When should I check new plugs?

After pulling my old (NGK BP7ES) plugs and finding that;

1) they were all (save 1) fouled black
2) the front bank contained a very old set of rusty plugs

I decided to replace them with new and slightly hotter (NGK BP6ES) plugs.

I put them in this morning. Carefully gaping each one to .025 (my feeler guage size) + a pinch of wiggle, to try get as close to .026 as possible.

Today it's hot here in L.A. And I drove around for about 2hrs., in stop and go, but mostly "go" traffic. Then a little on the freeway. At one point, while stopping to get some Redline, I had a difficult time starting the car. I had to pu the pedal to the floorboard to get it to start. Once started though, it wouldn't die; But it's still rough on take-off under 2000rpm, which is what I'm trying to correct.

I ran it up on the way home. Let it sit for about an hour to cool off and pulled the plugs.

And this (see pic below) is what I have:

-The rear bank look like they're going to start fouling. They have a thin layer of black dust on them.
-The front bank still, all, look like new.

I haven't checked the timing yet, as I have no reason to believe that there is anything wrong with the timing. At least, not after a mere 2500-3000 miles.

Then again, I thought the same about my carbs, until I got a synchrometer after reading Birdmans bit on carb adjustment, and found that the recent tune might not have been so great. But I kept a record, just to be sure. That's the first (see below) pictutre.

Any thoughts on those plugs from someone more knowledgable?
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Just like you see 'em when lookin' in the rear.

D-1234 (front bank)
D-4321 (rear bank)

That plug is the number 1 plug from the rear bank.

It's not really that dark though. It's only very slightly different from the ones next to it. It was in the process of falling out of my hand when I snapped the shot.

(btw: Sorry for the poor image. It's the best my little Treo600 can do!)

Now of course, it will have to be re-gap'ed.


.

 

BTW:

I readjusted the air bypass screws to adjust the balance between the carbs. Some were slightly out a bit. But they all (save one) started with 1-full turn of the screws open. I set them to zero, and then re-adjusted. Only the rear-bank, left-carb remained essentially the same.

I was not able to successfully adjust the front bank to the rear bank, because I did not have a proper tool. To adjust the bar that sync's the front and rear linkages, you need a pair of vice-grups to grab the bar, while you re-tighten the locknuts. I carefuly re-tightened the nuts as best I could, after adjusting the front and rear bank. But I was off a bit when I tightened it. And it's still out about the same as the above readings.

I'm probably getting the cart before the horse, if indeed the timing is off. But I still have no reason to think it's off. Other than time and mileage. The engine was (supposedly) rebuilt 2yrs, and (about) 3000miles ago.

I defaulted all of the mixture screws to 3-turns.

 

Wow! Thank you! I'm in Studio City. Not too far. And I'm always looking for "a drive".

New toy. Whatelse can I say?

Do you go to the VCR on Sunday's?