Pounden Magnetos

Ok. My question is for you guys who have experience running early mags on the street. I've seen some threads regarding Vertex mags but I have a Pounden. Which is based on the Wico magneto. It's going into a 283 with a solid lifter Duntov and will run 3 twos. Is this a good or bad idea? If good then should I set the plug gaps at any particular gap in your mind? I will be running wire wires. I have no intention of running a radio, just screwing up other folk's radios. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I have never run a mag. This will be a daily driver.
I guess I'd like to know about the same stuff for flatheads as I will be a 59A with a full race Potvin and a Wico for a roadster project. Thanks - Mike

 

Mike
Does the Pounden mag have any built-in advance mechanism? If it does, then it's probably "streetable". If not, then it could be quite difficult, as when proper advance is setup in the mag, the engine will want to kick back. George Pounden was a really nice man. He rewound a couple of coils for me before he p***ed away. RIP
Jim

 

I have not been into the mag yet. I know the Chevy unit needs work because there is weak intermittent spark. Is there a way to add an advance if it does not have one as is? I wish I could have met Mr.Pounden. RIP indeed
-Mike

 

The old way was to leave the mag slightly loose and attach a cable to it. and adjustable stops. Pull the cable to the stop to retard it for starting. Push it back in for advance for running. Not exactally the latest and greatest deal for perfect timing. But it worked for Henrys best.

 

Damn, that's true. This is all going into a deuce too, so I could reuse some knobs if it doesn't have an advance built in. I should tear it apart and find out for sure if it has one or not. Thanks for the thoughts guys.
New question. Why not add an advance to it during it's rebuild? Can't be all that hard can it?

 

Well I took it apart. Other than needing a Wico coil and perhaps the magnets recharged it looks great inside. The drawback is that it has no advance. Just how bad would this really be on the street? I know that the Harman & Collins mag has no advance and there is a fellow here that has run one for 50 years on a mean street flathead. It doesn't crank easily but could that be overcome with the right starter?

 

good morning guys .i just bought a 40 axel for my 29 model a speedster that is totally stock ch***is. wanting to lower car 4-5 in. and keep mech brakes. any ideas on some install ?

 

Here's THE source for all your magneto questions and to have your magnets re-charged and to find ANY part you need for a magneto, plus have your mag tested and set up for your application.

I visited the shop yesterday and was absolutely amazed at the stuff this guy has. He aint cheap, but has everything...

Pat Mason
Mason Racing Ignitions
Shwenksville PA
610-287-1511

Tell em Spike sent ya!

Spike

 

Hey Mike. What kind of Potvin cam are you running? I'm running a Potvin 415 in my 8BA flattie and have been trying to find some specs on it. If you have any infor on Potvin cams I would apreciate it.

 

I wouldn't recommend running a magneto with no advance/retard capability on the street. Main reason is that the engine could suffer overheating and other maladies more so than an engine with some form af advance/retard. The mag has to be set at full advance all the time. This worked OK for racing or lakes flat out running but no good for streetability.

 

Thanks for all the mag info. I may run a dual coil in the Chevy powered daily driver then.
The Potvin is an experimental grind that Chuck Potvin did for a Lee Chapel ***ociate. It is simply marked Full Race. We are running one of the 2 we got in the Crawford Stroner roadster we just restored and it is radical. Search You Tube, keyword full race flathead to hear it. Thanks Spike for the mag guy info. I will contact him with further questions. Perhaps there is a way to add an advance to these magnetos during a rebuild.

 

No advance can be a pain.Poundin use to do a lot of MC magentos.He was an old RAF guy.
Mags look cool but if you want relability for the street go with a good hot coil.

 

No advance is not a big deal if your mag has an impulse coupler in it. Alot of early WICO types had those. It's what makes it tough to turn out of the car and it has a familiar pop to it when it cuts loose. Almost like it's broken. But this will let you set it to run. It basically holds the cam back until it makes enough pressure to overide the springs on the pins and POP! lotsa spark fast to start. Once it's running then your good. But no advance and no Impulse is a recipe for pure frustration. So if it doesn't have one you can run a cable as that does work. But honestly on a SBC a good Vertex, Ronco, or the like is still pretty cheap. Another issue is the older mags have to be recharged for reliable use and that can get expensive. A cool thing about the impulse is they sound like old aircraft firing up with the click click sound. This is where it came from as they needed a way to start a slow moving beast and then not have to move the timing manually with a fan trying to get 'em.

I run a Joe Hunt in my 327 with advance, and a Fairbanks Morse in my A banger with the impulse coupler. Both are great and put out tons of spark. But I went through some tribulations getting them there.


Good luck,
Tim

 

Tim,
Please pardon my ignorance but what does the impulse coupler look like and where should I look for it.It was easy to determine that there was no advance but I am not familiar with the coupler. Would that be an easy install if it doesn't have one? Like an upgrade? That sounds like a great way to run this cool old mag. Thanks for the great tip.
Mike

 

does you mag look like this? it has no advance mechanism.


click the link to read a write up on George Pounden
http://boards.ancestry.com/localiti...california.counties.sonoma/2192/mb.ashx?pnt=1

edit - i read over your original post and failed to comprehend the engine you were running! ill leave the picture up though.

 

My flathead Pounden is a 90 degree drive mag but the portion where the coil is is the same size. I'm sure that since the Chevy unit has no advance the Ford flathead unit won't either. Nice mag. Thanks for sharing.