Model C Flywheel Orientation

This proves that you cannot always go by the book when timing your engine

Yes, the #1 cylinder is actually at TDC (within a couple of degrees) and the yellow mark on the flywheel is indeed on the mark stamped TDC.

steve(ill) wrote: I dont get it... Isnt your "flywheel housing hole" to see the timing mark looking at that yellow line ?

Quoting from my (not very reliable) I&T Shop Service manual Pg. 34, paragraph 'Ignition Timing':

"...To time the magneto to the engine, first crank engine until No. 1 piston is on its compression stroke and the flywheel timing mark is centered in inspection port (located in bottom of clutch housing)."

(italics and bolding added my me).

Methinks I need a better manual.

I agree. I have B's, C's, CA's and IB's. All have the inspection hole  for timing on the left side, where that mark is.

The rest of the story:

My Brother bought this tractor 25+ years ago and used it sporadically around the place; it never started or ran very well but he didn't ask much of it either. Brother moved away 7 years ago and I bought the little C, drove it home and let it sit until summer of 2020.

Grandson getting old enough to play with tractors so I decided to fire it up. Nope. Rebuilt the carb which it sorely needed so wasn't wasted effort.

Magneto had no spark, pulled the mag, cleaned up the points, cap and rotor so it now had 'some' puny looking spark. Timed the mag EXACTLY as described in the book, and it WOULD NOT EVEN POP.

By this time I didn't trust ANYTHING about this tractor, and since a previous owner had installed a hydraulic pump drive on the front crank pulley, I installed a degree wheel on the front drive shaft.

After locating TDC compression stroke on #1 I proceeded to time magneto by using the opening of the breaker points rather than the impulse, and lo and behold, it ran! Not great, but at least I had noise and smoke now ;-)

By this point I didn't trust either the timing marks or the magneto, and having already wasted far too much of my misspent life messing around with magnetos, I ordered a distributor conversion kit from Steve at B&B Circuits.

Still not trusting the timing marks, I went back to the degree wheel on the front shaft and installed my shiny newly rebuilt distributor kit. This instantly turned that little AC into one of the best-starting engines I have ever owned, giving near-instantaneous starts every time. This reinforced my belief that the timing marks were wrong (or the flywheel was installed incorrectly).

Until now.

Based on what Steve mentioned above, and re-thinking the situation, I believe the real problem was in the magneto impulse mechanism because I had to set the magneto timing so far away from the book specifications to get it to run (albeit poorly).

It is now my opinion that the flywheel is actually correct as shown in my photo above. Thoughts, anyone?

I have no desire to fix the magneto BTW.




Edited by Les Kerf - 05 Jan 2022 at 10:51am

A MAG is a little different to install compared to a distributor, as you rotate the motor to the TDC mark and listen for the mag to "SNAP" and fire that plug.(impulse) ..The rotor does not point exactly at the #1 lug on the cap before the SNAP.

Edited by steve(ill) - 05 Jan 2022 at 12:30pm

Besides the Pan gasket, there is a seal on the crank shaft journal, and a WICK stuffed into a hole in the hollow crankshaft.. that was to drip a small amount of oil into the clutch mechanism... Those get HARD and leak excess after 70 years.