The trusty magneto has been around for a long, long time. Long before cars were starting themselves and had fancy pants ignition systems, the trusty magneto was there. If you have ever wondered how cars started off a hand crank, it’s because of the magneto which is effectively it’s own little self-contained ignition. Believe it or not, the magneto is still the ignition of choice on the most powerful race cars in the world, fuel burning dragsters and funny cars. You’ll learn why during the course of this conversation.
While magnetos can still be found in racing, they have all but faded away into obscurity on the street and certainly among the younger generation of hot rodders, their value and operation is kind of a mystery. This video takes a lot of that mystery away and goes into some really fun history and tech on how they work.
Oh, and the particular magneto used in this video for demonstration purposes is insanely rare as it was apparently part of a small run made for one of Mikey Thompson’s Indy 500 forays!
Anyway, this is a fun way to learn about magnetos and if you already know, a fun bench racing session to listen in on!
I was fortunate enough to learn about magnetos while rebuilding a 1967 Sportster XLCH 900 in 1975. Good stuff to know, although I never had another vehicle that had one.
Cool – a number of my longstanding questions answered. Extra points for using a Buick piece to explain