Technical Bad Champion Plugs WARNING

I bought new champion plugs on Amazon. I was working on the car and figured why not. They’ll be here next morning. Never again.
Anyway…..I’ve been dialing in my flathead (timing and carbs) and wanted to drop in new plugs. Car won’t run. Won’t idle. Won’t respond to gas pedal. Pulled my hair out.
I wire brushed the old plugs checked the gaps and DANG fired right up!!!
Here’s some pictures of the bad plugs. There’s a blue ring on the plug that’s not on my good ones. And the lettering is different.

 

Do they have lot numbers engraved on the "nut" part? If not that and the fact that Champions name isn't on the ceramic would lead one to think they are counterfeit. Lots of counterfeit parts on Amazon.

 

I just went through this with some electronic bits from one of those Chinese sites, bought 4 and tested them, none worked, and did a little bit of digging and found they were fakes, and even had the real manufacturers logo on them (Motorola). I made a complaint and was refunded straight away. Funny how they refund your money quickly (without actually returning the item), it's like they expect a lot of the **** they sell to be junk/fake/not working.

 

Fake plugs.
You can tell just by the quality of the finish with them.

Got to be so careful with stuff like this now.
I used to order plugs through Ebay as you'd get some good deals but too many fakes floating around now.
Only buy through trusted, established parts suppliers now.

 

My dad bought dang near every Champion plug he could get his hands on when Kmart was closing and glommed on to well over 1000 of them. All of them are on the cardstock as lawnmower plugs but they are H10C. Then I have several hundred of the NOS Gunmetal Blued H10 plugs that are correct for the 49-51 Fords. Needless to say I’ll never buy another plug for a flathead in my lifetime

 

Just another heads up about online stuff, NEVER EVER buy anything that requires you to go through SHOPIFY, its a total scam and a major rip off. I got lucky through my bank and the credit card I use, the product was never delivered so they credited my account.
I should have gone online and checked out SHOPIFY first, they have a 89% bad reviews and they are a total scam!

 

Buying stuff off sites like you did with the dud plugs is a ****shoot, but it is what we have made it. We have byp***ed the legitimate "bricks and mortar" sellers and suppliers just to save a few dollars. Now we can deal online directly with the crooks. Doesn't work so good all the time.....

 

Lots of counterfeit stuff out there.
A while ago I bought some NGK Ruthenium plugs for my OT truck from Rock Auto. Upon receipt NGK had an warning about counterfeit plugs with info on how to tell the authentic from a fake. I’ve long since pitched the note or I would include a photo of it. Evidently they’ve had problems.
I only buy from reputable sources local if I can.
Dan

 

Parts runs are fun, especially For something as mundane as a spark plug. I avoid online shopping as much as humanly possible and I refuse to shop on Scamazon. The world is addicted to inexpensive cheap **** and can't stop buying it. If you're a swap meet guy, check in all of the nooks and crannies of the sellers spots. You'd be surprised how many brand new old tune up parts are out there. That's where I buy my points and condensers.

 

Aren't those kind of long reach for a flathead?


I bought a set of expensive plugs for a "modern" car on ebay at a fraction of the very expensive usual price.
The plugs had gaps that were way out, some far too wide and others too narrow.
I corrected them and they worked fine. Probably they were rejects at the factory that someone put in his lunch box.

 

Edelbrock heads. 3/4” reach

 

Ah, I see now.

 

Here’s the ones like I run on my 8BA

 

I don't understand this at all. How could anybody make any money at all making and selling counterfeit spark plugs? When you consider what it would take to produce and package the fake item, and then infiltrate the normal distribution network, it would have to be a losing proposition. When currency counterfeiters make bogus bills, they usually make hundreds, and never less than twenties; you couldn't make any money counterfeiting singles. There's got to be something else going on here; perhaps these are factory rejects from Champion, being marketed by unscrupulous employees, or perhaps, even Champion itself.

There's got to be a lot more going on here than we can even conceive of.

 

It costs next to nothing. Buy spark plugs from a Chinese manufacturer who is already making them. Have them package them in counterfeit packaging if they are not already in the packaging then sell them on Amazon and Ebay. Nothing to it. I can buy spark plugs in counterfeit NKG packaging for $.76 a piece right now online from China. Lots of people buy on nothing but price.

 

WOW
Dan

 

That's if I only buy 100. I can get them down to $.58 if I buy 2000.

 

ALL the counterfeits don't work?

 

Don’t be such a cheap ***. Drive down to your local parts store to buy spark plugs. Jeesh.

 

Some counterfeits are good copies and work ok, but some of this stuff are re-badged rejects from another manufacturer, and may work at lower specs. They rely on the laziness ("It was only $2.00, so I couldn't be bothered returning it") and stupidity ("maybe I haven't installed it right?") of the majority of the "I need a new EV, and a bigger TV, and I want it NOW!" part of the population of the world. If they all let a $2.00 purchase slide, that's a lot of loot going overseas, and all you get is a little bit of landfill.

 

More on this topic on this post from 2023:

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/flathead-spark-plugs.1258973/

By the way, the "blue ring" is where the plug pieces were (laser?) welded together:

 

Well, I quit buying Champions more than a few yrs ago. Last time I bought a set of plugs for one of the dd's, got home, & started gapping them. Went right back to the store, for Auotlites. Counter guy asked why, & I showed him, 2 plugs out of 6, had no threads... . I should've kept one as a "Trophy"... . He made sure to open each of the boxes, when I asked him WTF? Why??? He said *lots* of folks buy the parts, put the old ones back in the box & return as "doesn't fit" or "not needed". He said it's like an epidemic-level problem. So, when we got the new plugs, I did the same. He looked at me surprised, & I said "well, turnabout is fair play". Sure enough, that pack of plugs were *all* used - & junk. We both laughed, but I finally got a set of - examined - new plugs, that were made correctly. Everything seems to have issues lately... although so far, Bosch, NKG, Autolite, Nippondenso seem ok - for now. & I've learned to check *everything* lately. Oh, Rock Auto's been good too, at least in their mid-hi quality level(s). & when the wrong parts were sent in the correct boxes, they refunded $$$, but I ate shipping. Parts weren't available locally.
Marcus...

 

Yep, I've even seen counterfeit fridge water filters from Amazon cause floods in people's homes. If the product is cheap on Amazon, ask yourself why.

 

I was getting my rod ready for the Street Rod Nationals in Columbus 1978. New set of Champion plugs . Car ran like ****. Put the old AC plugs in and it ran fine. Never used Champion since.

 

File a return with Amazon immediately. A) You will get your money back, and B) You will generate pain/cost for Amazon, which is the only incentive they have to police their vendors.

 

Would you want them even if they did?

 

Not strictly counterfeit I guess, but a photography forum I visit contains many warnings about buying memory cards and other camera gear from Amazon, Ebay and similar sites.

https://community.usa.canon.com/t5/Camera-Accessories/SD-Card-p/298627#M2863



When you buy strictly based on low price, don't be surprised when the item isn't what it appears to be.