Castings
In the early decades of the 20th Century many manufacturers, including magneto manufacturers, made use of a new zinc based alloy to die cast some of the component parts of their products. Probably considered to be an excellent choice at first, it was soon discovered that, in time, this material, commonly known as 'pot metal' deteriorates with age. This is due to a destructive, inter-crystalline corrosion process referred to as 'zinc pest' or 'zinc rot'. Typical symptoms of this problem include numerous cracks, splits, blisters or pitting followed by dimensional changes as the material slowly expands and it ends up in a very weak, brittle condition. The rate of deterioration is greatly increased in damp, humid conditions. Unfortunately, damage is rarely limited to just the zinc alloy parts as the expansion process usually causes problems with adjacent components too. Sometimes the problem is very obvious but in the early stages, things might appear to be not too bad until an attempt is made to dismantle the magneto. As soon as they are disturbed, affected parts often just crack and fall apart as soon as a screw is loosened.
On these EIC end housings, the alloy had expanded to such an extent that the bearings were loose and the cam rings were seized solid. We wanted to re-use the cam rings so needed to get them off. Inevitably, our attempts to remove the cam ring caused the casting to fracture in both cases. Disappointing perhaps but not really an extra problem - these end housings were already too far gone.
Even if the cam rings had come off ok, with the casting suffering from zinc pest, there would have been no point in attempting to get a press fit with a new bearing.....
There is nothing that can be done other than to replace the affected part. In order to keep some of these affected magnetos in good working order, The Magneto Guys organised the manufacture of foundry patterns and arranged for small batches of new castings to be made.
The Magneto Guys have also arranged the manufacture of other types of castings for a totally different reason. We are often asked if we can convert fixed ignition magnetos to manual control of advance and retard. Quite straightforward as long as a replacement bearing/cam housing is available. This conversion is commonly requested for BTH magnetos but the necessary housings are in short supply. We now have new castings for two types of BTH bearing/cam housings available to satisfy this demand.
The Magneto Guys have used these castings in the course of overhauling and repairing our customers' magnetos and are pleased to make them available as a stand alone item for others with access to the required facilities to carry out the necessary machining themselves.
PLEASE NOTE - These are all new castings which will need to be machined before they can be used. Sorry, we are not able to supply ready machined castings. Nor can we supply detailed drawings at the current time.
In the pictures below, the red parts are the foundry patterns made specially for us by a time served pattern maker.
HOW TO BUY:
These castings can be purchased direct from us. A full invoice will be included with all purchases. Payment can be taken using PayPal by clicking on the relevant Buy Now button associated with each casting.
EIC Magneto Drive End Plate - Single Cylinder
This casting measures approximately 4.45" high by 2.87" wide and can be used for a number of early EIC magneto types which originally used pot metal for this part. Please see note below about later EIC magnetos.
EIC Magneto Drive End Plate Casting Single Cylinder
For
UK Sales:
ONLY £54.00 incl. P&P!
Overseas sales always welcome!
Please check
IMPORTANT NOTES FOR OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS
EIC Magneto Drive End Plate - Twin Cylinder
This casting measures approximately 4.43" high by 2.87" wide and can be used for a number of early EIC magneto types which originally used pot metal for this part. Please see note below about later EIC magnetos.
EIC Magneto Drive End Plate Casting Twin Cylinder
For
UK Sales
ONLY £54.00 incl. P&P!
Overseas sales always welcome!
Please check
IMPORTANT NOTES FOR OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS
EIC Magneto Contact Breaker End Plate
This casting measures approximately 4.41" high by 2.88" wide which increases to 3.49" wide across the 'ears'. It can be used for both single and twin cylinder versions of a number of early EIC magneto types which originally used pot metal for this part. Please see note below about later EIC magnetos.
EIC Magneto Contact Breaker End Plate Casting
For
UK Sales
ONLY £54.00 incl. P&P!
Overseas sales always welcome!
Please check
IMPORTANT NOTES FOR OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS
All three of these new EIC castings are made from LM25 aluminium and then heat treated, they machine very easily.
PLEASE NOTE - These are bare castings only. They will need machining before they can be used. This will involve the use of a lathe and ideally a milling machine to perform turning, milling and drilling/tapping of holes. PLEASE NOTE - Later EIC magnetos used end plates which look very similar to these castings but are in fact slightly different in size. One major difference which helps identify them is that the later versions include a through bolt between the two ends located under the curve of the magnet, just above the EIC lettering. Luckily, by the time these later magnetos were introduced, a much better aluminium alloy was being used so they do not suffer from the same problems as the earlier magnetos using pot metal. Please check the dimensions given above to check that you are ordering the correct replacements. If you have any queries about suitability for your magneto, please contact us
Dixie Base
This casting can be used on a number of different types of Dixie magnetos including Model H, Model M, Aero AE and possibly others. Made from LM25 aluminium and then heat treated, they machine very easily.
PLEASE NOTE - This is a bare casting only. It will need machining before it can be used. At very least this will involve drilling/tapping holes.
Dixie base casting
For
UK Sales
ONLY £74.00 incl. P&P!
Overseas sales always welcome!
Please check
IMPORTANT NOTES FOR OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS
'Round' ML Bearing/face cam housing
This casting can be used on all 'round' ML magnetos using face cams. We can supply two types, one with the advance and retard on the left, one with it on the right. The choice of a left or right casting is determined by the direction of rotation of the magneto plus your preference for 'tight wire' or 'slack wire' advance. More information is on the Advance and Retard
page in our Technical
section.
Made from LM25 aluminium and then heat treated, they machine very easily.
PLEASE NOTE - This is a bare casting only. It will need machining before it can be used. This will involve lathe work and drilling/tapping holes.
Round ML bearing/face cam casting
Cable on LEFT
For
UK Sales
ONLY £41.00 incl. P&P!
SORRY - Currently out of stock
Round ML bearing/face cam casting
Cable on RIGHT
For UK Sales
ONLY £41.00 incl. P&P!
SORRY - NO OVERSEAS SALES AT THE MOMENT!
We are working on it - please call back later
'Square' ML Bearing/ring cam housing
This casting can be used on all 'square' ML magnetos using ring cams. We can supply two types, one with the advance and retard on the left, one with it on the right. The choice of a left or right casting is determined by the direction of rotation of the magneto plus your preference for 'tight wire' or 'slack wire' advance. More information is on the
Advance and Retard page in our Technical section.
Made from leaded gunmetal, they machine very easily.
PLEASE NOTE - This is a bare casting only. It will need machining before it can be used. This will involve lathe work and drilling/tapping holes.
Square ML bearing/ring cam casting
Cable on LEFT
For UK Sales
ONLY £59.00 incl. P&P!
Square ML bearing/ring cam casting
Cable on RIGHT
For UK Sales
ONLY £59.00 incl. P&P!
BTH Bearing/cam housing - clipped cap type
This casting can be used on many BTH magnetos including KC1, KC2 and KD1, KD2, KDV magnetos. Made from LM25 aluminium and then heat treated, they machine very easily.
PLEASE NOTE - This is a bare casting only. It will need machining before it can be used. This will involve lathe work and drilling/tapping holes.
BTH bearing/cam casting
Clipped cap type
For UK Sales
ONLY £42.00 incl. P&P!
BTH Bearing/cam housing - competition type
This casting can be used on many BTH magnetos including KC1, KC2 and KD1, KD2, KDV models. Made from LM25 aluminium and then heat treated, they machine very easily.
Cap for BTH competition housing
This casting can be used on the competition type bearing cam/housing listed above. We have included a stub on the casting to make machining of the gasket side easier. It is then machined away when working on the outside. Made from LM25 aluminium and then heat treated, they machine very easily.
PLEASE NOTE - These are bare castings only. They will need machining before they can be used. This will involve lathe work and drilling/tapping holes.
(The Magneto Guys also supply a ready-to-fit nylon cap for the BTH competition housing - details here)
BTH bearing/cam housing casting
Competition type
For UK Sales
ONLY £56.00 incl. P&P!
Cap casting for BTH competition housing
For UK Sales
Only £24.00 incl. P&P!
BTH competition housing and cap
both castings
For UK Sales
Only £76.00 incl. P&P!
If you are buying these BTH castings in order to convert to manual advance and retard, you will also need the parts shown in this picture. We do not supply these as they are already available from other sources. The cam ring from the fixed ignition magneto could be modified to suit manual control if required.
PLEASE NOTE - These are all new castings which will need to be machined before they can be used. Sorry, we are not able to supply ready machined castings. Nor can we supply detailed drawings at the current time.