so, that explains it...

[malones99]

Jabba, I was doing this Tuesday and Wed! I figured it was time. Anyways I put a small amount of vasaline (sp) on the new gasket on the big connector, as I was having the same problem "seating" it as you are. Finally it seated after pushing down. Hope this helps!

 

[Jabba's Barge]

are you talking about the gasket on the connector itself? i am talking about the gasket on the spider that goes up into the upper manifold.

slowly getting things back on track. sucks i can't drive my hoe... i replaced the plugs last night. i was right- the old plugs are Autolite coppers. i put the acdelco platinums in and hope they are worth it. i was getting super crappy gas mileage before. now, playing with the distributor to get it in the way it came out. I took some good "before" pics, so i should be ok.

 

[malones99]

Yep, The big "spider" connector, that comes out of the upper manifold, put vasaline on the gasket.

 

[Jabba's Barge]

i will see if i can get the upper manifold off without issue. if it's a PITA, i may just leave it.
i've been reading on the net that people actually prefer copper plugs to platinums for various reasons including lower voltage required for spark, cost, and the possibility that they may not noticeably affect the performance of the engine. i did not have any trouble replacing them, so that's not an issue for me. i already have the platinums in, so i don't know why i am asking this, but is there anyone here running copper plugs?