# 67 400 with AC Number 2 Spark Plug Changing Question



## Colorado67GTO (Sep 11, 2014)

Hello All. I have been assembling and painting my engine. It is a 400 with AC. When I put the heads on with the AC bracket, which is needed to bold on the heads, I noticed how tight the number 2 spark plug was. 

Even with the engine out and nothing else on it, I couldn't get a spark plug socket on the spark plug. It looks like this will be very difficult, if not impossible when everything is assembled on the engine. 

Did I do something wrong with the bracket? It looked pretty straight forward and seems like it would only go on one way. 

Is there a trick to changing this spark plug?

Any advice would be helpful.


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## pjw1967 (Mar 10, 2014)

Going by feeble memory, I think I went thru the bracket to get at the plug. Put the socket on the plug first, then an extension with a universal. Once the plug is loosened, remove the uni and extension and back out the rest of the way by hand. To reinstall, put the plug in the socket, then screw in the plug by hand. Finish with the uni and extension. With your compressor currently out of the way, you should be able to practice. Certainly a plug that should have a little anti seize on it. I'll look later at my bracket to see if it looks like your photo.


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## 64GTOConvertible (Aug 28, 2016)

Neat trick my dad taught me on those tight little places. Take a little bit of gas hose and slip it over the plug. It should stick out far enough through your hole to allow you to revove and install with relative ease.


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## Colorado67GTO (Sep 11, 2014)

Thanks guys, but I couldn't even get the socket on it as it sits on the engine stand.


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## pjw1967 (Mar 10, 2014)

Colorado67GTO said:


> Thanks guys, but I couldn't even get the socket on it as it sits on the engine stand.


Here is a photo I took just now of my '67. It shows the spark plug socket sitting in the opening of the bracket.  The plug wire is still on, but if it were off, the socket would slip right over the plug. To be clear, the bottom of the photo is the valve cover. I measured the socket and it is exactly 2-3/8 inches end to end. The hardest part is getting the plug wire back on, which is why I didn't take it off. Hope this helps.


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## Colorado67GTO (Sep 11, 2014)

Thanks PJW1967. Sometimes you get married to a tool. My spark plug socket is too long to fit the spark plug. I used just a deep 13/16 socket and I was able to get it onto the spark plug. 

You can see in the pictures that the spark plug intrudes into the 3/8 inch socket adapter, but not far enough to matter. 

I included a picture of both sockets and you can see that one socket is shorter than the other. That little difference made all the difference in the world. 

Thanks for your help.


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