Phil, Not long ago Don Zig told me he services and repairs the old H-C
magneto. Parts are difficult and he adapts other stuff to suit as
needed. The cap is a 1948 Ford V8 unit, the points are said to be the
same as Buick Straight 8, and the condensor is a common item. The rotor
is obviously a special thing. Don Zig said he could adapt an aircraft
coil to fit the H-C housing. The bearings are probably stock items.
I have an H-C myself and made a rig to test it in my drill press at
speed. I was intrigued to find that it passed the Vertex Manual
standard test by jumping a 5/16" air gap no sweat. You should have seen
and heard that thing making sparks on the test rig with 8 air gaps at
3100 rpm(equal to an engine at 6200). Like something in Frankenstein's
laboratory. An unearthly whine from the mag and the sparks, and to top
it off, the radio waves it was sending out opened the garage door!!
The Harman-Collins mag is a solid piece of work, and as good as ever,
only problem is fixed timing. But I understand some people run flathead
street rods with them at a fixed 18 degrees of timing, and the engine
will start ok without kicking back and bending the starter shaft. Good
luck. ArdunBill in Chesapeake, VA
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