I usta have a Pounden mag that was made from a Wico with a new base, and I think an adapter for the cap. It was for an Olds. I never used it, but was used before.
Considering that Wico's original application was a four cylinder tractor engine the converted Wico is not a very good choice for a HEMI. It has the cool factor being an odd part. Originally if they were any good we would see pictures of them on early HEMI's I dont recall ever seeing one in a picture or in real life. Ronnieroadster
Wico primarily made ignition systems for stationary engines. Early models (for single and twin cylinder engines) included models like the "L", "O", "R", “B1” and “B2”. By the late teens, Wico was producing maggies for a broader range of engine sizes, including the AX, PR (later replaced by the EK around 1919 – over one million EK magnetos were sold for single cylinder farm engines) and the OC models. Wico produced a very long line of rotary mags including the "LD", "A series", "C" (around 1939), and finally the "X series" (1946). The rotary mags were popular on John Deere and Case tractors, and countless other engines. Wico also made the J and JEM vertical rotary mags commonly used as an aftermarket option on &*#@HAMB friendly cars. Normally in a maggie the number of poles and pole shoes is identical to the number of cylinders. I'm ***uming the Pounden conversion runs a 4-pole Wico maggie, but would love to know how they get it to run an eight pot Hemi. Spin them at crank speed perhaps... but how to split the four outputs? Curious minds need to know Cheers, Harv
Couldn't you fire the plugs on 2 cylinders 180 degrees apart in the firing order at once? As I remember. a hemi 's firing order is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. Fire 1 and 6, 8 and 5 etc. at the same time. While one is firing just before TDC on the compression stroke, the other would be firing just before TDC on the exhaust stroke (when the exhaust valve is still open). Nothing to ignite, so no harm no foul. I seem to remember some engines that operated exactly this way.
It will be interesting to see. If it is a 4-pole magneto, running it at camshaft speed would only give you half the zaps you need. From Patsurf's post, it looks like the Pounden maggies are geared up to spin twice as fast (crank speed). Now you've got enough zaps (8) for each crank turn. Most 8-cylinder magnetos though have a cap with 8 contacts inside. As the maggie spins once, it sends the spark out in order, as the terminals are arranged 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 (at least for a hemi they are). In our high-revving Wico, we are getting 8 zaps, but the rotor has p***ed each of the terminals twice. How does it know which of the two revolutions to send the zap to which terminal? Suspect that Tubman is right, and that two plug leads are connected to each terminal (e.g. 1 and 6). Both get a zap (at around half the amps each), but only one fires because of the state of the charge in the cylinder. Cheers, Harv
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