A spark plug change

[TRMatthews@domain.elided]

Although this is not a particularly "Alfa Centered" post, I feel the need to 
vent a little....this goes right along with the FORD acronym thread...

Don't let this happen to you: 

Last week I decided to tune up the old war-horse-Ford F-250 4x4 
gas-sucking-needs-50-yards-to-turn-it-around truck. The spark plug that I 
tried to remove first seemed a little tough to get to turn out. Not expecting 
this I had been trying to use a small ratchet to pull the plug. So, I 
switched to a bigger ratchet and gave it a go...mind you I am standing on a 
step ladder to get at the engine block (the 4x4 is stock in everyway and I am 
over 6 feet tall so you can tell how back breaking working on these huge 
monsters is), anyway with a larger ratchet in hand I gave the plug a turn and 
low and behold it turned. Well as I pulled the plug out of the socket I 
noticed that the ceramic came out and the nut....but no threads or electrode. 
Oh, man was I in trouble. I had a plug stuck in the block.  Well needless to 
say I had to make a trip to the hardware store and buy a screw extractor, a 
BIG one.  Evidently the previous owner had used an air ratchet to insert the 
plug.  Thank god that after a couple hours of working the screw extractor 
gently, yet firmly into the what remained of the plug, I was able to remove 
it. 

I am telling this story on the Alfa Digest because I feel it necessary to 
caution all new owners of any vehicle to not assume that the Previous owners 
are "wrenches". I wish sometimes (I am a high school teacher) that auto shop 
was a requirement for all students. This way we might find less blue smoke 
blowing, muffler dragging, duct tape repaired chevy nova's, ford tempos, 
honda civics (what is it with those friggin sewer pipe exhaust attachments?), 
etc....

My two cents....

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