Question about spark plug gap for 97 BG

[J.McDonald Knives]

As some of yall know I just did the MSD coil conversion with the 8239 coil. I also changed my wires and about 1k miles ago I did my plugs with NGK Platinums. My questions are 1. what is the stock plug gap, and 2. what should I increase the plug gap to so that I can increase a little power and fuel economy without going to far to cause a weak spark or burning of wires.

[Huffer]

Stock gap I think is 0.44
No need to gap larger.

[anothernord]

You could probably try a slightly larger gap, maybe .046-.048, but I don't think you'd gain much.

[goodnight1985]

Yes, you should increase the gap.

By increasing the voltage in the coil, you now have the power to jump a larger gap in the plug. A larger spark will give a more complete burn of the mixture. This is the entire point of adding the MSD coil. Most people seem to leave in the factory plug wires and plugs at factory gap. They also see almost no change in performance.

Factory is 1.1mm, try going to 1.4 or 1.5mm

[Baddog]

Yes, you should increase the gap.

By increasing the voltage in the coil, you now have the power to jump a larger gap in the plug. A larger spark will give a more complete burn of the mixture. This is the entire point of adding the MSD coil. Most people seem to leave in the factory plug wires and plugs at factory gap. They also see almost no change in performance.

Factory is 1.1mm, try going to 1.4 or 1.5mm

How sure of this are you? I have the MSD coil and plan on getting some nicer plugs and wires. I will try to gap them bigger and see what happens.

[J.McDonald Knives]

Let me know how it goes with the larger gap. I was told I should go with a smaller gap because it will give off a really hot spark to help with combustion.

[httrdd]

Msd with magnacore wires I used. 044. Worked great for me.

[goodnight1985]

There is nothing wrong with using the factory .044" gap when using a MSD coil and high performance wires. But if you want to actually increase power, you gap them a little larger. You now have the voltage to make the larger jump from the electrode to the ground strap. The larger spark is a more powerful spark.

I figured that with a standard 30K volt coil, the gap is 1.1 mm (or .044"), but if you increase to the 37K volt MSD coil, the gap is around 1.4mm. This is also with NGK Iridium IX plugs. Just be very careful when adjusting the gap on these plugs, as the electrode is very fragile.

If 1.4mm is too much and the engine pings, just bring the gap back down a little at a time (maybe 0.1mm)