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Good news! I got the spark plug holes sprayed with some PB Blaster, let them soak for an hour, then came back and pulled 1 out, fairly easily. The middle one that I worked on yesterday was still a little sticky, so I put it back in (letting the penetration oil hit those threads, then put those threads back in) and pulled it right out. Finally, the last one was the worst for sure. It took several in-and-out attempts, but it came out. Seems these were put in dry. I put an even coat of anti-seize on the threads and they went in like I would expect on a spark plug. One thing I didn't realize is how long these threads are.... about 50% longer than on my Neon! No wonder it felt like they weren't coming out at all!
I bought AutoLite Iridium XPs (was pretty much all they had at the local stores...) and is what was in the car already as well. (Model XP5325). I didn't see any index markers, but it was easy to see which end is open and find a marker on my extension to monitor the orientation of that open spark. Seems these, at hand tight, don't all match. I see "B" stamped into the head on all 3 spots. So I'll research and see what my options are here.
I also pulled the intake manifold and got cleaning on the EGR plate. Definitely gunky, but not 100% plugged, it seems. A good cleaning was due regardless.
I pulled the brake fluid out of the clutch reservoir, it was black as used oil. Will be bleeding that out today, as well as the brakes. Front brake pads seems close to done and the rotors are definitely going to need replaced. Haven't touched the back wheels yet, so that remains to be seen.
Guess i'll skip on the motor mount fill... that was one thing I like about this car: Quiet operation. I was curious how bad it would be, but I'll take your words on it. What did you fill that mount with when you did it (and what hardness)?
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