Also, if the worst happens and one of the spark plug holes does strip out... ask your local auto mechanic about Heli-Coil™ replacement thread inserts.

I had this same fate befall me with my GTi. The grease monkey who worked on the car before it came into my hands forgot to use anti-sieze and we had to use a breaker bar to get the plug out. :eek4:

Since I had AAA, I had the car towed to the machine shop in Larkspur. They were able to ream out the stripped threads and drive in the Heli-Coil threaded insert without taking off the head. The whole process took about 1.5 hours.