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I've been messing with and canibalizing Fairbanks and Wico mags on WCs, Bs, Cs, and WDs since the '60s. I've chased ghosts and intermitant problems many times. The reality is that I have never found a bad coil. Or weak magnet. They must be rare. What I have found is faulty wires (inside and outside the mag); loose, broken, poor connections, or shorted to ground. But nearly allways the real problem has been with the points and/or the condenser. Imperfect points or a flakey condenser can drive you nuts. I've dressed the points with a piece of gravel out of despiration and they worked for years, and I've had new points that just would not work fresh out of the box. A little dirt, pits or oxide on the faces of the points cause enough resistance to mess things up. I've had fresh new condensers that were dead on arrival, flaky when hot, and some flaky when cold. Same thing can happen with battery ignition! Mags may be a little more sensitive, or more neglected. Don't let them intimidate you, they are not that much different from battery ignition. As far as dependability goes, there is a reason why mags were used on general aviation engines. And yes, they are the same units, with the aviation mags having radio interference shielding added. Nearly all ignitions have problems when wet, whether it be from sweat, rain, snow, or a wash job. For me it seems like the points from NAPA are more dependable, condensers have been the same from wherever.
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