not have to pull the head.

[Ranchero50]

That can be a tough one. I wouldn't push the ez out anymore, all they end up doing is making the plug fit tighter in the hole. If you are using a standard ez out, you might have luck with the better shorter ones that you can buy. Welding a bolt usually either the bolt head will break off or the weld will fail.

I would consider sticking an air line down the carb and the rolling the crank around until you are blowing good air out the spark plug hole, then start drilling it out 1/16" larger at a time. Go slow and take your time making sure the drill is aligned with the plug (have someone watch while you drill). Once the plug wall is thin enough you can hit it from the side to cause the wall to collapse and then use a pair of needle nose pliers to remove the remains. Run a tap through the threads before the next plug.

Jamie

[mr_josh]

HA! Success a week later after fiddling with it almost every day.

First: tried turning that easy out w/ a 3/8" socket because it has a square shank and a tap handle wouldn't fit (hit the rocker arm cover). Reefed on the easy out so hard that it split the socket right up the side.

Friend of mine who is an excellent welder welded a large bolt on the plug because we couldn't get a nut to sit well on the plug. Well, turning the bolt just peeled off a chunk of the plug so it was back to square one. I had a couple of perfect 15/16" nuts and a socket that was thin enough to get down the well in the head, but the problem was getting the nut to sit in exactly the right spot so that the socket could be fit on said nut- it had to be dead on perfect. SO we went to the end mill and slotted that socket, giving him a window to tack the nut to the spark plug on the outside. Then he pulled the socket off and welded around the center of the nut. It looked good, we let it cool for a few hours (with the idea that all of that heat in the plug would have made it expand pretty far), I put an impact gun on it, and that just tore away the rest of the thinner upper plug.

Now that we had a meatier piece of plug to weld to, we got the second nut, put it in place, and my buddy went to work laying down a lot of weld. It looked strong but when I twisted it, the nut separated from the weld. HOWEVER, the problem was not with the weld sticking to the plug- in fact, there was a nice thick plug of weld sticking up from the top of the spark plug now, so we slipped the nut back over that, hit it again with the mig making sure to get really good penetration in to the nut. I didn't have a good 15/16" 6-sided socket, so we bought one, then had to turn down the outside diameter of it so that it would fit down the spark plug well. I hammered on that socket, hit it with the impact on its softest reverse setting, and I'll be damned if after about 30 seconds that plug finally started turning out of there.

Never seen a spark plug get THAT stuck. Didn't look to be cross-threaded. Ran a tap down the hole, threads were not terrible, greased up the new plug, installed it, and away she went. Sheesh.

[1970 Hi-Boy]

Good job getting that plug out, perseverance paid off looks like. Curious though, I'm guessing this was the plug at the rear, #6? If so, is the rubber seal on the cowl to the back of the hood in good order? Might be worth checking so as not to have a repeat performance. That, and Hi-Temp Anti-Seize, good stuff.

[BobbyFord]

Be sure to use anti-seize on the threads of the new plugs.