[brucepick]

I tried to find indexing washers but nobody local had them in stock.

I indexed my plugs without washers on two tuneups now. I did it by buying a couple extra sets. That way I keep trying plugs till I find the ones where the gaps point where I want.

You do end up with extra plugs this way. But we have other cars in the family that take the same plugs so I know they'll get used.

One thing I learned is that you have to learn, for your current brand plug, how many additional degrees of tightening it will take for it to get fully seated. That is, you don't want to crank down a plug completely to learn that it's off by 10-15 deg.

My current NGKs need about 3/4 additional turn after they first make contact. So I test-fit them in different holes till I find one that's right - so after I give it the additional 3/4 turn it will be aimed right.

They used to say that gasketed plugs need 1/4 turn, if I recall. But that's very old-schoool, mine need 3/4 turn and yours may be different.