Frontenac plug wires

[misterNNL]

I am looking for some wiring info on the Frontenac overhead cam Ford engines.There area lot of photos on the net that show the plug locations on the engine but nothing I can find on where the distributor is located for how it is driven.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Here's one running a magneto, the black thing under the exhaust and coolant manifolds, driven by the same positively-driven shaft (not belt, but chain or gears) that drives the water pump just ahead of it. Black wires running up to the plugs.

Here's a better view of a similar drive, with a different mag, but the same idea. 

Here's another similar mag drive. In this one, the plug wires are clearly visible, yellow, coming out the top of the mag.

I've also seen mags on the front side of the timing cover.

Just about any setup you do like this would be "correct", as much of this stuff was designed and machined for a particular car...long before everything was available ready-made in catalogs.

 

 

[misterNNL]

Thanks Bill,I saw those same pix but just didn't know what the mag was.Now I suppose I really should scratch build that whole coolant drive system....darn it....this was supposed to be a quick and uncomplicated build!  Oh well,looks like over-complication-itis strikes again.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Here's a little on the appearance of similar magnetos themselves...The one below is quite modern, and similar looking mags are frequently seen on light aircraft engines today.

                                          

Here's a 4-cylinder mag with a more conventional cap, fairly easy to model from a distributor. 

On these mags, the plug wires come out the black holes, visible at the end away from the camera.      

This is the plug wire end on an earlier type.          

   

 

Magnetos have been around almost as long as internal combustion engines, so if you're building a particular period in history, you may want to research mags more thoroughly.

 

Edited August 24, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy

[espo]

Here's one running a magneto, the black thing under the exhaust and coolant manifolds, driven by the same positively-driven shaft (not belt, but chain or gears) that drives the water pump just ahead of it. Black wires running up to the plugs.

Here's a better view of a similar drive, with a different mag, but the same idea. 

Here's another similar mag drive. In this one, the plug wires are clearly visible, yellow, coming out the top of the mag.

I've also seen mags on the front side of the timing cover.

Just about any setup you do like this would be "correct", as much of this stuff was designed and machined for a particular car...long before everything was available ready-made in catalogs.

 

 

Bill, Great info on the wiring. Your Tic is creeping me out.  

[Ace-Garageguy]

Thanks Bill,I saw those same pix but just didn't know what the mag was.Now I suppose I really should scratch build that whole coolant drive system....darn it....this was supposed to be a quick and uncomplicated build!  Oh well,looks like over-complication-itis strikes again.

  That's what almost invariably happens to me. 

[misterNNL]

Ace,I found the image I needed,printed it out and have it pinned to my bulletin board at my work bench as reference.I also spotted another photo with an oil fill pipe on the L.H.side of the engine that goes directly into the oil pan and already added that to mine.I just finished a '25 Model T beach racing speedster and will share photos of it with you if you'll PM me your email address.

Thanks again......Tom