OldAndrewE Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 Watched an episode of Secrets of the Transport Museum the other night and Allen Millyard was on as he was going to demonstrate The Flying Millyard bike (5 litre V twin) and the plugs needed cleaning. He held them in a vice and heated the business end to red heat with a blowlamp. He recons never wire brush or blast. Interesting I have never thought of doing that.Beware do not let them drop in water, they just explode Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beagler Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 I saw that. Will try it. He did blow the plug with the airline to clean off the ash straight after it was glowing red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAndrewE Posted March 17, 2022 Author Share Posted March 17, 2022 Yes, he did. Forgot that point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beagler Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 He had adapted 2 cylinders from a radial aircraft engine for his motorbike but the engine was so low revving, 1800 if I remember, and it didnt gain enough temperature to clean the plugs so he had to do that before starting. The guy is a genius when you see some of his creations. Could do with him buying a Caterham then we would see some amazing mods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerobod - near CYYC Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 With standard cheap copper plugs such as the BR7EFS, I don't think it makes sense to try and clean vs replace, unless the plugs are becoming fouled or unusable more than say once a year. Even then I would try and fix the underlying problem rather than continually cleaning the plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beagler Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 More Handy tip for 2 stroke garden equip. and lawn mowers etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAndrewE Posted March 17, 2022 Author Share Posted March 17, 2022 Yes, his problem is plugs sooting up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beagler Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 I remember our boss's wife had a Lotus Cortina Mk2 she just went shopping in it. That engine burnt 1pt of oil per 250 miles froom new. She constantly complained of misfires. We used to take it out and give it good thrashing. That cleaned the plugs of oil and it fired on all four after. Didnt even need to remove the plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Golf Juliet Tango Posted March 17, 2022 Area Representative Share Posted March 17, 2022 Heating the tips of your plugs to red hot helps if the beast is reluctant to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beagler Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 Need to be careful putting a red hot plug near a flooded cylinder though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAndrewE Posted March 17, 2022 Author Share Posted March 17, 2022 And picking it up to put in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR400D Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 To make starting easier the plugs don't even need to be that hot IME. One of my mowers, a Honda 4 stroke is always reluctant to start after winter. I took the plug out, heated for maybe 30s with a hot air gun, put it back and it fired first pull. I think you just need enough heat to vaporise the fuel properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beagler Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 It was about cleaning plugs not just starting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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