How hard is it to change a magneto from clockwise to counter-clockwise rotation? Or from counter clockwise to clockwise?
Not sure how hard it is but it can be done, i use Pat Mason from mason racing ignition, he is super helpful 610-287-1511
I don't know about Vertex but with the bendix you take it apart, the distributor gear is marked LH and RH on different teeth. Line up the marked tooth with the chamfered tooth on the small gear.
It depends on the magneto. Some will run backwards just fine, even allow a normal motor to run backwards. Some have a secondary winding that goes through a series of diodes that won't allow them to spark backwards. I would contact Vertex with the specifics of the mag you are working with.
I had a Jackson Roto-Faze for an early Caddy. Von Franco traded me a Scintilla Vertex mag (for an Olds) and I took it to Roger Gleason, now owner of Joe Hunt Vertex Mags in Rancho Cordoba, just south of Sacramento... Roger reversed it and converted it for use in my Chrysler Hemi. He also built-in some advance. Completely rebuilt, all new, and cosmetically restored the case. Took a week. Included were 2 original decals, with the Indy "Big Car" on them...
Thank you for the info, guys. Some more questions... What is the difference between internal and external coil? I've only seen the self contained ones, but I've heard about an external coil on some versions. What kind of coil is that? Is it possible to change a ext coil version to int coil? Is it worth the trouble?
I think the biggest difference between the internal and external mags is size. The external ones can be made shorter as they don't have the coil stuffed inside. The coil also runs cooler and can be made in a higher output do to size. Vertex converts Internal to external as part of their business.
Cool... So a external coil is't some super rare unoptainable part, if I happen to need one? Thanks again for all the Info, guys.
Awesome... Are there any books written on magnetos? Or other ways I can educate myself? I'd like to learn a lot more about them...
The distributor cam must be re-phased for a reverse rotation and the weights must match the rotation as well. Our local mag guy charges $150 to do this work on a Vertex.....
Please call this man. http://cirellomagnetoes.com/ He does a good portion of the Nostalgia Drag Nitro cars. I had him "tune up" a vertex mag that came from his shop 40 years ago and now its in my Corvair. Solid dude.
I have the same problem with an Ronco magneto i gues Ronco and vertex is the same scintila magnetos Gmc bubba can you explain what you mean with re-phased distributor cam since i dont have a local mag guy
Not to hijack but I have a Vertex with an internal coil and I want to run an electric tach. I was told by the mag builder to get a signal converter from Auto Meter. They (auto meter) said it would not work with the internal coil, I called my guy and he said they (auto mater) were lieing so I bought it anyway. They (auto meter) were right. Any other suggestions?
I used one and it worked OK - was a little jumpy at idle, but OK everywhere else. I think the difference was that Autometer recomends NON-SOLID wires where VERTEX reccomends solid wires. I can't remember which I had - but I think it was SOLID - I could swear that mine was an Autometer one as well.
I tried one with the inductive pickup coil. Bounced all over the place and never did work right. Hey Shapes, you building an airplane?
Here's your man. I run injected nitro Spud Miller is your guy. Fuel injection enterprises. http://fuelinjectionent.com/
bought the same signal converter and it did NOT work with my internal coiled vertex - i never knew that it could not work with this mag...got a 'mag trigger' sun tach and it works fine with no extra anything!...only other thing you could do is run a cable driven tach if you have cable drive on the mag.
Do you remember the part # of the converter? I tried mine hooked two different ways and it didn't work either way. thanks! I'll look into it.
I just looked - it's Autometer 9118. I orgionally bought it several years ago for use on a street car with a vertex mag that I wanted to use my old vintage tach with. It did work. I ended up swapping ignitions on that car and the converter ended up on my FED, but not for a tach - instead I use it as the tach input for my shift light - again with an old internal coil vertex mag. I don't remember all the wire connections, but I recall just following the directions - nothing "special" was done. I only remember one way to hook it up, but it's been years so maybe my memory is gone. How are you hooking yours up?
That's the same part # I have. The instructions show two ways to hook it up, one for internal one for external, I first tried the internal way and it reads a max of maybe 2000 rpm when I know it is running 6000+. then I tried it the external way just out of frustration and it did nothing, of course.
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