I took the dive and scrounged a complete Mag setup for my Henry J. From the best I can determine, it is nearly NOS. I tested it on the bench and it throws a good spark. I found out after getting this Mag that is has a mechanical advance in it. The advance is located in the base. -Also, the 'MAG' Sun transmitter I mentioned before. They wire to 'P' terminal.
Yo , running that setup in my blown Anglia , Yay ! tach works ,sig is from the ground on the side of the mag . It does seem to lose it's way above 4 grand , right when good things are happenin .
WOW Von, that is cool it all came as a package. You won't foul plugs now. Now you have to play the fun game of asking a buddy to hold the high tension lead while you spin the mag. Watch his hair stand on end!
Does this mean you can't really depend on the tach? INLAW MODEL A runs this setup and he seems to have the same problem. I hope I will be able to make it all work relatively accurate, or at least consistent.
Triggerman, I am really happy so far with the condition of the mag. The setup just kinda came together. I've had the tach for a few years, a friend had the tach box, and the mag is pretty much ready to run.
Von, I'm not an expert on the Vertex / Sun combo, but I have been involved with trying to run about every type of tach with a Mallory Sprint and SuperMag on my supermodified. We tried the AutoMeter inductive, some off brand digital converter, a Smiths box that I was assured would work, etc. I think I'm actually going back to a cable drive Jones... The TEL/TAC is pretty accurate for finding peak rpm, but nothing seems to sweep accurately at all...
I had Roger at Joe Hunt put a tach drive base on the mag I'm running on my 303 Olds and had Pat Swanson put together an old Stewart Warner tach to run off it. love it, very smooth and accurate action
Pat Mason at Mason Racing Ignitions is the best around. He worked for Vertex for 20 years and bought alot of their old equiptment when they closed their doors. He's here in Schwenksville, Pa http://www.masonracingignitions.com/ ..he's incredible and can repair or machine any part for these things.
I don't have a magneto jet, but i did find this Vertex coil. Could someone tell me for what type of magneto this coil is? Or is it not for a magneto?
I am running 2 mags at the moment- one in a AA/Fuel Dragster ( Mallory Super Mag IV ), the next is in a v-drive speed boat ( Vertex ). Am happy with both. Now, am building an AWB Tempest Funny car that will be used on the street and strip. Having Don Zig magnetos setting up another Vertex for this car right now. Have had good luck with them answering questions and providing good service. They are in Los Angeles. Keep an eye out there as there are some good deals. I just bought on on the bay for $250
I ran a mag on my '34 coupe with a SBC 327. I bought the mag at a swap meet for $100 and automatically assumed that it was bad. I sent it off to Russell Shalders in Forney TX (972-564-9485) for refreshing. Russell has been rebuilding mags forever and he knows his stuff. He put new permanent magnets in it and added an advance kit. I think that it was around $200-$300 to fix everything. When I got it back it ran like a champ! Don't touch the ground post and spin it with your hand though - it BITES! This was a street application, and never had any issues with starting or driving. Ran a electronic tach with a "translator" box which was ok. The signal it got from the mag was a little choppy, but it worked. Would go with the cable tach drive on the next application though.
Uh Lippy, like you wrote, 5.7 amps is more than plenty to stop our hearts. Thatsa lotta free electrons.
<big> <big>French Grimes Race Systems 3943 Hebron Valley Rd. Madison, VA 22727</big></big> <big><big><big>Phone: 540-923-4541 Fax: 540-923-4543</big></big></big> Magneto Service <small>Magneto Overhaul Service includes the following:</small> <small>Test and inspect on arrival and call if repair will exceed the quoted price.</small> <small> Disassemble, clean and polish.</small> <small> Recharge magnet using our exclusive "FLUXMAX" process (guaranteed the strongest charge available anywhere).</small> <small> Check and straighten: magnet spindle, lower shaft, cam run out.</small> <small> Check condenser for proper MFD rating and leakage.</small> <small> Stress test coil, hot and cold.</small> <small> File and parallel align points and set spring tension.</small> <small> Assembly and test, verifying individual timing occurrences.</small>
I am in the process of building an engine with mechanical fuel injection (Hilborn) and a Vertex mag. I bought the $15 manual off E-Bay and it is okay. But not all that good for a beginner. My car is strip-only, so I am not worried about idle problems. You definitely need a starter that can crank up hi-revs to get the fire going. MSD makes one that is excellent for that purpose. My mag will have zero advance. But again, that isn't a big worry. I also have a mechanical tach and NO electronic do-dads, so I'm not worried about that. If you are running a mag, you will need to have deep pockets. Points cost $120-$130. Cap is around $80. Everything is outrageous in price. Fortunately, the parts have a long life.
OK , so you bought the manual and such to do your own serviceing---great. Unless the Vertex has been changed over to "rare earth" magnets, how do you plan on recharging the magnets to get the thing back up to 1.7amps? Magnetos are the most inexpensive forms of ignition out there and doing maintenence can be prolonged if one does certain things. biggest killer is weather! One should always pull the mag when--- lives in a cold wet climate stores in a trailer (and cold wet climate) after the racing season is over Miosture will attack the point surface and degrade it and since the most of the internals are not plated, rust will start to develop
No help here. First big block Ford was from a drag boat, had to lock the timing to 12 degrees advance.....for the car it was going into......the guy that helped me set it up....left me with this last line of advice......."if you ever want to get rid of it let me know". Yeah....ha ha.....he owned it about a year later. Pretty much what DRERACECAR said. If you have plenty of effort, beyond just turn the key and go......you will have fun with your magneto. I sure didn't.
I don't think you can do much more than just change points, condenser, plug wires, cap and rotor. The internal stuff like magnet recharge is just not user-doable. I have seen some posts where people have had problem with service from Joe Hunt Magnetos. This was back in 2011 or so. Not sure that is true today. There are quite a few mag repair facilities available that will do an excellent job with fast turnaround. At least, that's what they advertise Also, some of the mag makers that install hotter magnets promise fast and easy starting and lots of spark at low RPMs, unlike the old days where you had to do a lot of fiddling around to get running.
If you want to run an old style electronic tach, wrap several windings around one spark plug wire, run one end, of the wire, in series, to one Cheapoo Radio Shack (dual resistance and capacitance) Substitution box, or two standalone boxes according to whats available. Complete the circuit to the tach. These tools usually have multiple or "decade" switches for changing resistance and capacitance values. You are making an Resistance Capacitance (RC) circuit. By running the engine and clicking the switches (starting at 100K and working smaller) you will see the tach come alive. Tachs are basically volt meters and need to see voltages all the way to their high rpm readings, so you may have to keep clicking Radio Shack switches until you find a happy place for the tach.
Some magnetos used an external coil, I know that Mallory marketed some and I don't doubt that vertex did as well. They were sometimes called Mini Mags ( at least I have seen them sold that way) as if I am not mistaken they were popular with the Sprint car crowd at one time. I am no expert but I would just about bet that you could use that with a points distributer and it would not know the difference.
A year or two ago I bought a Vertex mag (External coil OXC model) that someone had improvised a manual advance control from inside the car. It was a clamp that went around the mag with a rod that went through the dash into the drivers's location. I assume it mounted on the dash or under it. I guess it used some kind of tensioner to keep the mag from changing setting while driving. No idea how well it works. I think I still have the gizmo that clamps on the mag.
For those with an interest in 6-cylinder Vertex maggies, my thread below may be of interest: http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=20727&start=45 A little Aussie-centric, but the Holden grey motor is mostly comparable to the Stovebolt-6. I've been trying to bring together a lot of the literature around for Vertex magnetos, and explain in simple terms how they work and are overhauled. Have contacted a number of overhaul businesses, but it is largely a closed issue... doing a fair bit of learning from scratch. Cheers, Harv
We ran a 1.5 amp Vertex on our GMC but found we needed more amperage and Don Zig was unable give us any more. Joe Hunt could make it almost 5 amp with rare earth magnets and an outside coil like shown above. Ran with 80% nitro and never missed a beat. It had centrifugal advance and helps with the starting. Any good mag guy can convert your mag to include advance. If you just want to, it can be converted to electronic ignition. Looks without the agrivation but they are know for some problems too... Good Luck.
it reminds me of the many guys i helped after they bought them and couldn't figure out the 18436572 V. the mag's ... ah heck i forgot ... i'll go read the above link and get a refresher course... http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=20727 GOOD JOB ---> toxic waste <--- --->and harv<--- still have one out in the shed junk pile ...LOL
BTW the top fuel mags today are checked and cant be anymore than 44 ampheres. Its actually illegal to run one over 44 amps they have them tested from time to time.........
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