40 years in the motor trade and I've never had the inclination to dissemble a spark plug, now I wonna chuck one up and do just that because it could be fun. Thanks Rob.
Yes, I've took a sparkplug apart on my lathe, no reason other than I often disassemble things to find out how they work, best way to learn. ( much to my father's annoyance) I once pulled apart a spare magdyno for his bsa m21 when I were a mere brat out of curiosity, unbeknown to me there was nowt wrong with it till I destroyed it !
Hi Rob, you have the extra uses well covered. We used to save them in our workshop and a bloke would buy them and recondition them. Remember you could buy them in a blister. 4 cyl.,6cyl.etc. thanks for all the effort,time and variety of your videos.
They used to make spark plugs in three pieces; body, insulator and nut. The nut was where the body is now swagged over on the modern units. You could undo the nut and disassemble the plug in much the same way as Rob did when he machined the body. The big difference was that you could then clean the plug with a wire brush and reassemble it for further use.
Yes, dead right Robert. No grit blasters in those days. I have a few of those old spark plugs in my drawer. Plus the early motors drank a fair bit of oil, so plug cleaning was a regular event. They made the job as easy as possible for the mechanic. Cheers Rob
You're the man! 5 minutes and a hacksaw was all I needed to make a piston stop out of one of my old spark plugs after I bought a commercial one that wouldn't thread into the head on my car! Thanks so much!
Hilarious. I just spent the last 2 hours acting like a “lunatic”. Got frustrated…..found this video. Thank you. I’m making a air fitting so I can replace valve seals without removing the head
Nice job Rob. In the past I have made old plugs into model tractors & steam rollers using the plug as the chassis/body. Always a way to recycle anything. regards from the UK
Thanks to your vid I just made a crankcase pressure test fitting for my chainsaw. Now all I have to do is block off the carb and muffler ports, put the fitting in the spark plug hole and pump it up with a Mityvac and see if my crank seals or good or not.
There is one other feature about the assembly of this spark plug. Do you wonder how the insulator was crimped in without cracking it? Note the blued ring visible on the ID of the shell about half way down. It corresponds to the U groove machined on the OD just below the wrench hex. After the plug is assembled and crimped, the shell is heated red hot at that groove with induction heating and the assembly is squeezed together. The automatic assembly of the spark plug only takes a few seconds. ...I used to work at the Champion Aviation division of the Champion Spark Plug Company.
Good tip, years ago I used to use the gorilla methods and it worked but usually had shards of porcelain flying about, not the safest thing. Thanks for sharing.
Good demo Rob. I used that technique and welded some threaded bar in to make a head puller for a flathead V8 that was a little reluctant to come apart. Mart.
Thank you for this video sir. I was wondering if i can make a makeshift adapter for the digital gauge in tuning top dead center for two strokes and here it is. Cheers!
Hi from U.K Top video, you went over everthing that I needed to know and more. I have a heay-duty analogue Pressure guage and was wondering how I could put a Sparkplug thread on to make it an engine pressure tester. Well done to the point !
The main issue is metal compression from threading. You have to be careful not to compress any close tolerance fit in the mechanism ( eg the stem of a dial gauge is a classic example where it will stuff up badly if you thread or over tighten the clamp). Keep that in mind. You can braze a joiner/extension tube (with a suitably threaded compression gauge compatible end) into the spark plug body quite easily. You can also do the same with a plain end and connect the gauge and plug extension with rubber air line hose. I have one like this. Obviously the shorter the extension/hose, the more accurate the reading on small engines. Go from there. Cheers Rob
Perfect, been building a diy acrylic bender, all aluminum construction, needed two small porcelain reels for each end if the wire. Modified Spark plugs might be the best option.
Hi William, you may have trouble getting the center electrode out of the porcelain as they are normally cast in and irregular in shape/diameter. Good luck. Cheers Rob
Very helpful! My next step is to get the wire out of the center of the alum porcelain but I want to keep the porcelain intact. I haven't figured out how to do that yet...
Super interesting & useful. I had often wondered how they were made & how to get them apart, but never thought of doing this. I suppose if you really wanted to it would be possible to braze on or otherwise a threaded collar & make them reuse-able as they originally where, having drifted them out with a slotted punch to leave the electrode on. No idea why anyone would bother unless they had an engine needing plugs that were no longer made. Perhaps in the by & by if Tesla battery electric gets big, the makers of spark plugs will stop production. Thanks for sharing!
xynudu exactly. If you have pretty much any lathe with a 3 jaw, it can do this. A bright lad could probably manage it on a wood lathe, or even a drill press using a file to make the cut
And if you use a blow torch, you can heat up the ceramic and take the top off and remove the resistor element as well. You can make non-resistor plugs out of resistor plugs with a solid piece of regular 10 or 12 gauge copper house wiring to replace the resistor element.
@@Xynudu - thanks for the tip - I've been busting up the ceramic like an idiot for more years than I'd care to admit to. I was making a positive stop for my vintage Toyota TG twin cam, struggling once again to bust up an NGK plug - and I came in, searched and found your video. 3 minutes later with a Dremel and cutoff wheel - voila - punched it right out in one piece. Cheers mate!
I mainly make them into piston stops for chainsaw drive sprocket removal. You have to lock the piston to unscrew the retaining nut. The alternative is to stuff cord in the plug hole at bottom dead centre. That works quite well where the spark plug is angled to the piston crown. Cheers Rob
Yes, use an angle grinder with a thin friction disc and work your way around it while gripping it in the vice. Make sure to wear a dust mask as you will probably grind the ceramic a bit. Alternatively you could rotate the spark plug rolled edge against a chop saw or similar. Cheers Rob
I know at least one other thing spark plugs are good for, they make good electrical feed-throughs for vacuum systems. I suppose at the end of the day that's essentially what they in an engine, where they keep the pressure in instead of out
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40 years in the motor trade and I've never had the inclination to dissemble a spark plug, now I wonna chuck one up and do just that because it could be fun. Thanks Rob.
You don't know what you're missing ;)
Yes, I've took a sparkplug apart on my lathe, no reason other than I often disassemble things to find out how they work, best way to learn.
( much to my father's annoyance)
I once pulled apart a spare magdyno for his bsa m21 when I were a mere brat out of curiosity, unbeknown to me there was nowt wrong with it till I destroyed it !
Interesting Rob!
We used to use spark plugs as sinkers in the fresh water because we snagged so much too!
Hi Rob, you have the extra uses well covered. We used to save them in our workshop and a bloke would buy them and recondition them. Remember you could buy them in a blister. 4 cyl.,6cyl.etc. thanks for all the effort,time and variety of your videos.
Yep. Mighty handy for some purposes.
Cheers Rob
They used to make spark plugs in three pieces; body, insulator and nut. The nut was where the body is now swagged over on the modern units. You could undo the nut and disassemble the plug in much the same way as Rob did when he machined the body.
The big difference was that you could then clean the plug with a wire brush and reassemble it for further use.
Yes, dead right Robert. No grit blasters in those days. I have a few of those old spark plugs in my drawer. Plus the early motors drank a fair bit of oil, so plug cleaning was a regular event. They made the job as easy as possible for the mechanic.
Cheers Rob
You're the man! 5 minutes and a hacksaw was all I needed to make a piston stop out of one of my old spark plugs after I bought a commercial one that wouldn't thread into the head on my car! Thanks so much!
Right on
Great tip Rob! I found that out years ago after bashing out the first one to see how it was made.
Your lathe sure does make it easier too!
I saw a video on how to use a sparkplug to friction drill a flanged hole into steel using an old sparkplug. That is a good use for it…
Hilarious. I just spent the last 2 hours acting like a “lunatic”. Got frustrated…..found this video. Thank you. I’m making a air fitting so I can replace valve seals without removing the head
Perfect. Cheers Rob
You dont know how much you have helped me
Brilliant, Rob! I always assumed they were cemented in like high tension insulators on a power line. Thanks for the tip.
sweet explanation of how to take a plug apart, nice video Rob,you did it again...
Thanks in need to do eight of them, you have just saved me some time.
Great tip Bob from your tricks of many trades thank you -;)
Nice job Rob. In the past I have made old plugs into model tractors & steam rollers using the plug as the chassis/body. Always a way to recycle anything. regards from the UK
Sounds great Gary.
Never knew people took those apart. Great tip Robby! Interesting.
Thanks to your vid I just made a crankcase pressure test fitting for my chainsaw. Now all I have to do is block off the carb and muffler ports, put the fitting in the spark plug hole and pump it up with a Mityvac and see if my crank seals or good or not.
Good idea. They also make piston stops easily. Cheers Rob
Interesting video Rob. I would have never thought of that. Thanks for the video.
SPLENDID...Though i did not have a lathe...I Put it in my Drill Press..and used a hack saw blade to do the cut...Perfect...Thanks Sir!
Good idea. So long as it works, it's the right method.
Awesome Rob, thanks for sharing. Joe.
There is one other feature about the assembly of this spark plug. Do you wonder how the insulator was crimped in without cracking it? Note the blued ring visible on the ID of the shell about half way down. It corresponds to the U groove machined on the OD just below the wrench hex. After the plug is assembled and crimped, the shell is heated red hot at that groove with induction heating and the assembly is squeezed together. The automatic assembly of the spark plug only takes a few seconds.
...I used to work at the Champion Aviation division of the Champion Spark Plug Company.
Great information. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers Rob
Good tip, years ago I used to use the gorilla methods and it worked but usually had shards of porcelain flying about, not the safest thing. Thanks for sharing.
I like that Rob , Great share man !!
Once the ceramic section is out you can easily make a two stroke piston stop or TDC indicator with the steel threaded body. Cheers Rob
Good demo Rob. I used that technique and welded some threaded bar in to make a head puller for a flathead V8 that was a little reluctant to come apart. Mart.
Great idea.
just spent hour and a half butchering a plug to make a TDC tool ,wish i had thought of this !
Thank you for this video sir. I was wondering if i can make a makeshift adapter for the digital gauge in tuning top dead center for two strokes and here it is. Cheers!
Yes, dead easy project. You can also pressurise cylinders. Cheers Rob
@@Xynudu yeah lots of uses for the dead spark plug. Thank you sir i have subscribed. 👍
The porcelain is good for breaking windows.
Awesome idea! Thanks
Clamp the spark plug in a an electric drill and use a grinder to grind off the lock nut.
Good stuff. Not that I ever felt the need to take a spark plug apart. But should I ever do so now I know how to do it. :-)
Hi from U.K
Top video, you went over everthing that I needed to know and more.
I have a heay-duty analogue Pressure guage and was wondering how I could put a Sparkplug thread on to make it an engine pressure tester.
Well done to the point !
The main issue is metal compression from threading. You have to be careful not to compress any close tolerance fit in the mechanism ( eg the stem of a dial gauge is a classic example where it will stuff up badly if you thread or over tighten the clamp). Keep that in mind.
You can braze a joiner/extension tube (with a suitably threaded compression gauge compatible end) into the spark plug body quite easily.
You can also do the same with a plain end and connect the gauge and plug extension with rubber air line hose. I have one like this. Obviously the shorter the extension/hose, the more accurate the reading on small engines.
Go from there.
Cheers Rob
Perfect, been building a diy acrylic bender, all aluminum construction, needed two small porcelain reels for each end if the wire. Modified Spark plugs might be the best option.
Hi William, you may have trouble getting the center electrode out of the porcelain as they are normally cast in and irregular in shape/diameter. Good luck. Cheers Rob
Very helpful! My next step is to get the wire out of the center of the alum porcelain but I want to keep the porcelain intact. I haven't figured out how to do that yet...
Super interesting & useful. I had often wondered how they were made & how to get them apart, but never thought of doing this. I suppose if you really wanted to it would be possible to braze on or otherwise a threaded collar & make them reuse-able as they originally where, having drifted them out with a slotted punch to leave the electrode on. No idea why anyone would bother unless they had an engine needing plugs that were no longer made. Perhaps in the by & by if Tesla battery electric gets big, the makers of spark plugs will stop production. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much! I've been trying to find a way to do exactly this. Any ideas on how to get the core out of the porcelain?
Big hammer ;)
Good one Robert.
Plug chop made easy! A job perfectly suited to those bargain mini lathes the likes of harbor freight sell
Even my little Sherline micro lathe could do this.
xynudu exactly. If you have pretty much any lathe with a 3 jaw, it can do this. A bright lad could probably manage it on a wood lathe, or even a drill press using a file to make the cut
You are as ever full of surprises Rob! Like others I may just have to try this for sh!ts and giggles :) Nice one cobber :)
And if you use a blow torch, you can heat up the ceramic and take the top off and remove the resistor element as well. You can make non-resistor plugs out of resistor plugs with a solid piece of regular 10 or 12 gauge copper house wiring to replace the resistor element.
Excellent, now I'd like some tips on how to turn it into a leak down connector, best way to connect a gauge/pump to it and make an air tight seal??
Hi Steve,
Just bronze braze a suitable size tube into it for an air line, or adapter.
Rob
Very interesting thanks.
Good video only thing is I don't have all those machines, so yeah I'll just beat my way through the hammer
Brilliant
Is it possible to make a conversion as a colortune spark plug? And how?
I've just followed your tip and got two sparkplugs apart with a hacksaw.
We used the old type that came apart and welded eyes to them, screwed them in the plug holes as engine lifting devices.
Great idea Tony.
they're also good for making positive piston stops.....
Yes.
@@Xynudu - thanks for the tip - I've been busting up the ceramic like an idiot for more years than I'd care to admit to. I was making a positive stop for my vintage Toyota TG twin cam, struggling once again to bust up an NGK plug - and I came in, searched and found your video. 3 minutes later with a Dremel and cutoff wheel - voila - punched it right out in one piece. Cheers mate!
I mainly make them into piston stops for chainsaw drive sprocket removal. You have to lock the piston to unscrew the retaining nut. The alternative is to stuff cord in the plug hole at bottom dead centre. That works quite well where the spark plug is angled to the piston crown. Cheers Rob
Good one, Rob!
Now take the center electrode out of the ceramic. :-D
That's where you use the hammer ;)
@@Xynudu That's what I was wondering, as I don't wanna smash the ceramic, Any tip mate or is it just trial and error?
The best thing to do with a Bosch plug is to replace it with a Champion or NGK plug.
Was it Lodge or KLG that came apart with a second threaded section? Asking for a friend!
Hi Geoff. I think quite a few makers had that type of spark plug back in the early/vintage days.
how to take apart a wire, cooper from ceramic ?
Not possible as the copper core is knurled and non removable.
What did you do for a job Rob? Jack of all trades.
Done lots of blue and white collar things.
Is there a way to do this without this kind of equipment? Thanks.
Yes, use an angle grinder with a thin friction disc and work your way around it while gripping it in the vice. Make sure to wear a dust mask as you will probably grind the ceramic a bit. Alternatively you could rotate the spark plug rolled edge against a chop saw or similar. Cheers Rob
@@Xynudu Thanks a bunch!
They make great holders for dti's . If you can manage to smash the porcelain out of them
You don't have to smash the porcelain out of them. Watch the video again.
I don't think ill ever need to do this; but im so very glad that now I do know how to do it. thank you
I know at least one other thing spark plugs are good for, they make good electrical feed-throughs for vacuum systems. I suppose at the end of the day that's essentially what they in an engine, where they keep the pressure in instead of out
Good idea Rob. The funny thing is they don't really "spark" but "arc". Bit of a misnomer.
More like little lightning pots :)
Cheers Rob
Git to it already
Did not know that ! thanks.
Damn I drive a diesel !
lol at 2:43
so, how to do this when plug is actually in the head (ford Zetec) cos mine is all rusted away