What's a good spark plug and wire?
 

Hey fellas! Wondering what a good spark plug would be for my 318 engine. It's from an '84 Ram Charger, so I'm told. The engine is stock as I would assume, except for the Eldelbrock carb on an Offenhauser intake manifold if any of this matters. I just got a Mopar oil filter, and don't see any Mopar spark plugs. So, are there any Mopar plugs, or what brand is common to the Mopar fan club? How about a Mopar plug wire set? Are there any of these! If not, what's the wire set for a 318 that the Mopar fan club would approve of? I'm awaiting my Summit Racing catalog, and I'm glad I live near by the store, lol! These parts are going in my 71' Dodge W150 swept side truck.

many thanks!

Do you have headers?

Nope! Factory exhaust manifolds. The system is complete, and exits on both sides of the truck before the rear tires, with turn outs to the side of the truck.

Another Concern,...
 

While I was showing you a picture of the exhaust manifold, this rubber hose has me concerned. It would seem to me that coolant flow is some what restricted due to the sharp bend. You can see a steel piece off the intake manifold. Is there a better steel piece and a better hose that would open up coolant flow a lot better?

Thank you!

rat -

Honest answer? Unless you go super cheap, you won't notice a licks worth of difference between any sets of plug wires. Go for the set that looks best to you. I think eBay had some new old stock or repo Mopar wires. I may have seen Mopar plugs at one time but back in the day, most of us used Champion for stock and Accel for rods.

Archer

Your intake doesn't have the proper fitting on it, that's a peace of plumbing pipe in there. There's a fitting that goes into the intake that the hose goes on. That's proper hose though.
As long as you don't have headers a quality set of replacement wires will do the job.

I will check it out for the Mopar wires. I'm staying in the "middle" of the road when it comes to secondary ignition items. Guess I'm the kind of guy who likes original tune up parts, lol!

boltAppreciate your insight, Iowan! I plan to remove the radiator and inspect the lower, suspect rubber pad mounts. I can then take out that incorrect steel piece, and see what Summit has to offer for this situation. I let the Dodge run a while, and the heater core delivery and return hoses seem hot to the touch, which had me thinking this hose from the intake manifold -to- water pump is an incorrect part. I just replaced both of the heater core hoses. The engine coolant looks new, as in nice, clear, and green. The temperature gage is not spiking, though. Right now, I'm going through the front shocks and those hangars. Incorrect bolts and washers found here. A better idea of what I'm going through with this Swept Side, is if you'll zoom in on my last picture and note the intake manifold bolt just above the hose with the sharp bend in it. They stuck any old bolt in there and made up the difference in the incorrect bolt length by stacking washers under the bolt head. Now the bolt is bottomed out in the head because there is probably no bolt taper, and the washers are cracked and busted. Now, I don't know much, but that's not right. I cant back out the bolt and now's not the time for this fight. So, I'm going to finish up with the shocks and get them painted and put back on. At least these shocks are good, lol! I'll get back on the plugs and wires!

Thanks again!

Yeah I just looked closer at the picture and the double hose clamp and ground wire "spacer" nut for too long bolt, this guy cobbled thing together. Be careful, if things you can see are like this hopefully the hidden things like brakes and steering are in good order.

That's the truth, Coronet 500! I'm going through this truck as carefully as I can! The mismatched wire set I have on it bugs me every time I open the hood. Looking at part number md4661 1970 Mopar date coded stamped 3q-69-318 wire set from Classic. Thing is, they list for the cars of the era. I'm thinking they would fit my 318 engine, and look good doing it, lol!

Thought about the above listed plug wires I had had in mind, and though better of those for the fella's whom have nice Mopar stuff. Don't get me wrong, I think highly of my Mopar truck, lol! So I pulled the trigger on the '68-'73 Orange/black Mopar wire set. Little less expensive, but still a Mopar reproduction for the small block stuff in the years listed. I'll let ya all in on the change over just as soon as I can get to it! Would have liked to see those on a Mopar vehicle here first, lol!

The factory mostly used Champion plugs. I have had good luck using Autolite plugs

Thanks TVLynn! One or the other spark plug brand should work.

This is what I'd go with.....

E3 Diamond Fire Spark Plugs

https://www.jegs.com/i/E3-Spark-Plug...634+4294829117


MSD Spark Plug Wires

https://www.jegs.com/i/MSD-Ignition/...634+4294829117

MSD or Accel for the wires...…
I like NGK u-Groves

RacerHog, Do you suppose I should run a "hot" plug in this engine? The engine is out of a '84 Ram Charger, and is a 318, and other wise stock except for the intake manifold, and carb. I'm not sure there is a performance difference between a stock plug, and if there would be, then I'd be up for spending a little extra for them. Also a plug gap recommendation would be needed. Does the sales clerk at the auto parts store mention what to set that gap to for my engine and specific plug? Sorry for all the questions, Mopar is and will be "new" to me, lol! I do have regular 7mm wires on the way :)

I don't see any reason why you might need anything more than the application calls for.
As for the gap setting. just use the application setting for now. That should be good enough.
No need in tuning outside the box if you don't have to.. Start with the basics... :)

What ever plug you get.... gap them to 0.035... That will be good..

You guys like spending the other guys money. Standard plugs and wires will work just fine.

True..... But you cant get them in the fun colors.... :)

Well, I received those fancy Hemi Orange '68-'73 small block plug wires from Classic Industries last Saturday, a week ago. Opened up the package only to find 7 plug wires and a coil wire! So on the following Monday, I called out there in Huntington Beach, and spoke with a gent about my return. He gave me my return authorization number, and said he'd send out a pre-paid shipping sticker for the part return trip. Well, my sticker had not yet arrived, so I coughed up the 12.90 for the two day priority, and sent back the incomplete set Friday afternoon. BTW, the two day, insured Priority was about a buck cheaper than the UPS delivery rate, which took a full week to arrive. Anyway, what a bummer. But I did get the Champion plugs installed, and all is well. Still awaiting on my complete set of wires to come.