Who likes blue?

[forestfarm61]

My old girl, just 50 k miles

[Nails]

Sure is blue.

[cushman eagle]

My 1958 Cushman Eagle is blue,does that count
It is Guardsman Blue Metalic,the same color as my first car a 1964 Ford Galaxy 2 door fastback with a 390 Police Intercepter engine

[forestfarm61]

The previous owner had it professionally painted at no small expense. He had it stored at his summer home and mice took it over. The surge box was completely filled with acorns. They had a large nest atop the radio. Luckily Kawasaki had the forethought to equip the radio with a rubber sheet on top of it, preventing any damage. I had to take all the vent ductwork apart and soak them in bleach. I could smell mouse pee on hot summer days coming thru the vents. The worst issue was the mouse pee down in the spark plug wells, corroded the plugs threads effectively locking them in the head. I was only able to get two of them out. At 50 k + miles it’s still running two original plugs. I’m considering trying to remove the other two this weekend, have been soaking them in ATF/ acetone mix. Don’t want to have the plug break during removal attempts, it runs great as it is, just hunts about 50rpm at idle. The other two I was able to get out required 1/2 breaker bar and a length of pipe, pretty scary stuff. If I encounter too much resistance on the first plug I will probably leave it alone, not worth creating a huge problem for myself

[SgtSlag]

It looks really nice, IMO. They did a nice job on it. This also makes it unique.


Good luck removing the plugs. If you get them out, I suggest NGK Iridium plugs as replacements. They're spendy ($10+/plug), but worthwhile, IME. They require less energy to fire, which means they will likely never fail to fire, unless the wires from the coils open. The other nice part is that in a car, Iridium plugs will last 100k miles, possibly longer in a bike -- not sure.

I recommend applying anti-seize on the replacement plugs' threads. Cheers!

[Nails]

Caution advised. (Personally, I'd soak them in PB Blaster.)
My XII still isn't running, just sitting there next to the spare cylinder head I need to transplant into it. A sparkplug was cross-threaded sometime before I bought it; and eventually I had to tap it. Now I'm replacing the whole head because Dave was taking bets on whether I'd end up needing to have a sparkplug removed from my leg.
And I don't think that's even why my XII broke down. Hopefully that'll come to light in the above surgery. Hopefully (again), that's not a scored cylinder.
But alas, I've still got a long list of higher-priority tasks ahead of the XII.

[GrandpaDenny]

If you get them out, I suggest NGK Iridium plugs as replacements. They're spendy ($10+/plug), but worthwhile, IME. They require less energy to fire, which means they will likely never fail to fire, unless the wires from the coils open. The other nice part is that in a car, Iridium plugs will last 100k miles, possibly longer in a bike -- not sure.

When I replaced Gertrude's carbs, the NGK Iridium plugs had 50k miles on them. They looked pretty worn so got replaced. 50k with those kronked up old carbs that ain't bad at all.

I don't know about on spark plugs, I guess the same would apply, but you can't put anti-seize on wheel studs because they won't hold the torque and will come loose. Second-hand information, I've never tried it.

[GrandpaDenny]

Hopefully that'll come to light in the above surgery.

I could have sworn when I read this it said "head surgery" and I was thinking "Geez, Nails, what did you do to yourself now, are you OK?"

[cushman eagle]

If you get them out, I suggest NGK Iridium plugs as replacements. They're spendy ($10+/plug), but worthwhile, IME. They require less energy to fire, which means they will likely never fail to fire, unless the wires from the coils open. The other nice part is that in a car, Iridium plugs will last 100k miles, possibly longer in a bike -- not sure.

When I replaced Gertrude's carbs, the NGK Iridium plugs had 50k miles on them. They looked pretty worn so got replaced. 50k with those kronked up old carbs that ain't bad at all.

I don't know about on spark plugs, I guess the same would apply, but you can't put anti-seize on wheel studs because they won't hold the torque and will come loose. Second-hand information, I've never tried it.

I have been using never-seize on plugs for about 50+ years and have always been glad at plug replacement time
I have never had one come loose,if it was properly tighened

[forestfarm61]

50/50 acetone +ATF mix is the best penetrant on rusty threads.Ive used them all.Dont take my word for it.Yes, i have the Iridium plugs already.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BikeMechanics/ ... ?rdt=36290

[forestfarm61]

Yes, i always use anti seize.I live in rust land where you can remove all the lugs on a car steel wheel and still need the torch to break it free from the hub