magneto on OC-46 --- should i or shouldn't i??????

[andy b.]

right now my OC-46 (4 cyl. gasoline Herc engine) is running great.  i put a new repro carb from Zimermann's on it as well as a new mechanical fuel pump and redid the fuel lines.  i also put in new plugs and cleaned up the wires and distributor (cap, rotor, points).  i actually cleaned up the distributor when i bought the crawler at the end of last summer.  the electrical system has been converted to an alternator, and some of the wiring is a bit funky, but it runs, always starts, and holds a charge.

when i bought the crawler, the seller gave me two magnetos (they are the correct Wico models).  one has a broken mounting flange, but the other one seems fine and has a good blue spark.  i have never operated a vehicle with a magneto, so i know nothing of the accompanying problems.

what do you guys think?  should i install the good magneto and see what happens?  how do i stop the thing if i do?  should i just leave the distributor on instead?  any advantage to going to one or the other (mag or distributor)?  should the distributor to mag swap be just a simple swap, or was someting modified to be able to use the distributor?  i'd kind of like to have the crawler back to the original configuration with the mag, but it does run okay at present.

andy b.

[AdamPerry]

JUST HOPING FOR MORE INFO ON THAT DISTRIBUTOR SO I COULD PICK ONE UP.  ANY INFO ON THE SWAPPING PROCEDURE WOULD BE HELPFUL (EVERYBODY ELSE).

[Dave Peters]

I would say "if it aint broke dont fix it" . If it runs well on a coil , in the long term you are much less likely to have any problems, and any replacement parts for the coil ignition are much cheaper to buy.

[andy b.]

Adam,

it looks like i'm going to just leave the distributor on for now.  i'll get the info off of it for you and take a few photos.  i didn't do the conversion, but i was TOLD it was a simple swap with no parts changed (other than the external ignition parts and the distributor).  i don't know if that is true, but that is what i was told.

edit - i just noticed my email isn't showing up for some reason.  here it is if you want to contact me direct (with the standard AT and DOT substitutions):

hamrdogATptdDOTnet

andy b.