• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Resistor type vs non-resistor type spark plugs for 100-6

Share this page

B

blueskies

Jedi Warrior
Country flag
Offline
The rebuilt 100-6 came with new NGK BP6ES spark plugs installed. They seem to work fine, but some say that a resistor type plug (NGK BR6ES or equivalent) is better.

Can anyone tell me what actual difference switching from a non-resistor plug to a resistor type plug may make? Is it better for power and for the engine health?

As a related question, it seems that many people now prefer Champion plugs over the NGK plugs. If so, what advantage will one likely see by switching to Champions, and which Champion plug would work best for this engine?

Thanks for any help with this.

Edit: I suppose it makes a difference if the plug wires are resistor wires or not - not sure what is on the car. Probably time to get out the multi-meter?
 
Resistor plugs, wires or caps are only required to limit radio frequency interference. If you don't have a radio or a Pertronix, it's not a problem. If you do have one, or both of those, as Steve says, you only need one.

Champions are original; it you're going for Concours gold use Champions; if not, either is fine.

There has been some noise that NGK plugs are now made in India. NGK does make plugs in India for cars and trucks built in India. They also make plugs in Japan, USA and many other countries. If you buy them in the US, they were probably made in the US or Japan. It will say on the box.

I've run Champions for years, although I have NGKs in there now because I needed plugs on the road and the O'Reilly didn't have the appropriate Champions.
 
Thanks Steve and John. I went out and checked the spark plug wires. Packard 440 with zero resistance. So it has non-resistor plugs and non-resistor wires. No radio, no Pertronix, so no issues there.

There seems to be some conflicting information about this. I have, for example, heard someone claim that a non-resistor plug will deliver more voltage to the spark plugs, making more power. And then someone claims the opposite.
 
Resistor plugs, wires or caps are only required to limit radio frequency interference. If you don't have a radio or a Pertronix, it's not a problem. If you do have one, or both of those, as Steve says, you only need one.

True:

However, if you reside in a densely populated area { Big City } a noisy ignition system can also :

open garage doors , set off car alarms , upset TV & Radio programming , to identify a few.
 
My experience is that NKGs last significantly longer. This is only my un-scientific opinion. And as "7 of nine" says, "resistance is futile". I cannot hear the radio anyway especially with the top down.
 
tahoe healey said:
My experience is that NKGs last significantly longer. This is only my un-scientific opinion. And as "7 of nine" says, "resistance is futile". I cannot hear the radio anyway especially with the top down.
Click to expand...

Yep:

But I have a passenger to entertain on long trips , so I have a modern AM / FM programmable radio that looks stock fitted with a headset so she can listen---
 
I'm interested in what that radio is all about. And headphones for both ears? I have a period radio that sucks so I just have to listen to that "One Note Samba" aka, exhaust tone.
 
what is the issue with Pertronix and resistor Plugs??
 
tahoe healey said:
I'm interested in what that radio is all about. And headphones for both ears? I have a period radio that sucks so I just have to listen to that "One Note Samba" aka, exhaust tone.
Click to expand...

RADIO
Is a very early Kenwood knobbed stereo receiver with 50 Watts / Chnl I could not see the model # as it is on the case.

Speakers
Are mounted in foot well side panels where the structure forms a seal from the elements and i added absorbent padding over the inside of the structure to eliminate resonance , the speakers are high quality 5" triaxial units .

the receiver requires external speakers , adding a headset access was simple

Getting a modern receiver with knobs was difficult in the late 1900 's when i modified my car , but was one of the pacing items.
 
Joe Schlosser said:
what is the issue with Pertronix and resistor Plugs??
Click to expand...

Pertronix specs resistor wires; no mention of resistor plugs.

screenshot.2238.jpg
 
Please don't tell my Pertronix with appox. 100K miles on stranded--assuming that's what they mean, I've never seen solid plug wires--plug wires (with resistor plugs). I presume they mean stranded copper without resistor terminals or plugs; I can't for the life of me figure out what the (potential) problem is, as the wires are electrically isolated from the Pertronix by the coil.
 
Bob_Spidell said:
Please don't tell my Pertronix with appox. 100K miles on stranded--assuming that's what they mean, I've never seen solid plug wires--plug wires (with resistor plugs). I presume they mean stranded copper without resistor terminals or plugs; I can't for the life of me figure out what the (potential) problem is, as the wires are electrically isolated from the Pertronix by the coil.
Click to expand...

I ran my Pertronix I for years using stranded metal wires, plain caps and resistor-or-not plugs -- with never any problem (no radio).

They're incompatible with the Pertronix II and maybe Pertronix decided metal wires weren't worth fooling with anymore.
 
Joe Schlosser said:
what is the issue with Pertronix and resistor Plugs??
Click to expand...

Pertronix had a lot of issues when i visited them years ago'

MY position is I would not give up good reliable stranded copper spark plug wire for sting -resistor wires,

However , if you want to suppress electro magnet radiation from your ignition system then do as Steve
mentioned earlier of resistor wires, resistor caps or resistor plugs, you only need one
 
Worrying about spark plugs is like today's golfer who bought a new $500 driver with movable weights. I can promise you that with the first shot that goes into the woods, he'll be worrying about the position of the weights. Should he have moved it? Drivers have been without weights for 300 years and good golfers have been scoring low without them. Just one more variable to drive you crazy. If your car is running good, leave it alone. I've been fooling with these cars since 1954 and these cars thrive best with a little creative neglect. Carry a set of points, a condenser, maybe a coil and a fanbelt, a set of hand tools and you're good to go. And leave those SUs and Strombergs alone unless there are obvious problems. They are a simple and effective design.
 
pdplot:

There will never be an electromechanical or mechanical device that will be more effective and reliable than an all Electronic one
 
Back
Top