VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Sparkplugs guestions, 1930 engine

As some of you may know by now I have Johnny Cash car (gosh we all miss him), it's a 1931 Coach, 1930 Block and Tranny, 1929 head, but it all seems to work.

In tuning the engine over last couple of days, I gapped the plugs at 40 thou, set the points at 18 thou, and set the timing at 18 degrees, all as per recommendations here. Car starts fine although a bit noisy, I've driven it a couple of miles and seems OK. I'm not sure just what a Chevy 6 of that era is supposed to sound like! I have a NOS Tillotson carb in the car, which I plan to try setting up tomorrow (adjusting low speed and high speed adjusting screws etc as per their instruction sheet.

Before I tackle that, I have 3 questions about the sparkplugs.
1. I have a new set of AC C86 in car now and a spare set of NGK A-6. Are either or neither of these a good choice or likely to affect tuning up?
2. When I gapped the C86 plugs to 40 thou, it causes the blade of the plug to sit at an angle to the tip/anode. Do you suggest altering the shape of the blade so it sits at 90 degrees to the tip? If yes, how does one do this?
3. The ends on my plug wires need to be pressed onto the plugs, but then seem to sit very loose/wobbly, suggesting a less than perfect connection. Is this normal, and if not normal, any suggestions for making a better contact?

Thanks as usual, and Im up and at it around 8:00am ADT, LOL.

1. The AC-C86 is the correct spark plug for your car.

2. Do not alter the plug. It is correct the way that it is.

3. You didn't mention if you have the original spark plugs ends with the Chevrolet Bow Ties on the ends. If so, the plug ends tend to be a little loose.

Thanks Dawg. About the plug wires I don't see any bowties etc, they came with the car, have 90 degree split steel tubes on ends. I found it odd that it takes a good push to put them in place, but then once in place they seem loose. Guess that was just how they fit back then. I'll visit the local engine rebuilding shop (Nova Automotive) and see what they have for this car, they do a lot of antique car rebuilds, including a colleagues 1931 Essex Roadster recently (Hudson engine).