Magneto -SOLVED!

Well, I called my old friend at Jerry's Generators here in Placerville and
asked him if he knew anything about magnetos. "Some" he said. Actually, he
said a whole lot more than that. He suggested taking the cap off and while
spinning the rotor shaft, place a wire from the magneto casing (ground) to
the "button" on top of the coil. Should get a good spark there if the
points and coil are working properly.

I tried that and got a weak spark for a few turns, and then nothing. But
that was something because it meant the coil was more than likely still
good. Went back to the points for inspection and regap. They're new and
still in good shape but the gap was way too close! I regapped them and
voila! major spark at the coil.

That wasn't the end, though. Putting the cap back on gave me nothing at the
plug wire :(. For about an hour I took the off, put the cap on. Finally I
thought about trying to duplicate the engine condition, at least as far as
grounding was concerned. In other words, all four plug connections needed
to be grounded. I did that by first linking them all together, then
grounding. When I did that, voila again! Major spark at the plug!

So, I'll put the magneto back tomorrow, synchronize and time, and then it's
off to the races.

I still don't expect the motor to start given how long it has sat - I'm sure
the carbs will be gummed, but we'll see. At least he magneto seems to be
working and after all of the money that's a nice feeling.

Michael Frenn
'65 Sweet 16
Received on Tuesday, 24 July 2001