got this Vertex magneto from Touchdowntodd this morning, stuck it in and fired it up. first clip I let the R's drop too quick and killed it, gotta do something about that, maybe lose the aluminum clutch and pressure plate, or at least let off a bit slower, like in the second clip. thanks touchdowntodd
Hey Paul, Those style mags even in premo condition have a weak spark at idle To combat this you need to run about a .012-.014 plug gap compaired to what your used to They will fire a.060 gap at RPM but you have to get there first Tony Ross Racing Engines Niles,Ohio 330-544-4466
Looks and sounds real nice! Love the look of the vintage 4-71 as well. Can't wait to get my 392 hemi running with the Cragar 4-71 on it. Nice inspiration. On topic, what are the advantages of running a magneto verses a distributor? I know you don't need a generator and/or battery for them for a racing motor. But that only helps if you don't have lights, heater motor, wipers, etc. that you will need a battery/generator for anyway. Do they have better performance too or is it mostly about eliminating the battery and generator from a race application?
thanks for the tip, I did reduce the gap to .018 and it does seem ok but, I'll try a little less and see if there is any improvement.. not that I've had any starting issues yet.. damn rain though, I want to take it out!
You also may want to try a couple extra degrees initial timing as "your " olds my not like that exact advance curve but a couple degrees may help it Of course we all can tune behind the screen Tony Ross Racing Engines Niles,Ohio 330-544-4466
biggest advantage, it's caveman technology that actually works a nice hot spark that gets hotter as the R's go up.. properly set up and dialed in electronic will do better but where is the fun in that?
I run .020 - .022" gap on my Vertex (locked) running alcohol with no problems firing or starting. You may want to have yours checked out. While at it you can also have the "good" magnets put in there for even more zing.
What is the cam? ..geez it sounded snappy in the first clip make more rocket videos or anything with an old motor..
wow man, KICK ASS! glad it all worked for ya, told ya it was ready to go!!! now u just need a big heavy ass spring on the throttle return to slow it down a lil hot damn i LOVE your car!
put the tach and timing light on it again, if I'm reading this right, at the crank it looks like; 22 degrees total mechanical advance starting at aproximately 1500 rpm and all in around 1800... does that sound like it starts a bit late? right now I have it set at 12 degrees initial, it starts easy and idles nice.. no aparent issues but 'won't know how it runs on the street until the rain lets up.
Howdy Paul, Thinking if you can get the advance to start coming in around 600 to 800 rpm and be all in at 1800 to 2000 ,,you would be more pleased with the feel and response thru the rpm range. You have a light switch instead of a curve as it sets----- initial at 12 is good ,might be able to increase it a couple degree's and get total to 36---if gas is not a issue.
Damn paul. I will be home in a couple of weeks. I really need to stop by and see that. I am hoping to fire my engine this inport.
I put the timing light and tach on it again yesterday, just using basic tune-up type tools, a bit hard to watch both at the same time but I did it several times and it looks more like it starts at about 850 at it's all in around 2000 I played with the initial timing and it seems to like it at 12 degrees best. rain did let up yesterday so as soon as I got home I was out driving it around, it works every bit as good as I could have hoped. nice and strong and responsive now to go into the carburetor, this one is just one I had laying around, I had it all dialed in to work on a dual quad tunnel on a fairly healthy 454 so it's already a bit "fatter" than out of the box. close but it could probably use some fine tuning been wanting to lose the Edelbrock all together and run some two barrels maybe a couple large 2GCs..
Cool! Must have missed this the first time around. Sounds pretty damn good. It was impressive when I heard it the other week, that Mag sure makes a difference. OK now I am even more motivated...but I am a lot poorer.
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