Originally Posted by
John Taylor
You got me thinking about that last Lightning setup I have gathering dust on the shelf. Because your doing it, I am going to clean it up and try it again but I will definitely use the added belt tensioner pulley in any case just to play it self with belts. I hear mag belts for Mercs are over $30 bux new and I still got quite a few but why waste them. Have you ever tried to find out what the Lightnings magnetic drag costs in terms of engine horsepower consumption? The Merc P4 is supposedly under 2% when your at peak rpm, what could the Lightning be?
Running a distributor/batter powered ignition system on 2 RC 7.5 volt battery sticks in series firing a Honda auto coil at 30,000KV output has next to no drag because its a total loss voltage system will last about 30 minutes clear at 14 volts. Recharges with a flash charger in less than 30 minutes. With those its just bearing drag and almost un-measurabl
I keep all the magnetos and any more I get immediate overhaul and tagging. A friend of mine came over with a really clean and nice in condition Fairbanks Morse so I quickly relieved him of it with a refreshed Merc P4 off the shelf because the FMs look like similar to a Lucas but are a lot better than the Anzani's Lucas magnetos by every stretch of the imagination! Gawd they are awful but look on all the stuff they put Lucas electrics on over the years!
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