[Maleficio]

I pulled the main engine ground today. It was in very bad shape. It was covered in road grime and corrosion.

I unwound the multi-strands and saturated them with solvent and let it sit for 30 minutes. Rinsed it, and did it again with strong contact cleaner. Wiped it down. Scrubbed the terminal and the mount points.

Reinstalled, and drove the car.

Problem 1: alternator voltage barely registered at idle, and maxed out at 10 volts or so above idle. Now, at idle, it gives 11 volts, and shoots to 14 volts above idle.

Problem 2: misfire at idle, and rough running above idle. Anywhere in the RPM range, the engine sounded rough, like certain cylinders were not firing equally. This problem ceases to exist, and the engine sounds balanced and musical. Smooth as silk up and down the throttle range.

The car is running a little stronger now, and I feel that I'm getting closer to the sweet spot for timing and stoich.

I'm now feeling confident enough to switch to the OEM plugs like I said I would to see if I'm wrong about Pulstar plugs.

Tomorrow I'm going to pull and clean the alt's cables.

I plugged the lambda sensor in yesterday, and the car ran like crap. Question: what does the ECU actually adjust if I'm able to manually change the stoich balance? *confused*

Thanks to everyone for their sound advice so far. I'm having a blast tinkering with this fine automobile!