How difficult could it possibly be to do a tuneup on a Dodge 318.........plugs, wires, cap, and rotor?

I figured it'll take no more than two hours and I head out this afternoon at 1:00 figuring I'll be done by 3:30 at the latest.

Well............

Firstly, these idiots changed the distributor housing to aluminum and the cap is secured with steel screws..........5mm. I struggled with one and spent the better part of 30 minutes to get it free without breaking it. The second wasn't so lucky. Snapped off right at the top of the threaded hole, despite my best efforts. Tried to drill it.........drill walked into the aluminum, of course. Tried to free the remaining stub with a chisel..........fractured the aluminum ear that had the thread attached.

Now it needs a distributor.


Well, figure I'll do the plugs. Again, these geniuses decided that this engine needed "heat shields" around the plugs. This is a cylinder of steel that is pressed into the exhaust manifold directly around the plug. The art of the press isn't very good and some of them deform during this press affair (at the factory). The result is that you cannot get a socket around the hex of the plug.

So, the only option is to attempt to pull the shield. However, 10 years of corrosion isn't about to let that happen without a struggle. #6 wasn't too bad.........took about 30 minutes. #8 was miserable..........took two hours. The shield tore away at the top of manifold..........leaving a struggle to remove the last 3/4".

Fortunately, #5, and #7 could be removed without removing the shields.

So, at 6:00..........four plugs are installed..........no wires and no cap and rotor.

The next obstacle, possibly insurmountable, is #1 and #3. On the van, these two are within 2" of the firewall. It is absolutely impossible to remove the heat shields from these two plugs if that becomes imperative. So, I'm hoping for some luck there...........I have no good alternative.


The stupidity of Chrysler will turn a two hour job into a 10 hour job by the time I'm done. If the left head has to be removed, the job goes up to 20 hours............just for a tuneup.