I think he's talking about the angle of chamfer on the seat, not the angle of the plug centerline with regard to the chamber.

In this case, the plug seat is flat or close to it. The spark plug tube is sandwiched between the plug and seat. A gasket is not needed for sealing.

The "peanut plug" heads are different in that area.

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"When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Pointy-haired Boss

1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO

About the .035" gap. That's all I ever run even on cars with high performance ignitions. Any more just means the voltage has to rise higher to fire the plug. It heats up the ignition and eventually fries something. The condition of the cap, rotor, wires and connections becomes more and more critical. I have seen guys have misfire and other ignition problems that "should not" be happening because they have such a great ignition system, just from running too much gap. It may help idle quality some to run more gap but I have never seen it increase performance. It will definitely lower reliability. Those multiple ground electrode plugs are a joke, you want the center electrode as open as possible for best performance.

Well, then, you're a lucky man. But, you can do much better in spark plugs for much less money. I really hope this doesn't turn into a Fram oil filter debate...
On engines that require it, it forms a gas-tight seal between the spark plug seat and the cylinder head.
No, it does not prevent wear or damage on the spark plug tube O-ring. However, the metal spark plug washer can cause damage to the spark plug tube itself, depending on the design of the washer.

Folks, think about this for a moment: Chrysler Corp. redesigned the cylinder head in '63 in such a manner that spark plug washers aren't supposed to be used. They put a lot of effort into publishing that fact. It's in the service manuals. It's in a bunch of TSBs and MTSC training books. It's even in a lot of the aftermarket service literature, which is notorious for leaving out details. These cars are now three and four decades old and not very many people remember their service peculiarities, but that doesn't mean there's anything to be gained by constantly second-guessing on this one. No, your '63-'74 slant-6 won't blow up or quit running if you leave the plug washers in place, but they're not supposed to be there. There are better ways to spend time than constantly rehashing this very simple yes/no question.

1960-'62 cylinder head: YES, use plug washers.
1963-'74 cylinder head: NO, remove the plug washers.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I agree with you that a wider plug gap means higher secondary voltage (that can provide benefits and drawbacks—one has to know where to stop to get the optimum balance). I don't agree that a thoughtfully-chosen wider gap necessarily heats up the ignition and eventually fries something.
Well, sure. If you try to run some of the ridiculously wide gaps (0.050", 0.055", 0.060"...), you're going to exceed the capabilities of one or more secondary ignition system components and you'll have misfiring, crossfiring, no-firing, and your coffee will taste funny. But, going to a gap of 0.040" or 0.045", with an HEI or other high-performance ignition system and everything in good shape, is not too much gap. One piece that makes bigger plug gaps work well is a NAPA Echlin long-tip rotor # MO-3000, which has a contact segment that is 0.060" longer than the stock rotor. This reduces the gap the spark must jump inside the distributor to get from rotor to cap contact, and means you can widen the spark plug gap a little to get the benefits of a larger spark in the combustion chamber.
It does that. It also improves cold starting, street driveability and fuel economy and reduces emissions...none of which are of any concern if you're running the quarter mile, but all of which are nice to optimize if you're driving on the street.
Disagree. See above. The dose makes the poison! The key is in choosing your plug gap thoughtfully, taking all factors into account.
Yep!

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks for the advice everyone.......I will pick up some NGKs and install them without the washers. I didn't think that such a simple question would strike up such a debate! I can only hope that the NGK plugs mentioned are readily available......I tried Canadian Tire last night with no success. Anyways, your help is greatly appreciated! Cheers!

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1965 Valiant 200
170 C.I

If you can't find the NGK's, try Autolite 985's. I found some cheap on the clearance aisle at Walmart.

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"When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Pointy-haired Boss

1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO

Well, since there is a spark plug debate here, I have four questions

1) What is a cooler plug than the NGK ZFR5N

2) What is your opinion of the Autolite AP66 platinum. I ended up with a set of these, but I haven't installed them. I want to get a set of new tube seals before I change out my plugs

3) In putting in new seals, do you do anything besides just put them in and screw them down (for instance, put oil on them like an oil filter gasket)

4) What is the accepted oil filter for a slant six? I keep noticing comments on the Frams lack a quality.

by the way, my engine is cammed, bored, 9:1 compression, super six, HEI conversion, Magnecor Wires

Can't answer without my NGK book in front of me, and right now it's about 3,000 miles away, across an international border.
Not a bad plug, slightly hotter heat range as ZFR5N or Autolite 985, either of which is better than AP66.
Just remove the old seal, slide the new one onto the tube, and...that's it!
Frams are trash. Use Wix 51515, NAPA Gold 1515, AC PF2, Purolator L30001...

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Try giving them the NGK stock number, which is 3459. They may not stock it, but they can certainly get it.

Last few times I've needed a set, UAP/NAPA in Toronto has had 'em on the shelf. But, there is something the matter with the catalogues. I gave 'em "ZFR5N" and they said "No such spark plug". I told them "OK, give me six spark plugs, NGK brand only, for a 2000 Jeep Cherokee with 4.0 six-cylinder engine." They looked 'em up and found them under the 3459 stock number, then had a laugh when those boxes on the shelf were labelled...

...ZFR5N.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Better in what way? More dependable? better spark? Lasts longer? Better looking? Are they better in just this engine, but the AP66 are better in other engines? Just curious.

Round 'n' round 'n' round 'n' round we go! C'mon, man, cut me some slack, willya? I know I am not the only one capable of using this board's search engine!

The double-extended electrodes move the spark point out towards the center of the combustion chamber and away from the metal edges. The plugs were originally designed for tough-to-light engines (desmogged AMC 232/258, Chrysler TBI 318s in '81-'83 Imperials), 'cause the mixture is much less variable in the middle of the chamber than at the edges, and these long-electrode plugs give more consistent light-off of the cylinder under borderline-combustibility conditions. The same extra-long electrode set is used in many late Mopar applications (3.5 V6, 4.0 I6, etc.)

Picture is here.
I use 'em with better-than-stock results in my '89 Ram TBI 318, my 2.2/2.5 cars, my slant-6s...

I used to use AP65 or AP66 plugs.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I have never seen debate alter reality. In the end you can do whatever you want with your car, it's YOUR car. Some things will work better than others, however. That's the reality part. You can run a gap larger than .035" with success. If the actual benefits are worth it to you, great. It will work the ignition harder, no amount of thought will change this. You will have to keep everything in better condition for it to be reliable, do you want to?. This means changing parts more often. Spark plugs start off nice and new at whatever gap they are set at and just go downhill from there. So .050" is not that far away from .045" as far as wear goes. If they get crusty or run too hot it is going to be too much too soon. No one has brought up RPM so far. Most of my cars rev and produce peek power past 5000 rpm. So that is a factor for me as well. If you don't rev very high it's much easier for the ignition to keep up. I don't believe that just because you can do something for a small gain it is the best choice. You have to decide if you want to go the extra distance in maintenance (and expense). Myself, i like to put things together and not have to mess with it again for a long time. Work on the car for fun and improvement, do maintenance on a schedule, not because it broke down. Get a hotter spark from a more powerful ignition, but leave the gap alone. Look up OHM's law. I think at least a year or 15,000 miles is reasonable for plugs on a street car. I have to agree that if there is a proper NGK plug for any application, you can't go wrong. There quality has not changed over the years as far as I can tell.

I foolishly tried to get a new rebuilt slant to start initially with Bosch platinum plugs when they first came out and it didn't start. I put in some old plugs and VROOM! They are not happy unless you are tuned well. As far as the ring goes, the only benefit that may happen by chance is that it better index's your ground electrode toward the exhaust valve.

I'm sure you know this already, it's just that what you wrote was ambiguous on the point: Remember, for any given spark plug gap, under any given conditions, it takes a certain voltage level to jump the gap, and it doesn't matter whether you have breaker points or a $1000 computerised distributorless ignition system, there's no such a thing as forcing more than that voltage across the gap. So, no, you don't really get a "hotter" (higher voltage) spark from a more powerful ignition without increasing the plug gap. You might get a higher-current spark (more amps) but under most conditions that doesn't do much but wear out spark plugs faster!

As far as 0.050" not being far from 0.045", well, sure, and 0.055" isn't all that far from 0.050", and 0.060" isn't all that far from 0.055", and 0.030" isn't all that far from 0.035", and 0.025" isn't all that far from 0.030"...so what? That's why you have to account for all factors when picking a plug gap. You being a high-RPM type, you're right, for your special and nontypical service, a wider gap wouldn't help and would only increase stress on the secondary ignition components. But for the large number of us who almost never see the high side of 4,000 RPM, gaps of 0.040" to 0.045" (depending on ignition system), very slightly larger than stock, offer operational benefits without significant drawbacks on the street.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Right, and since your odds of better indexing are just as random with/without the rings, there's no reason to think you'll be better off using the rings.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.