Good replacement for BFS32C-1 spark plugs? Ford Taunus MK2

    • Neu

    Hey guys greetings from Croatia


    I own a 1978 Taunus and it's the first time I'm replacing the spark plugs.


    The ones currently in the car are MOTORCRAFT BFS32C-1. While the car is a factory 1.6 it has gone under some changes which makes it a bit more powerful now. Anyways, I don't know much about spark plugs and while im buying from motomobil unfortunately they currently don't have these in the shop. So my question is does anybody have an idea which to get?


    Sorry for speaking in english, kind regards!

    • Neu

    Cheers!


    some of us learned english at school. So all good in that side.

    Well, MM apparently ran out of stock with Motorcraft candles. Sometimes they now provide stuff like Bosch or NGK. But don't ask me for the partnumber. This will be given by someone, being mir familiar with the row death rattler, soon.

    • Neu

    Cheers Zanzibar, welcome to the "BUNCH"

    Maybe you can describe a bit more fully what has been done to tune your engine. If there has been excessive tuning (e.g. a considerable raise in combustion ratio) you will most assumingly need spark plugs of another heat range. The spark plugs will only clean themselves effectively if they are of the correct heat range.


    If I remember correctly there still is a spark plug for mildly tuned engines named BFS22C which was used in RS2000 Pintos. The slightly higher heat range might also be useful for your engine. But I will give a "final" reccomendation after getting a bit more information about the tuning steps ...


    With mildly tuned engines I have also had good results with NGK AP(R)6FS and "hotter" Pintos liked the AP(R)7FS. The "R" stands for a resistor for ignition suppression purposes. Brands other than Motorcraft or NGK often caused minor problems, don't ask me why ... :dunno:

    • Neu

    I sent a Message to MM so hopefully they respond to me tomorrow, so i know where to go from.


    I got the car 2 Years ago and unfortunately didn’t have much time to work on it. Plus this is my first project ever. I’m going to sound like an idiot but owner basically told me he upgraded it to around 100 HP. Double carb here too. But That’s for another topic.


    These spark plugs most likely dont even need replacement. But as the car had difficulties turning on, me and a friend put fuel directly into the carb to see if it was an engine problem (it wasnt). So now the plugs are just very dark on the top.


    Thank you for your kind and fast answers. I’m happy to be here!

    • Neu

    Hi again, I had a closer look at the photo of your engine bay. Unfortunately it is not very detailed but there seems to be the standard Weber 32/36DGAV or something similar on the inlet manifold.


    Put on a modified 2-Litre engine it would flow enough air for around 130 hp but quite some additional work is neccessary to get 130 or more hp out of this engine. The same statement is valid for a 1.6 OHC engine.


    To get 100 hp out of a 1.6 would require a lot more work in detail ... valves, inlet runners, exhaust runners, ignition curve, So, as long as you do not know more details about the work being carried out I would suggst to monitor the spark plugs' hot ends closely and change them in case they are running too hot.


    Another important point to check is the fact if you can run the engine on unleaded fuel. Near the spark plug of cylinder #4 one or two letters will then be stamped in, for a 1.6 you will find "M", "MM", "N" or "NN" in cylinder heads up to around 1990 if suitable for unleaded fuel. If the head is not made for unleaded fuel I recommend to frequently check the valve clearances especially on outlets. Otherwise Valve Seat Recession can/will occur. If the engine suffers from valve seat recession small pieces of the valve seat will "weld" with the valve and these little portions will be ripped out, causing the seat too be damaged over time. This could cause other trouble quite quickly as well. So check your valves thoroughly ... !

    The photo to the left shows the location of the stamped letters, to the right a valve seat with valve seat recession


     

    • Neu
    Zitat von Zanzibar

    I’m going to sound like an idiot but owner basically told me he upgraded it to around 100 HP. Double carb here too. But That’s for another topic.

    For an upgrade to around 100 HP, it is simplest and cheapest, by far, to just swap in a 2.0 OHC.


    Are you sure your car still has a 1.6 engine?

    • Neu

    I went down by the garage to check it out. The stamped letter is R, meaning it is after all a 2.0 engine inside. Thank you for the very detailed instructions.

    • Neu

    That would make sense ... On the sides of your block you will probably find cast numbers "20" (early 2.0) or "205" (later 2.0).

    The engine code can be found on one of the lugs on the right rear of the engine (left in this picture, see arrow)


    Roughly in the middle of the block's right side you find a milled area with a stamped number pattern XY 12345 where X stands for the year of assembly, Y for the month of assembly and the 5 digits are the 5 last numbers of the VIN (which is of course not identical to your car's VIN as it is not the car's original engine...)

    If you tell me the letters I can tell you when your block was assembled.


    Right below this pattern you will find something cast like 85HM 6015 BB

    This means that this engine was produced from model year 1985 on (which began in September 1984 after factory summer holidays). "6015" is the Ford part group number for engine and BB provides the exact block specification.


    If you post these codes (or send them to me as Private Message) I can tell you a handful of details about your engine.