I picked up a freebie Howard gem with the jap engine last Sunday, but its missing the chain driven magneto… a wico A. I have a few wico A mags…is it possible to modify a normal wico A with say the correct sprocket to fit the Howard jap engine? or is this magneto unique to the Howard jap engine ?
Looking at the Wico magneto information i have it looks as if the JAP engine should have a 1057BZ, the BJ engine is fitted with a 966BZ. The Gem series IV had an 1137BZ. A CJ1385 was fitted to Clifford and Landmaster fitted with JAP 600cc engine. What the output characteristics of these is i don’t know.
The difference between the JAP 600 and the BJ magneto may only be the difference between a single cylinder engine (JAP 600) and the two cylinder British Junior. The mags will be the same but the points cover will be replaced on the BJ magneto by a distributor cap with a rotor arm inside.
The other thing to check is the direction of rotation- so long as that is the same you could most likely get a standard Wico A to work.
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