Magneto Replacement
Kit (Lucas Rita)
When ordering your kit please specify whether it is required
for a single or twin cylinder, or Vincent twin or single.
If you are familiar with the Rita system
of electronic ignition, then the following points will be of
interest.
- The system requires a 12 volt supply which can be either
positive or negative earth.
- The drive housing carries a shaft in substantial ball
races and an oil seal at its outer end, under the pick-up
plate. The pickup is a well tried and tested type used on
the majority of road-going Rita
systems over the couple of decades. It will trigger in
either direction of rotation and has built in electronic
advance / retard. However, if required it can be run on
fixed ignition timing by a simple external wiring
alteration.
- The amplifier and coil(s) are supplied with all necessary
fixing brackets and H.T. leads, you will have to mount
them on the machine. The wiring harness from the pick-up
to amplifier and from amplifier to coil(s) is also
supplied in the kit. A wiring and timing diagram is also
supplied.
- As the Rita pick-up has built
in advance / retard, you will have to disable the
mechanical A/R, but it would be preferable to fit a
manual advance sprocket (i.e. No advance / retard). This
will also have to be obtained if replacing a distributor
(e.g. Lucas 18D2 which uses the same three fixing studs
as the magneto) with this unit.
- A timing spacer is supplied for static setting of
ignition. Fine adjustment is then easily achieved by
slackening the two hexagon pillar bolts and rotating the
back-plate.
- If the engine is to be used hard, final timing needs to
be done with a strobe. To facilitate this you will need
to make strobe marks. There is often one mark on the
Lucas alternator rotor, you will need to make a static
mark for full advance, maybe on the encapsulation of the
stator. For lightly loaded engines, the static timing
using a spacer supplied in the kit, will be adequate.
- The only part you might have to supply is an ignition
switch of your choice.
- If a competition application is being planned, then
please contact Mistral Engineering (Tel: 020-8501 2161) before processing as we
may wish to alter the specification to ensure 100%
satisfactory results.
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