[R-390] Interesting tube manufacture

[Flowertime01 at wmconnect.com]

Bruce,

As stated in Albert patent claims The Champion were improved to the AC plugs.

Albert first plugs were sold as AC plugs.
GM brought out the AC "brand".

Albert's real claim was the smaller diameter 14MM thread size over the 
original 18MM "ford" plugs.

Albert sold the AC production rights to GM. Then he lost most of the money.
So he designed some new patent features and started the Champion brand that 
we know today.

The spark plug like so many ideas was considered unique and patentable not 
because of the idea but because of the "production process" I.E. I make mine 
this particular way and that process makes then superior.

Once upon a time the plugs metal base come in two parts that screwed together.
The center conductor was molded and "fired" into the ceramic part. The 
ceramic was then mounted into the metal base by screwing the two metal parts around 
the ceramic. The metal to ceramic seal would leak under compression.

Albert's first claim to fame was the ceramic bond to the plug base we use 
today.

The later Champion claims were all about plug shape, clean spark, longer plug 
life from conductor alloy and other nice little points.

Small things any kid in Flint knew about the one horse in the town that was 
the source of all prosperity in the county. Flint may have been a one horse 
town but our horse was the biggest horse of them all. When GM died in Flint 
Michigan in the 1970- 1980 that city suffered. 

I left Flint to learn about R390's in 1968 while times were still good.

Roger