For the last several months during what little free time I've had on Saturdays, I've been trying to sort things out on the 57 carb and manifold swap on my 56 Fairlane.
It wasn't running quite right despite countless adjustments on the ignition and carb. When I finally started pulling the plugs to check them, I found that #4 plug ceramic was busted off. The wire with busted of top wasn't hanging so it never was obvious.
It was only running on 7 cylinders and trying to get it to run good wasn't going happen. It was that it didn't seem that bad.
Now with all 8 cylinders firing it runs great!


~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

Follow the KISS principal. Keep It Simple Stupid. I've done things like that before.

Dan      Kingman Az.      86409

KISS is a good principal but you don't expect a spark plug top breaking off all by itself. I've never wrenched in that area of the engine bay. It's hard to imagine the plug being like that since buying the car three years ago unless 292's run good enough on 7 cylinders.


~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

Been there done that

I always gotta remind myself Fuel--air--spark and just rule them out one at a time. Too easy to jump to the hard stuff-
I once tore my entire top end apart just to find a cracked hard PCV line.

Mike Rizzo

1963 F100 "Rudy"

Daniel Island, SC

In all my years of wrenching, nearly 40 of them now, I have never once had a busted spark plug. I've had a few that stripped the threads but never one busted.


~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

Me neither, but nothing's impossible I guess. I had a plug lose it's center electrode in my flathead once. Luckily it most have spit it out the exhaust somehow; I couldn't find it in the cylinder when I pulled the head and there was no damage. It was a Champion plug. I have never bought Champion since, not even for a lawn mower.

A couple of years ago I had one that the porcelain had let go. Left the metal behind. It wasn't hard to get out though but just like the  bond between the porcelain and the metal had failed. 

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

Last year I had a plug that the wire had broke off. This was in an aluminum head. It was not burnt off but broken and missing.

  Vic Correnti

Vic, what make plug?

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

I'm curious too. Mine was an Autolite 46 and I  bought another one for $2.
The old one's ceramic top was cleanly sheared off right at the metal base.


~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles