[Marco Tahtaras]

Originally Posted by Fred

Marco; I talked with Roger K. down in FLA. in the spring & showed him what I am going to say here.. You say the only difference in the #3 & the 3X is in the porcelian markings.. I agree on that for the core piece.. But the base section on the outside looks the same as the normal 1928/29/30 but on the inside it is different.. The shape of the #3 core is the same as the 30/31 core.. You can not take a 28/29/30 core and put it in the early #3 base.. The early #3 base is machined deeper to except the later style 30/31 core which the early #3 core is.. I have some NOS of each if you would like to see them.. Roger said, I guess we missed that one .. Fred..

What you are describing is the transitional plug with the tall hex, deep pocket, and NEW type core. I have a 3X like that. One of the things Ed Eaton was kind enough to include in his article was an original late '28 drawing of the no. 3 showing it to be just like our common tall hex 3X including the core. From what I've seen over the last 30 years I'm confident the no.3 and 3X followed the same engineering changes at the same time.