Hi, apologies if this has been asked a few hundred times but I have a spare magneto that needs rebuilding, I am uk based in the Midlands
Can I have any recommendations or anyone to avoid
Many thanks steve
email (option): Johnsonsteve386@gmail.com
I'd suggest Tony Cooper in Halesowen. Haven't got the details to hand, he hasn't got a website but if you Google him you'll find a contact number on an Owners Club site
REgards, Mark
There was a recent discussion about this.
Look back under WM20 kickstart quadrant etc
Dave Lindsley at Leominster
email (option): jeremy@clogmaker.co.uk
Dave is vat registered....
email (option): Larkesr@geeeemail.com
Here's part of my reply on the previous post about magneto overhauls...
[...'I used Dave Lindsley recently for my magneto...He's been in the game as long as I can remember. I supplied a number of NOS components for the job and stripped the mag and prepared and blasted all the castings prior to despatch...He quotes when he has inspected the mag so I had already committed to recorded delivery costs to him before getting a price...Frankly it was a bloody high price in my opinion considering what I had done beforehand and the NOS parts I sent to him with the unit..However, I swallowed it as it would have been another £15 recorded delivery cost back to me and I'd still have to find another rebuilder...
When it was ready for despatch back to me I got the sting in the tail...He's VAT registered so there went another 20% on the job and the postage....Far too expensive in my opinion and it still annoys me when I think of the total price...Needless to say that's the only time as far as he's concerned...Ian...]
Just for the record, as well as doing most of the cosmetic prep. work I sent him the following NOS parts...Fibre gear, fibre gear washer, fibre gear spring, contact breaker set, magneto pick up complete, stainless steel contact breaker cover. Total price with return postage was... '£540 sir, have a nice day'..:grimacing: ....Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
I've used the same guy (semi retired now) in the New Forest for about 25 years and I'm used to paying around £200 depending what new parts are involved apart from the rewind. I strip/clean/blast them first as he hates that part and it will add to his labour costs. No shipping costs for me as he's only 12 miles away and I enjoy going to his shed for a natter and look at whatever exotic mag for a Rolls Royce of biplane that he might be overhauling.:+1: Ron
email (option): ronpier@talk21.com
I have used the same chap for over 20 years and he did over 500 mags and dynamos for me...Sadly, last year he completely retired...I wish him a happy retirement but I have yet to find someone else I can work with...
I was happy enough with the overhaul Paul Dunn did on my Goldies dynamo...but mags are the problem that now needs to be resolved...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
That's a whopping big price you had to pay for the mag work Ian. So for that price all he has done is rewind and fit his capacitor's fit new bearings and insulators, plus a slip ring and re magnetise the body. Wonder what the price is for a mag that needs the full works, best not think about it.
Trouble is with mags a lot of people don't understand them and think its some sort of black art working on them. I used a guy in Sheffield for years who sadly is not with us now, i just used to send him the bare armature for rewind and his capacitors, he only charged £65 for this work and it was back within 2 weeks. I am in the same position as you now i need a good reliable guy who will do mag work at a reasonable cost and turnaround. Thought i had found one down South but within 2 years his prices have more than doubled as he is also jumping on the band waggon. Our M01's are simple magnetos and easy to work on, with a bearing puller and a special tool to fit the outer bearing tracks into the insulators anyone can do it. It's the rewinding that's the problem and the use of the right capacitor for the job.
Tim W
email (option): t.j.walker@btinternet.com
:laughing: :laughing: ...I try not to dwell on what the job might have cost if I had just sent the mag exactly as it came off the bike....I'd probably still be having PTSD counselling....Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
Thanks for the replies guys
Bit worried about the costs tho because although my mag is ww2 it's basically a shell, I have collected two other mags and was hoping someone could build one good one out of the three, I had better ring quick quid for a loan 😂😂😂
And then i have to sort the Dynamo.....
Regards steve
email (option): Johnsonsteve386@gmail.com
Use Dave Cooper at Halsowen does good work and doesn't rip you off.
Just had a spring clip replaced on the points plate of a K2F (the little spring clip that holds the little gromet into the shoulder of the points).
Was charged £82.80 inc. postage (yes I just sent the points plate and not the whole Mag) and VAT.
I thouhgt that was expensive.
email (option): sacombsashtrees@hotmail.com
Don't be coy...Who did the work?...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
Well Dave Lindsley has always been entirely reasonable with me. As he has about a 5 month backlog perhaps he can charge what he likes. I know the local restoration firm use him pretty much exclusively. He went out of his way to advise how to make a Goff regulator less likely to overheat, gave detailed instructions on how to make a heatsink for it. He could have just told me it wouldn't last and then sold me a new one if it hadn't. He also tested my three old regulators, said they were ok to adjust. He sold me parts for my 16H dynamo, and when my M21 dynamo packed up he tested it twice when I wasn't sure what the problem was[utterly shot bearings but it didn't immediately work after that had been sorted]. He's never once charged for anything but parts.
email (option): jeremy@clogmaker.co.uk
Getting a decent mag rebuild for a fair price is not easy thesedays. Some rebuilders seem to think they are akin to brain surgeons and have the the right to charge accordingly and everyone seems to have both good and bad experiences with any mag rebuilder they have used.
Ive been useing Tony Cooper at Halseowen for a couple of years now, his prices are very fair, under £200 for any of my mags, and unlike some other firms I have tried they come back looking like new, vapour blasted, new plated screws clips and cap, HT pickup if needed, and a new lead and terminal. His turnround is usually acouple of weeks If any parts are damaged or missing Tony has lots of mag parts in stock and can often replace them. He has done around eight for me now and they have all been fine. A friend had a TT mag rebuilt and did not use it for a few months in which time it lost its magnetism, he returned it to Tony who remagnetised it FOC.
Unfortunatly Tony is reluctant to do the older mags, square MLs and ancient Lucas stuff etc, but he is fine for MOIs TTs KI and K2Fs and the like.
Best wishes
Tony
[...'As he has about a 5 month backlog perhaps he can charge what he likes...']
Labour charge based on the hours taken to do the work and for the parts used would be the correct formula I would have thought...
All I can say in conclusion is I'm glad I didn't have the full job...That would have included all the NOS parts listed in my previous post plus at least another 3 hours labour for the work I carried out, namely, stripping the mag, cleaning up all the parts, removing any damage on the castings, bead blasting and washing out the castings on completion...all plus VAT...
I'll leave it to someone else to calculate that cost and to add it to the cost of the job as noted in my other post and to decide whether they feel that would be reasonable...
Compare that, for example, to the prices quoted for Tony Cooper and draw your own conclusions...
I think anyone who knows me and has seen the bikes I build wouldn't suggest I'm not prepared to spend what's required to get it done to a high standard...Quite the reverse in fact...However, I have that odd feeling in this instance (and it's not dejavu) that I've had my a** reamed....I feel obliged to share that feeling, in the nicest possible way, with other forum members bearing in mind the subject under discussion...Ian:fearful:
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
I hear mini milks work wonders in the privacy of ones own home Ian!
email (option): Larkesr@geeeemail.com
Steve I was recommended at chap called Chris Gould from down in the New Forrest by Ron Pier, My Norton 16H mag was a pretty standard job and cost £208 for a full rebuild, My Matchless G3 mag was a different case as some parts are no-longer available but he found the bits from his second hand spares and that cost £247. About a 3 week turn around and collecting on Wednesday on my way to the GDSF