More HP from spark plug gap

[#84Dave]

In 30 years of running SBC's on short paved-oval tracks, I always drill .25" vent holes directly under all (8) plug-wire terminals in the distributor cap. I discovered very early on that excessive ionization inside the cap, with a good electronic ignition box, can be a power killer. Irregardless of the plug manufacturer, I always J-gap the electrode. Unless, like NGK, the manufacturer supplies a J-gap. Once the above mod's have been made to the system, on the engine dyno I've tried plug gaps from .025"-.040" with little to no difference in performance. And yes...... I index the plugs with the open gap pointed at the exhaust valve. Where a bit of chamber swirl & slightly higher mixture temps appear to help a bit. Later this 2015 year, E3 says they will begin manufacture of their E3.106R to replace the NGK R5672A-9's we currently use. We intend to dyno test that new E3 plug. E3 says their plug does not need to be indexed. But I intend to index/test the opening of their 'diamond' ground electrode pointed at the exhaust valve. We've heard both good and bad comments regarding E3 plugs. We'll see what our testing tells us. And rumor has it that Jim McFarland may be a technical/engineering advisor to E3. I doubt he'd waste his time if the product was purely 'junk'. -Dave-