3X Plugs

spdway1

spdway1

Well-known member
What are the pros & cons of running 3X plugs in a driver Model A? (price is not a concern)

Should I buy NOS or the ones from Snyders or?

Thanks in advance.
 
I like them but can’t find them, and have found equally satisfactory replacements with no noticeable change. I kept my 3X plugs because I have read they can be refurbished. I don’t show my cars, just drive them.

Snyder’s only shows the base of the 3X plugs.
 
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spdway1 said:
Should I buy NOS or the ones from Snyders or?
Click to expand...

I doubt if you will find NOS and if you did, I do not think you would want to pay the price.

A lot of people sell the reproductions on eBay and call them NOS.

Buy the ones from Snyders.

My opinion,

Chris W.
 
spdway1 said:
What are the pros & cons of running 3X plugs in a driver Model A? (price is not a concern)

Should I buy NOS or the ones from Snyders or?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Pro: They run really nicely in Model As.
Cons: A bit pricey (but worth it).

You will almost certainly not find NOS for under 3-figures each. If someone is selling 3X plugs and calling them NOS, they are almost certainly mistaken. Repro 3X plugs are sold by most of the Model A parts places (like Snyder's). I run them in all of my Model As, even the driver cars. I think they run much better (with about a 10% increase in fuel economy) than modern ones.
 
700rpm said:
I like them but can’t find them, and have found equally satisfactory replacements with no noticeable change. I kept my 3X plugs because I have read they can be refurbished. I don’t show my cars, just drive them.

Snyder’s only shows the base of the 3X plugs.
Click to expand...


The base that Snyder's sells is an exact copy of the original 3X base with a protruding knurl instead of a recessed knurl, no bands of un-knurled material, and the number of knurls per inch matches original 3X spark plugs.

These bases are used on high point blue ribbon cars and can be used to make show quality 3X spark plugs if you have original porcelains with a rounded 3.
 
According to the article about spark plugs in the recent issue of Model A News, the 3X plugs were designed by Champion for the Model A. The article claims that they work best, in a stock engine with the 4.2 to 1 head. An engine with a high compression head may do better with a slightly colder plug.
 
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I run reproduction 3X plugs in my car and it runs just fine with no issue. I have a lot of original 3X plugs and need to get off my rear to restore them.

Once I have a set of decent, restored originals, I plan on running those in my car.
 
This is a bit of an old thread, but I thought I’d mention that NAPA sells 3X plugs too. I bought a set a year or so ago, and NAPA surprisingly had them in stock.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The bases on the repro 3X plugs are blued steel. They rust. Cleaning the rust and re-bluing is hard work. When I buy my next set, I plan to paint the bases BEFORE they rust with high temperature paint.

W. Michael
 
w.michael said:
The bases on the repro 3X plugs are blued steel. They rust. Cleaning the rust and re-bluing is hard work. When I buy my next set, I plan to paint the bases BEFORE they rust with high temperature paint.

W. Michael
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how others have gotten the bluing to stay looking good on an operating engine, but whenever I've tried cold bluing, it gets an "ashy" color to it after running on the engine for a while. Maybe hot bluing would be better?

For the last set of 3x's that I restored (they were reproductions) I painted the bases with high heat black paint. I used a flat to start and then did a slight overspray to give them a little bit of a sheen with some satin. To my eye, they looked really good. More importantly, even after having several hundred (or more) miles on them, they still look good on the engine.
 
Installed and in use on my engine, this is what my restored reproduction 3X's look like (high heat paint vs bluing).

Not saying they're perfect, but they look good to me. :D
 

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