I love tuning distributors and playing with timing curves. The plain old GM single point is my favorite. There a natural for running full advance with the built in start retard of the points. In 40 years I have never had a Magneto and I always wanted to try one.. Do these work well on the street? This is in a healthy, stock cammed 454, 100% street.. Thanks...
I ran the same Ronco-Vertex on a couple of different engines on the street without any magneto problems for almost 10yrs until I finally sold the car, & I would not hesitate to do it again.
12 degrees is at the distributor, double that at the crank. For example; 10 initial plus 12x2 equals 34 all in
Thanks Paul!! I was wondering about that.. I was thinking about the mag today at work. There's just something so cool about them..
Side note: If the it's a high compression motor, you can spin the motor with the starter, & then flip the mag switch while the motor is spinning. That way the starter doesn't have to work so hard.
Its a low compression motor and runs on 87-89.. It still has the stock starter that spins pretty fast compared to the mini starters.. Would I be better off buying a new Vertex? Are they as good as the older mags? They aren't cheap.. haha
The only real problem buying used, is you won't know if it's locked, Or has advance, but a quick spin on a distributor machine will let you know, $200-300 used is realistic, I bought 10 over the years, an only had one that I'm sending out to magsrus
>>>The plain old GM single point is my favorite.>>> >>>Would I be better off buying a new Vertex? Are they as good as the older mags? >>> Both new and old might be almost but not quite as good as your plain old favorite. Why don't you buy both and let us know which comes closer to your favorite? Jack E/NJ
That's true with coil point ignitions as well. Solid core metal copper or steel plug wires like Packard 440 are too good as antennas for spark induced RF noise. Sorry, suppression wires are needed for decent radio reception. Call it a trade-off or compromise Jack E/NJ
My only experience with MAGNETO is hearing one go POP. When I asked pilot what the hell that was he said "Oh that's just the magneto, no problem we got two on this engine" It was a '46 Cessna Prospector
A lot of ground has been covered, but a lot has not to get to the point of your question. You said it a street driven 454, but I don't see where you said what type of car it's in. In no particular order: Most mags have points, but many new ones are electronic. Nothing wrong with an old Vertex. You'll pay $200-$300 for a used one and spend $400-$500 on the rebuild and upgrade. The original mags were built with magnets that require periodic recharging. Upgrade to rare earth magnets to get away from the need to recharge. The magnet upgrade can get a 1 amp mag to about 2 amps. The Vertex advance plate option can provide up to 12 mag degrees of advance (24 engine degrees). It's all weights and no springs, so there is not the same level of curve control as a distributor. It was intended as a start aid - take some timing out while cranking. Typical weight set will be all in by 2500 RPM. No vac advance provision. Mags are intended to run non-suppression wires and non-resistor plugs. You can run some minimally suppressed wires to help with electronic engine management devices. It will still kill your radio. You'll want your plug gap at 0.018" to 0.020" So if you have a heavy car, you may want to stay with a distributor to get the vac advance. If you are really into your radio, keep the distributor. If you just want the "look", buy a fake mag. If it's a fairly light weight hot rod, put the mag in and drive it. Dual exhaust rumble beats AM / FM.
a few more tips. they can be timed statically with a buzz box just remember to take the slack out of the rotor by pushing the opposite way on it. use a quality kill switch rated for the mag used. the brown vertex caps are the old ones and are worth some good money. solid steel wires will not work with a efi system. this pertains to a msd system.
Been running them for years, old reliable last one I got had it freshened up at a place that works on them in Forney Texas, cost me around 150.
Thank you! I am going to just stay with a stock points and get one of those old cool tack drive distributors that came with the vette.. I love my stock AM radio. My buddy said if I go with a mag, kiss Candy and Mike goodbye. There a popular Pittsburgh oldies radio show..