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Nice plugs Chris, like John says, that Elmore is a beaut! I'll try to get a few additional pics done to add on to this thread as I've been collecting plugs for as long as anything else in my barn. There's another John up in Bristol Wisc that collects plugs-American Pickers visited him a while back and we caught a glimpse of his collection in the background. Do you belong to Spark Plug Collectors of America?

Terry

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John's right-that Elmore plug is neat. I've seen one of the brass sootless plugs with "Elmore" stamped on one flat but have not seen the one in your picture. Looks like it may have a Jeffery Dewitt product from the shape of it and style of printing. Over the next couple of weeks I'll try to pull out the plugs in my collection that have car names on them and post some other pics. I wonder how many plugs out there are made for use in specific cars with the names printed on them? I know there are a lot of Ford plugs existing, but it would be interesting to see others. I know there are several different Packard plugs. The photo below is just a selection from what I call my "traveling show" that goes to club meetings when I talk about collecting plugs. The other pics are a couple of my salesmans display boxes.

Terry

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I dug out some of my Ford plugs - makes an interesting side-line for plug collectors. There are a lot more, just photo'd a few that I though were interesting.

Terry

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And here are a few made for specific cars. Pic 1 shows some foreign plugs (left to right) Aster, made for the Aster Automobile, Napier, Mercedes, and Mors. The Mors plug was produced by a company called "Magneto AV" in France and was imported for use in several early American built autos - a couple of Peerless plugs shown in another pic here. They also produce those great early Packard script plugs.

Pic 2 shows a plug supplied by Soot Proof for early Reo cars, and a plug made for Stearns Knight. Also shown is a later version of the Napier plug and a Stutz plug made by Bethleham.

Pic 3 shows a pair of early Peerless plugs made by Magneto AV. Also on the Left is a De Dion Bouton plug of their own manufacture and a RCH (Hupp) plug made by Mosler. Interesting note about the plugs with names printed upside down. They were made for one cylinder cars. When you lifted the hood you were generally standing in front of the vehicle and the plug was sticking out of the engine pointing towards you. Since the name was printed upside down it would be clear what it said on the plug.

There are a lot more "car name" plugs around, let's see a few more pics from some of you collectors.

Terry

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If the original finish is dark, then simply using a permanent black magic market would darken them appropriately. You may have to scrub any plating with a bit of sandpaper or scotchbrite first. I use gunbluing to restore some of my very early plugs. A lot of early plugs were nickle plated or brass. I avoid heavy wire brushing as it rounds the edges and you might actually discolor the porcelain insulator if not careful.

Hope that's helpful.

Terry

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I have a great story about vintage plugs. A friend of mine out here in the central valley of calif has 150 1951-68 Imperials. In a trunk, he found 45 one gallon cans stashed . He opened one can and found 24 Nos Champion 6mm plugs in their boxes for 1932-33 Dusenburg and Stutz engines . 5 of the cans were Nos 6mm Champion R-11-A packed at the Alameda, Calif naval base 1951. Took me a few months to sell all on ebay, with jay leno buying 5 cans. I do have 2 Nos R-11-A plugs for sale here $40 shipped.

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Here are some more plugs with car names on them or manufactured for a specific vehicle.

Picture number 1 from left to right show an Oleo plug marked for Renault; a giant size plug that fits an early air cooled Knox and a Darracq plug. Picture # 2 ; Bottom Row from left: Champion Packard; Mosler Stoddard Dayton; Benz: Flint Ford Special; Top Row from left: Nieuport (probably aircraft), 2 AIM Auburn and a Fordson Tractor Insulator. Thw AIM Auburn does not refer to the Auburn car; it is the Auburn Ignition Company in Auburn, NY but it is a car name also. The B enz plug has the "B" inverted, as that is the way the plug is viewed when mounted in a similar way to the DeDion plug in Terry's earlier post.

Anyone who is in the area is welcome to visit with the Spark Plug Collectors of America who are holding our annual convention in Portland, Indiana at the Portland engine show starting on this upcoming Thursday. We now even have a website: www.spcoa.net

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Edited by rniez
Website is wrong (see edit history)
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Nice plugs! Wish I could make it to Portland but AACA duties keep me pretty well occupied for now. I'll try to post a few more car name pics later.

Got to meet Chris Paulsen at the Moline Meet this past weekend. We had a nice look over the Model T resorted by McPhearson College students. It was a fabulous car!

Happy collecting.

Terry

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  • 2 years later...
Guest donald ellis

Chris:

I came upon your Forum thread on antique spark plugs. I am a somewhat novice collector of plugs, anxious to get in touch with someone like-minded to exchange information and perhaps duplicate plugs.regards,Donald (Ellis)

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Yes indeed - Spark Plug Collectors of America

You'll want to join and receive the "Ignitor" showing ads and providing info for antique plugs, articles with plug company history, reports of events and get-togethers of members, where to buy, sell, trade and just enjoy collecting together. It's much more fun in a group! We always meet at some of the major events each year like at Hershey. You'll want to be part of it. Here are a couple more plug pics to enjoy on a Christmas morn (while I'm waiting for the rest of the family to smell the coffee and get up! First pic shows some brass beauties - plug of the left is called "Electra" and it's a dark blue insulator with gold lettering on it that's really a beautiful early plug. The center plug is an early "All-in-One" priming type plug. It's an all brass beauty with a cup built i so you can pour a few drops of gas in to help get the car started on a cold morning. Plug on the right is called "Elk" and it has a built in window feature. Pic on top right shows a "Bulls Eye" with glass windows built into the base, then a great looking plug called "Blitz." Next is "Certified" where a hole in the insulator has a glass tube in it so you can watch the spark jump while it's firing. Lower left pic shows an "E-Z Kleen" made in Pennsylvania, then an "E-Z" which is a quick take apart plug. A quarter turn twist of the handles and the center core comes out so you can clean it or print through the base, which remains screwed into the cylinder. Plug on the right is an "Automat" with a neat spring loaded top that you can press down to prime through. Lower right picture shows two more of the very desirable Quick Detachable plugs. They are called "Mayo" and "Brown." Both of these plugs were part of a tire pump set designed to let you pump up a flat tire using engine compression. The center core of these plugs was removed, then a special tire pump was inserted so you could air up a tire. The entire kt was packed in a neat wooden box. Of course you could also remove the center core to quick-clean it or prime through it. These are some of my favorites and are the result of many years of enthusiastic collecting.

Merry Christmas!

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Edited by Terry Bond (see edit history)
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Guest donald ellis
Be sure to join the SPCOA (you can probably guess what the letters stand for).

Phil

Thanks for the advice. I got a membership application form which I will fill out and join. Donald (Ellis)

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Guest donald ellis

Hello Terry! Those are some fabulous plugs you've collected! I try from time to time to find antique plugs on e-bay with mixed results. I can tell that realized prices there are not a reliable indication of value, Thus far I have amassed about 150 plugs and have tried to get only take-apart examples and I do love brass (My first plug was a 1905 Soot less). I try to avoid aircraft applications but do have a couple of Siemens WW2 Daimler Benz plugs. In the next couple of days I'll try to photograph my "collection" so you can see what I have. I do wish I could get some early Bosch Lodge, KLG. I bought some Magnetti Marelli but they turned out to be licensed from Bosch. I correspond with Herr Schultze in Germany and he was kind enough to send me a DVD of his extensive collection...huff, puff. I'm green with envy! Thank you so much for taking the time to correspond! Merry Christmas, Donald (Ellis)

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  • 4 months later...
  • 9 months later...
Guest tshaddock

How much for you Hagstom plug. He was my great, great grandfather.

It's been quiet in this memorabilia forum lately and I had my camera in the garage. Here are a few spark plugs. The Hagstrom, Bathurst and Kant Foul were local (Kansas) plugs.

The pic of 4 have car names on them.

Enjoy,

Chris

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There is a Hagstrom plug on ebay right now - check item number 121291080195. It's pretty crusty but is one that doesn't show up too often. You're competing with some plug collectors there so be prepared to pay more than it's probably worth. Do you have the Hagstrom paperweight? There are several of them know to exist but again, it's a scarce item.

Attaching a larger image -

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Edited by Terry Bond
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  • 5 years later...

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