Your info is greatly appreciated, I was reading rhylar's post about the spark plugs in a 496 and he said just a dab.

should I just pull and wipe off the best I can?

I already gave the correct response. ZERO AS can care less what Raylar says. And I do not recommend for carb engines either. My thoughts below. Why enhance a problem that can occur ?

If AS gets on any portion of the spark plug that is exposed to the combustion chamber or even by any stroke of bad luck ends up on top of the piston or in the combustion chamber --- it creates a hot spot that pre ignition can can occur. 3 major brand spark plug manu's say no to AS, Merc when the original plugs are taken out - there is no AS on them. I do not think its any clearer than ZERO.

DIS set ups I surely would not use it period ever. Like I said I can confirm and fixed almost the same issue in the video on marine apps - 496's was in that mix. Not once nor twice but over 6 engines prob 10 if I recall correctly. I have not used AS since 2002 or 2001 for any marine engine spark plugs that I work on.

I see the point, I am now asking the best way to clean the treads on the plug and head?

Holy spark plug! She ran great! Pulled them all cleaned the AS and rechecked gap before I launched, next season I will try the NGKs.

thanks for the replys