Spark plug gap, 1986-1988 2.4L

Can anyone talk about what is the proper gap and the best plugs to use
in a 1986 pickup with a 22R with a carb? My friend's just seems to not
like any plug I put in it. When I borrowed it back in March I put in AP64's
gapped at .032, and changed the wires. Now in November the plugs are
all carboned up with light colored carbon. So I changed the gap to .042
and checked the timing, about 3 degrees fast. Saturday I checked them
again and they didn't even look like they were firing. So I went and got
4 new NGK's and left them at the factory gap, about .033. I have been
told that these can run at .042 - .044 properly. Also in this engine can
different plugs run at different gaps? Any ideas about what is the best
plug for this engine? Thank you.

hey nightdriver, NGK all the way!! autolites suck and so do champions! i've actually done pretty well on ac delco's beleive it or not! bosch are probably pretty good too but i've never used them! with a 4 cyl engine, every cylinder counts so there should be no reason to skimp on plugs. you could make a 350 v-8 run good on lawn mower plugs but these 22-r's are very finiky when it comes to their plugs & wires and you definitely want to make sure you've got a strong relatively new coil! also with these little "high out-put" engines the rotor tends to pit rather quickly and the cap gets a lot of carbon splash inside! rotor & cap are pretty inexpensive and help keep the spark strong! when it comes to gapping i beleive sometimes you can get a little more power from opening the gap up a little more than recommended but when it's opened up and you've got a longer spark then you're also allowing for more oxygen flow across the spark and in return you'll get more carbon fouling!! i've got an '88 and the manual recommends 0.38 but i think anywhere from 0.40-0.44 is fine but anything higher will probably result in excessive carbon build-up! reguardless of the brand, try to always use the same gap! the gap should be considerred primary and the make secondary. as far as timing goes 3 degrees btdc is just about perfect! my '88 is recommended for tdc but i found it always seemed to be retarded at 0 degrees! the tall tale sign of retarded timing is when the engine decellerates real quickly and many times results in an exhaust backfire. on a cold morning with my '88 set at tdc i could always depend on scaring the crap outa someone. too fast of timing and the engine tends to decellerate too slowly and when you accellerate you'll get alot of valve tapping. about 3-8 degrees btdc is fine! you'll have to just play it by ear. i hope in my rambling i haven't just told you a lot of stuff you already know! good luck!

sorry nightdriver i could use a refresher course in american standard but i'm sure you know i meant 0.040-0.044 in. good luck!