Mark Shaw

I don't recall where I got this, but it is a very complete description: Timing Your Magneto Ignition If you do major engine work, or just want to clean and paint your engine, chances are you have to remove the magneto and spark plug wires. And, you probably dread when you reach the point where you have to put it all back together and make it run. You might try carefully making a diagram of the wires, tape the magneto in the position it comes off, and be careful not to turn the engine over while you have these components off. But after the cleanup and painting is done and it is time to put the magneto back on and start it up, you usually find that the tape didn't stick too well and your diagram is long gone. You could bolt it on as near as you can remember and hook up the wires according to the diagram (if you can find it). But the best you can usually do is crank till you have massive blisters and all you can get is an occasional pop or sputter. Sound familiar? You won't usually have the luxury of keeping the components aligned correctly. Magneto setup is a simple process that every old car guy should understand. Rough Timing Aligning the Cap There is a gear on the magneto shaft that drives a gear on the rotor. These gears must mesh at the proper point. On some magnetos, there are 2 teeth with bevels on the magneto side and a tooth with a timing mark on the cap side. The marked tooth meshes in between the bevel teeth. The intent of this process (in case all the marks are gone), is to get the points to open and close at the correct times to provide voltage out to the plug wires. Knowing this, it is possible to guess the meshing in the case of missing markings. Lining up the Engine The engine should be at the top of the compression stroke on the number 1 piston. There were many ways that this can be marked on engines, and these timing marks are often missing. There are a couple of sure-fire ways to know. Make a tool using small fittings with the same thread as the spark plug on one side and a nipple for a hose on the other side (These are commonly made for compression testers). With this screwed in to the number 1 spark plug hole, attach a hose to the other side, & crank the engine until air begins to rush out the hose (put a balloon on the end of the hose if you want to get some visual feedback). When the air starts coming out, it means you are headed into the compression stroke. Slowly continue turning the engine until the number 1 piston reaches its highest point. (You can use a long thin plastic rod or straw to feel & see how high the piston is. Bolting on the Magneto To get your magneto to mesh to the engine, you must turn the magneto (in the direction it was designed to operate in) until the rotor is positioned over the number 1 plug wire terminal. When positioned correctly, the dogs or slots on the mag should line up with the corresponding dogs or slots on the engine and slide right in. Loosely bolt on the magneto so it can still be turned while being held in place. Connect a grounding wire or kill switch in the off position to prevent the engine from starting unexpectedly during the final timing. Plug Wires The plug wires should be connected in the order specified in your manual (Note: if you are not using what your manual, hook the number 1 wire to the cap terminal that you timed to be number 1). The firing order and direction of magneto rotation are the keys to hooking up the rest of the wires. Some engines use 1-2-4-3, others use 1-3-4-2. If no engine manual is available, you can determine the firing order by watching the order in which the intake valves open (the rocker arm will go down when the valve opens). Determining the firing order this way will work for modified engines. Final Timing At this stage, you have rough timing but don't try to start it this way. Make sure the magneto is grounded or you might just break your arm or worse. In this state the engine can backfire and run pretty ragged. If you are using a hand-crank, it can furiously spin backward and seriously injure you. To get that final timing, rotate the body of the magneto counterclockwise (Note: whether counterclockwise or clockwise will depend on the rotational direction your magneto is designed for, the rotation you want here is the opposite of the normal rotation). Slowly turn the engine through its strokes till you have the number 1 piston at the top of its compression stroke again. Now gently rotate the magneto clockwise until you hear the pronounced click of the impulse coupler. This indicates that the magneto is right at the point where it will fire the number one piston. Tighten up the bolts, remove your temporary safety ground wire (if you put one on) and try starting the engine. This is the point where, if you are hand-cranking the engine, you must follow hand-cranking safety precautions. Since you are trying to start an untested engine, there are several factors involving timing that can cause your engine to backfire, making this the most dangerous time for hand-cranking. After this process is complete, it is up to you to figure out if any further minor adjustments will help your engine run at speed. In general, your timing should be very close at this point. Problems You may have timed your magneto correctly but the engine still won't start. There are many things that can go wrong that are beyond the scope of this article. A few related problems are as follow. No Click? An audible click was mentioned that should occur when the engine comes to the top of any compression stroke. This click is made by an impulse coupler that allows an engine to start at cranking speed with an extra hot spark by accelerating the action of the magneto. If you do not hear that click, your magneto may not have an impulse coupler, or it may be broken. It is possible to start an engine with a dysfunctional Impulse Coupler, but to do so requires a starter that can crank the engine at fairly high RPM. Confused on Number 1? Some caps have a #1 at the contact where, by convention, the number 1 spark plug wire should plug in. In some cases, this conflicts with what the operators manual may indicate is the number 1 plug contact. In this case, if you time the magneto according to the manual but hook up the wires according to the number on the cap, the machine might not be timed correctly. What's important is for you to hook up the number 1 wire to the contact on the cap with the contact you are timing the rotor to inside the magneto. Got Spark? Before you spend too many days cranking, check the spark. If the magneto is functioning, you should be able to get a spark. Most auto parts stores carry a spark tester that makes it pretty easy. It looks like a spark plug with a large alligator clip. Hook this tool to a plug wire and connect the clip to ground. When cranked, it will flash if you have sufficient spark. If you can't see a spark, you are wasting a lot of energy cranking. Grounded? If you aren't getting spark, disconnect your ground wire at the magneto and try again. Remove all the plug wires from the plugs to keep the engine from starting since you are testing for spark, not trying to start it. The kill switch could be shot and permanently grounding the magneto. Pulling the ground wire off is the same thing as disabling the kill switch or more directly "turning the key on". When the engine does start, ground the magneto immediately with a jumper to kill the engine. This is critical since, depending on the wiring of your electrical system, you may be running with it disabled (since the ignition switch is the component in question). This could damage the generator if you have one.

I too run an Airtex # E84259 in my 31 Model 67 Buick as the primary fuel pump. The mechanical pump push rod support is missing from the engine, so I cannot run the original mechanical pump. Cheap solenoid pumps do not last and have sidelined many old cars during car club events. I also suggest a large capacity fuel filter to protect the pump and carburetor. Carry a spare filter just in case.

My first car was a 62 Midget; powder blue. The 2" roll bar was made with inserts for the front top bow and served as the rear bow. I installed indoor/outdoor blue carpet (new back then). It wasn't fast, but it cornered like it was on rails.

Engine Gaskets for the Antique Market - Olson's Gaskets (olsonsgaskets.com) Amazon.com : John Deere Corn Head Grease - Part # AM102562 : Outdoor And Patio Products : Patio, Lawn & Garden Penetrating Oils Machinist's Workshop Magazine (March/April or May/June, 2007) actually tested penetrants for break out torque on rusted nuts. They arranged a subjective test of all the popular penetrants with the control being the torque required to remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" environment. *Penetrating oil ..... Average load* None ..................... 516 pounds WD-40 .................. 238 pounds PB Blaster ............. 214 pounds Liquid Wrench ..... 127 pounds Kano Kroil ............ 106 pounds ATF-Acetone mix....53 pounds The ATF-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note the "home brew" was better than any commercial product in this one particular test. Our local machinist group mixed up a batch, and we all now use it with equally good results. Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is about as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price.

Antique Auto Top Hardware Company - Antique Car Parts, Leather Straps

SAE250 or 600wt depending on what viscosity standard you use.

Have your machine shop make a puller with a slot & clamp as shown.

Drain the excess oil and use Brake Kleen to remove oil from the brakes to restore brake friction.

Older cars typically run SAE250 or 600wt gear lube (depending on which scale is used). Gears that run vertically like transmissions and rear ends only require the bottom 1/3 of the lower gears to be covered with heavy lube. This keeps rear end lube below the axle shafts so it will not leak out the felt seals to contaminate the brakes. Heavy lube gets distributed throughout the gear case as the gears transfer lube from one gear to all the others.

So, you must also drive your collector cars in winter too?

Just crank the engine with ignition off until you get oil pressure or see the drip in the sight glass for older cars. I agree that fresh oil should be part of the winterizing process every fall for cars that are driven during spring and summer.

After two plus years of sleeping in the Buick Barn, I finally got a new magneto coupler installed, set the timing and drove it from the barn to my home shop. Now, to polish the nickel and do a good lube and adjustments in preparation for the NW touring season.

It is from a 1929-27 Buick

I have made several replacement cork floats with Crazy Glue and wine corks. After gluing and shaping the new float, it is coated with Crazy Glue. I have had no failures with modern ethanol laced fuel.

OK, but is it working? You can test it by simply removing the gas cap on the next run.

Always have the hand crank on top when working on a tire. The hand crank will break if it is pushed against the floor.

Easy things first.... Verify the fuel tank cap vent is working.

Sorry for the poor condition of the document.

Grant, Older engines run better at 180 than 160. Yes, you can adapt a modern thermostat if needed. Just be aware that older Buick engines almost always require about 20-30 minutes to warm up and run smoothly without some choke. If this is what you are trying to fix, don't bother changing anything.

Lower modern gasoline viscosity also effects jet sizes. Original settings are often not the best for overall performance.

I suggest you use roofing felt (tar paper). It is cheap and easy to cut & fold into the shapes and thickness you will need.

Posted 3 minutes ago I simply remove the radiator and flush it up-side-down to remove sediments, seeds from squirrels, etc. Then I turn it right-side-up, plug the bottom outlet & fill it with a CLR solution for a couple of days to loosen the calcium carbonate deposits before repeating the flushing process. Test it by filling it upright and pull the bottom plug. If it drains completely in 15-20 seconds, it should work fine. I have saved a couple of honeycomb cores this way.

Egge Machine Company

I simply remove the radiator and flush it up-side-down to remove sediments, seeds from squirrels, etc. Then I turn it right-side-up, plug the bottom outlet & fill it with a CLR solution for a couple of days to loosen the calcium carbonate deposits before repeating the flushing process. Test it by filling it upright and pull the bottom plug. If it drains completely in 15-20 seconds, it should work fine. I have saved a couple of honeycomb cores this way.

Many do not realize that most older vehicles did not have oil filters. The oil sumps were actually oversized to act as a settling basin to remove solids and semi-solids from the oil. These vehicles typically did not go over 50-60 thousand miles before an "engine overhaul" would include cleaning the oil sump.