The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop whats so special aout a vertex magneto

saw this sell on ebay for almost 500 clams! heck maybe that's a deal but why is it worth so much? please educate me. i guess we aren't suposed to list the ebay # but that's not really that important, i'm sure someone knows why it's so expensive. thanks, hr

Vertex magnetos are race use parts, and are rather expensve to begin with. depending on what the fitment was and when it was made, it very well could have been a rare/desireable peice. Especially with the "Old School" style being popular at this time (especially the Gasser look).

Unlike battery-powered ignition systems, magneto-generated spark actually gets hotter as the speed increases. In the pre-electronic ignition days, Vertex made a line of race mags that were about the best thing going for all-out performance use. They also didn't quit working in case of a battery failure.

The downside- - - -it was usually necessary to push-start the engine, or have a battery-powered backup system, as at normal cranking speeds a magneto produced a very weak spark, or none at all. Commercial magnetos such as those used on farm tractors had an "impulse coupling" that wound up a spring and snapped the mag around at much higher than cranking speed for starting. Race mags didn't have that feature.
Jerry

thank you both for the info. the one i was looking at was for a 292. i saw another one for a v8 sold for $300 in a parts for sale section. i don't know if i have seen one of those before or not, but i was just a little surprised about the price. guess i will have to keep an eye out for those if i see them in a pile of junk!

Here is an article from a 1954 HRM about magneto ignition. it discusses many of the pros and cons that Jerry mentioned. Many of the magnetos used in racing engines had no advance mechanism, so in addition to the relatively low voltage at starting RPM there was too much advance, so a push start was almost mandatory.
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A magneto has never been an inexpensive ignition system. In 1960 I paid about $130 for a Joe Hunt Scintilla Vertex magneto for a 261 that I was building for an H/Gas 1953 Chevy. The project was not completed, as I went back to school, got married, a real job etc. A couple of years ago I resurrected the engine and put it in a 32 street roadster, still with the magneto. It fires right up with a 6-volt starter and a 12-volt battery. This magneto has about 22 degrees of centrifugal advance. Here is a video of its first "cruise." I am planning on using a Tom Langdon HEI on another 261 that I am now building for a AD pickup.

Hoyt

I also ran a Scintilla mag on my 65 Nova along with Jackson injectors. It cranked fine from the starter and I didn't have to use a squirt bottle on the injectors unless it had sat for a time. If the cap was off the mag you could just flip the drive gear with your fingers and a blue spark would jump from the stinger across a half inch air gap.