Magneto rebuilders in the US?

Good day folks.

I'm doing the preliminarily work on the next project: a 51 Black Shadow. The owner wants to build it as stock with the original Lucas magneto and Miller dynamo. Is there a competent shop in the US that rewinds/rebuilds the stock magneto? Otherwise, does anyone carry parts for them?

The variation from stock will be running a set of what appear to be genuine factory Mk-II cams. It is the best pair of cams he has.

Regards,
Russ

East coast Doug Wood 610-737-0036 Boyertown Pa Will rebuild Mag and Domino

mean gene said:

East coast Doug Wood 610-737-0036 Boyertown Pa Will rebuild Mag and Domino

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Thanks Mean Gene. I've been in contact with Doug over the years and do (now) remember he does that work.
Regards,
Russ

998cc said:

Good day folks.

I'm doing the preliminarily work on the next project: a 51 Black Shadow. The owner wants to build it as stock with the original Lucas magneto and Miller dynamo. Is there a competent shop in the US that rewinds/rebuilds the stock magneto? Otherwise, does anyone carry parts for them?

The variation from stock will be running a set of what appear to be genuine factory Mk-II cams. It is the best pair of cams he has.

Regards,
Russ

Click to expand...

Hi Russ, I’m assuming you’ve long since got your dynamo rebuilt or your Magneto I guess this is more of an FYI I don’t hang out here on this site too often, but I am in Northeast Ohio and specifically rebuild Magnetos and dynamos for British motorcycles. I currently am finishing a Miller dynamo for a Villa set, but I do quite a few of them for Vincent as well. Doug is a great guy. You’ll have no issues with his work either however, unlike Doug, I am a Norton Owner also I use the Bright Spark easy cap system on all my Magneto rebuilds and have for years. It replaces the condenser that’s buried in the middle of the armature and puts it at the points plate making it far easier for the end-user to replace should he ever need to. I have yet to ever need to replace one as I warrantee them for five years. Doug, who, as I said is a great guy excellent rebuilder he does not prefer this type of condenser he prefers a condenser installed in the original location. Nothing wrong with that either just means that if you ever want to replace the condenser, you have to send it back to a Magneto rebuilder. In any case, hope your project went well. Would love to see a photo of it.

Skip Brolund

Hello Skip.
Thanks for the note.

My brother passed away which sidelined things for a time. The Black Shadow is still in boxes, and other bits are scattered among three buildings like the Rapide was.

I'm now back finishing/aligning the sidecar on the Rapide. Discussions on the Black Shadow project have come up again, and the owner is looking to sell some of his other toys to finance the parts. As many folks know, building up a basket-case Vincent these days takes a vast commitment of resources! :-0

I believe the magneto's original condenser/capacitor is one of the paper dielectric types from that era; they are commonly known to fail, and like the Commando's layshaft bearing, it is a must replace component. I have replaced hundreds of these old capacitors in my other hobby rebuilding 1950's amateur radio transmitters and receivers. I imagine installing a modern, high-quality polypropylene type would be a long-lasting repair. However, it makes perfect sense to install the condenser away from the armature internals, so if this project goes forward, I may contact you.

Regards,
Russ