Clooney/John T Another Mag

This one is off of an old Kohler 4 cyl that apparently dates back to the late 20s. Its a Fairbanks Morse while it was pretty dirty and rusty I got it completly dis assembled without breaking any thing.

The odd part on this mag is there is no impulse mech so how does this develope a spark on starting

Also how aggressive should I get on cleanup of the rotor magnet, its rusty but appears strong

Last would be a bench test. I can rig up a cordless drill to drive the driven end. the driven end had a brass gear that mated to a driver in the engine.

It would sure be fun to get this old 4 banger going again so any help would be appreciated

It is such a small engine, even if cranked by hand, you can crank it rapidly enough so the mag will spark.

I assume it is a 4 cylinder water cooled with a 1500 watt A/C alternator, or a 32 volt generator... I think they were only 8 - 10 HP.

As far as cleaning, I think you can get pretty agressive on the rotor etc., and clean and wire brush (I still use a soft bristled one) cuz youre not gonna rub off any them magnetic properties, thats embedded down near the molecular level, so clean and polish till your hearts content. Another important factor is the closeness of the rotor to the coil and/or any pick ups, cuz the magnetic field varies (I think square of distance???) greatly versus distance.

As far as no impulse, I guess it dont have any of the flip a lever deals like some Edison or Splitdorfs, where you mechanically engaged it does it???? As you know, small gas engines etc fire off magnetos, and they dont have any trip and release impulse either, but youre hand start spinnign them over a lot faster than a hand crank tractor, which is almost relatively near zero RPM. Those (tractor mags) disengage at approximately 250 RPM

If it has points and condensor, the same thing applies to other mags as far as clean and not pitted or burned or oxide coated. The coil, of course, still has to have continuity and not break down at high voltage.

Clean and rust removal and good clean proper gapped points and good bushings and crack and carbon free caps are still important, and if it has any carbon contact type brushes, they have to be free and not worn down to insurer proper contact. Any brass rotor ends or cap terminals need to be clean.

Thats about all the general mag info I know to lay on ya Don, sounds like if you got her apart youre smarter than me now on that mag, so I will call on you if get one like it. Whats its particular make and model??? got any idea???

Good Luck, Ol John T

Type FM is cast into the mag followed by stamped K4A23 Below is stamped A205793 which is probably the serial number It has points and condenser. I neglected to say this has a different rotor. It actually has a full circumference wheel with a contact point. There are carbon posts in the cap that ride on the wheel, I havent got these out yet and wonder how tension is kept on the wheel. Are there springs behind them?

Thanks again for the help.