Hi Bill       Thanks for the great report.  Glad to hear the new manifold is working out so well.  Yes, that old spark plug SAG (Sparkplug Attention Getter) will certainly get your attention - ruined more than one seat cusion myself from it.  I've got myself a spark plug cleaner (if I can find where I misplaced it) that I want to use to clear some of the numerous spark plugs I have saved to see if I can't get some more hours out of them.     I wouldn't worry about not matching Tracy's fuel profile - I can't either.  I can cruise at 170 TAS and burn mabye as low as 7.25- 7.5 gph but no lower.  I think Tracy can get even higher cruise TAS with 6 - 6.5 GPH.  I think part of it is the higher drag of the RV-6, but I also think Tracy has had so many long trips to play with his ignition timing and other variables that he has his really fine tuned.   Do you plan on  being at the Rotary Fly in?   Ed Anderson eanderson@carolina.rr.com