Guest Bob Watts Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I bought a box of 10 AC Type 46 Repaired Spark Clubs at a Flea Market and am trying to find out how old they are. They were repaired by STANDARD PARTS, 3033 Main St.,Kansas City, MO. and are guaranteed for 10000 Miles. (34mm) They have a couple of antique cars on each side that probably are in the mid-30 range, just guessing. Each plug is wrapped in paper and look in new condition. Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance, Bob Watts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 (edited) Do not know about the particular plugs that you have, but there were a number of companies that "remanufactured" spark plugs in the 50's & 60's and sold them for about 1/2 the price of new plug. AC Spark Plug actually advertised authorized cleaning stations. I believe that the companies sand/media blasted the plug in the electrode end, high voltage tested them to be sure they were not cracked and then cleaned them up and repackaged them. I remember seeing a number of blister pack remanufactured plugs being sold in the 60's and even into the 70's. After car manufacturers went to non leaded gas in 1975 and the tune ups went from 12,000 mile tune ups with new plugs to the 100,000 mile intervals and platinum plugs, these remanufactured plugs went away. Edited December 31, 2012 by Larry Schramm (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Shaw Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 I know of a spark plug collector/museum in Pendleton OR. You might try doing a search for it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph P. Indusi Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 My guess is that these were new in the late 1940's to early 1950's and reconditioned along the way. They are in a good heat range for several GM cars such as Buick straight eights. Also nice is that they are not resistor type. With these plugs and real copper stranded plug wires, you would likely use the GM rotor with the resistor to help with suppressing ignition noise in the radio. Back in the day, whenever a Cadillac or Buick with a V-8 came into the dealership running lousy, my uncle Jack the service manager would insist on replacing Champions with the AC Delco and that usually helped.Joe, BCA 33493 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Commodore Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Standard Parts advertised in Popular Mechanics Magazine in the 1943 - 1949 time frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge1934 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I bought a box of 10 AC Type 46 Repaired Spark Clubs at a Flea Market and am trying to find out how old they are. They were repaired by STANDARD PARTS, 3033 Main St.,Kansas City, MO. and are guaranteed for 10000 Miles. (34mm) They have a couple of antique cars on each side that probably are in the mid-30 range, just guessing. Each plug is wrapped in paper and look in new condition. Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance, Bob Watts\they would be newer than 1940 plugs as prior to that they used a different numbering system....AC went to the straight number system about 1940. There would ve variations in appearance after that up into the 50`s but I don`t know those details... though I would like to a pre 1940 would be k9 or KK something like that... 10 years or so prior to that there was nothing on the plug itself but there were a lot of different shapes/ styles of plugs...hope this helpsDon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 (edited) The 46 plug in question is a standard sparkplug. The 46 designates the heat range of the plug. If it was a R46, it would designate a resistor plug. If it had a R46S, it would be a resistor plug with a skirt below the threads that the 46 plug would just have threads to the end. All of these plugs use a steel washer/gasket. If it was an R46TS, it would have a tapered seat with no washer and a skirt below the threads. If my memory is correct, the 46 would designate a hotter plug and a 45 less hot, and a 44 a colder plug. Hope this helps. Edited January 22, 2013 by Larry Schramm (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Donboss Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 There are so many type and length of spark plugs.I have been trying to find out about this one for awhile. anyone have any ideas. The plug is 5 inches long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 (edited) I would say that it would be an igniter for some sort of gas fired item. There is a similar one like that is used to fire the optional gas heater used in early 60-64 Corvairs. Here are a couple of pictures of the Corvair igniter. Edited January 26, 2013 by Larry Schramm (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Donboss Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Thanks for the info Larry . could never figure it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rons49 Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Bob, It's funny you should ask about the AC 46. I just got off line to an excellant site for the AC-46 spark plug. To be brief, the 46 was the workhorse plug for GM for years. Before 1955 the plug was actually 46-5, as the "5" denoted before 1955 when all GM cars used wire boots over the plugs to eliminate cross fire(jumping) between plugs. My 1950 Cadillac was the last year Cadillac did not place boots on the wire. The 1951 dealer bulletins advised shops to convince owners to add the new boots when in for service. The pre 1955, 46-5 had a straight shank insulator and the boot would slide off the plug insulator so the ribbed insulator plug was installed for the 51 year. Eventually the suffix "5" was discontinued and the plug was simply designated 46, until the 60s when other suffixes were added. Go to the site it's neet. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ply33 Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Bob, It's funny you should ask about the AC 46. I just got off line to an excellant site for the AC-46 spark plug. To be brief, the 46 was the workhorse plug for GM for years. Before 1955 the plug was actually 46-5, as the "5" denoted before 1955 when all GM cars used wire boots over the plugs to eliminate cross fire(jumping) between plugs. My 1950 Cadillac was the last year Cadillac did not place boots on the wire. The 1951 dealer bulletins advised shops to convince owners to add the new boots when in for service. The pre 1955, 46-5 had a straight shank insulator and the boot would slide off the plug insulator so the ribbed insulator plug was installed for the 51 year. Eventually the suffix "5" was discontinued and the plug was simply designated 46, until the 60s when other suffixes were added. Go to the site it's neet. RonDo you have a link for that site you can post? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rons49 Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Spark Plug X-ref Chart This is the link, Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Yaros Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Spark Plug X-ref Chart This is the link, RonHmm, that site looks familiar to me? Glad someone is finding it useful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rons49 Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Good grief, Dave! I didn't realize that you were the author until I read your reply, then scrolled down at the site for the author. Thanks for posting the site. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Yaros Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 No problem. That is what it is all about, sharing the knowledge, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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