MTFCA Forum

While Champion X was the spark plug most used in the Model T, Ford used a few other brands, and many more companies produced aftermarket plugs in the ½" NPT size. Today many of the "other" plugs are scarce, so it can be difficult and/or expensive to put together a working set. But there are some brands that were produced in such numbers that you can often find them at swap meets for under $5, sometimes as little as $1 or $2. Here are some of those "other" brands


You might expect that Montgomery Ward sold a lot of plugs. You would be right. Oddly, I haven't found any Sears Model T plugs yet.


Horseshoe isn't a well known brand today, but the plugs are surprisingly common.


These green Splitdorf plugs look neat, but time has not been kind to them. I've heard that some still work, but these don't.


These later cream colored Splitdorf plugs work quite well.


Henry's pal Mister Edison produced two plugs for Model T. The #13 plug has two electrodes. I think this #14 is more plentiful, but It's getting scarce too, and is usually priced higher than most others

Thanks Steve, there are lots of interesting plugs out there.

Anyone interested have a look at the gallery section: https://mtfca.com/phpBB3/app.php/galler ... ?sk=n&sd=a
Scroll to page bottom, then following pages for a selection of plugs.

Cheers
Adrian

I have always thought those take apart plugs were fascinating. The blued metal and porcelain with catchy logos are so fun. It is nice to see them in sets of 4 ready for use. Wards and Edisons worked quite well for me, but I want to keep them nice for my collection, so I don't run them anymore.
Being 15, I was smitten enough by the old car hobby, but the local part store had a display of 3 or 4 plugs on their counter. Obsolete in the '60s, a green-jacket Splitdorf and 2 others caught our attention while the clerk fetched our needs.
I like Splitdorfs the best but don't have two alike.
Thanks for reminding me how much I like them.
Rich

Here’s some Wizard 18 plugs from the 40s - 50s that were in my Grandfathers 24 Coupe when I inherited it in the late 50’s. He had quit driving it in 1954. They still work good but I quit using them. I wonder if Wizard made a take apart plug earlier than these.

Here are some of the "others" that I have on hand:


The venerable Wizard: Rentz: Hulman: Amoco, which run VERY WELL! Gambles, with dual electrodes:
I also have a set of Fisk, Firestone and Auburn, but not on hand for photos.

I am running the Gambles duel electrode in my 26 RPU. Runs great.

Any plug that reduced combustion chamber volume would probably enhance performance. Moving the spark gap further into the chamber might give some benefit. A dual electrode plug would probably be difficult to get a consistent dual spark, but as one electrode eroded, the other one would come into play. It's possible that a dual electrode would cause more of the mixture to be ionized as voltage rose just prior to the spark occuring. I don't know whether that would have any benefit, but it might.

Here’s an oddball from the scrapyard.

Well after 30+ years and 47 model Ts owned you collect interesting plugs
They will make your engine stand out trust me

Steve, I think Sears were sold under the Cross Country name, like the one Nv Bob posted above. They are fairly common as well.

Anybody have a nice set of Blue Crowns? to me those plugs look really sharp.

John - Your post makes me think of Mauri Rose, a famous Indianapolis 500 race car driver who won back-to-back Indy 500's in the late 40's, driving a Lou Moore prepared car called the "Blue Crown Spark Plug Special". Not that beauty is very important in a race car, but I always thought that particular was one of the most beautiful race cars ever!

(.....being "just barely" computer literate, I don't know how to post pictures or I'd post a picture of that car )

....actually, just going from "memory" here, but I think there were a couple of those "Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials" that were very successful with at least two Indy drivers,....Mauri Rose & Bill Holland,....all of which has nothing to due with this spark plug thread,.....sorry,....that's what us "old guys" do a lot of,....remaniscing ......harold

......I should also have said,....sorry for cluttering up your spark plug thread Steve,...