New Plugs on a 3.8: P.I.T.A or W.I.T.P?

[Rabid Dog]

(walk in the park) ;)

How hard is it exactly? I have a slight intermittant miss at idle. The car sat for almost a year and a half, while the body and frame were restored and modified.

I drove about 250 miles today (road trip) and the idle is much better, as is the miss. I suspect new plugs and fuel filter would fix that. (I'm also switching to syn, as I only have 35k on the clock)

So, any special manuevers or methods I should know about? It looks like it would be a major pain to do.

[98Camaro3.8]

Assuming you have stock exhaust manifolds:
95-99: PITA
00-02: WITP

With headers, it's alot easier.

[Rabid Dog]

Well, dang.. looks like it's a PITA then. What am I in for exactly?

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Originally posted by Rabid Dog:
Well, dang.. looks like it's a PITA then. What am I in for exactly?

about 3-6 hours of work and you can only get to them from under the car..........

[irunhighpsi]

Took me a little over an hour to do all 6 and MSD wires on my '98...

[Rabid Dog]

Time to practice my swear words. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

What type of plugs do you guys run? I was thinking NGK, or similar.

[Need4Camaro]

It's a PITA for you... HOWEVER Whoever said you can only reach them from under the car is completely wrong... On my 97 the only plug I HAD to from under the car was the nightmare plug in the far back on the passenger side... The rest should be relatively easy in comparison... Oh yes DO make sure you use heatsheathing on your wires or you'll find yourself QUICKLY back...

My first tuneup took me 2 days to complete because by the time I finished the passenger side I was too tired to do the driverside... Honestly for the time, space, and heck bandaids you'll consume... I seriouslly reccomend sending it to a mechanic and asking for a FULL tuneup... Plugs and Wires and other stuff...

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Originally posted by Need4Camaro:
It's a PITA for you... HOWEVER Whoever said you can only reach them from under the car is completely wrong... On my 97 the only plug I HAD to from under the car was the nightmare plug in the far back on the passenger side... The rest should be relatively easy in comparison... Oh yes DO make sure you use heatsheathing on your wires or you'll find yourself QUICKLY back...

sounds like you have headers

[Need4Camaro]

Originally posted by viper04af:
sounds like you have headers

Nope, stock loggers...

[Loochy88]

i found that it helps a lot with plugs if you have two sets of eyes. have someone on top of the car and someone underneath, to guide each other.

[Rabid Dog]

This is a small town, and the list of people I trust with my baby is extremely small. I do all the work on my cars accept alighnment, tires, and the random jobs, that require expensive/rare tools to do. It doesn't come up often.

So, the thought of taking my car to have it done is out of the question. If I can pull a 3.4 and M5 together, from the top, I can change some plugs. ;)

I'm not going to change the wires, just the plugs. I changed over to Mobil 1 today and cleaned the injectors. The miss seems to be gone. I also put some RP FI treatment in the tank, to keep it that way. I have all the service records from the first owner, and the plugs are a bit over there time. So, that's why I'm wanting to do this.

Loochy, I'd do that, but all my friends are clumsier than curly on meph.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally posted by Rabid Dog:
This is a small town, and the list of people I trust with my baby is extremely small. I do all the work on my cars accept alighnment, tires, and the random jobs, that require expensive/rare tools to do. It doesn't come up often.

So, the thought of taking my car to have it done is out of the question. If I can pull a 3.4 and M5 together, from the top, I can change some plugs. ;)

I'm not going to change the wires, just the plugs. I changed over to Mobil 1 today and cleaned the injectors. The miss seems to be gone. I also put some RP FI treatment in the tank, to keep it that way. I have all the service records from the first owner, and the plugs are a bit over there time. So, that's why I'm wanting to do this.

Loochy, I'd do that, but all my friends are clumsier than curly on meph.

Welp, you asked for it! ;)
j/k
Good luck!

[carmelcarswholesale]

Even the pre-2000 exhaust are easy if you plan it correctly....if you do not have access to a lift do it the old jackstands and a step ladder/stool and a buddy in the driveway....total time either way one hour...the buddy is completely necessary for help in positioning...and a stong light from under the car..handheld spot is great...three from top are easy and three from under are not easy but workable with the aforementioned extra set of hands (and unless he is 6'9" he's going to need a step stool while you are under the car on strong jackstands..and use plywood asphalt protector squares if not working on concrete)...use a good platinum plug that will last 50,000 or more miles..rp

[Rabid Dog]

Sounds like a plan. I assume I'll need boot pullers, and a u-joint like on the 3.4's? Does everyone usually remove the heat shields?

need4camaro: *gulp* ;)

[Fredless]

I can get #1 and #5 easily from up top same for #2

#4 - This is the MOFO of the group.
#6 - easy from underneath

#3 is also a mofo, but nearly as bad as #4

like i said 3,4, 6 with log manifolds you will need to get underneath the car. I can change my plugs now in under an hour, but the first time I did it it took me about 2hours. Just be thankful you don't have an LT1 because these are nothing compared to an LT1 I.M.O.