OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Reel Lawn Mowers, Atco & Villiers etc. Reel Mower ID: [1952 Atco]

I reckon its probably just the points - bit of dirt and muck got in them after the vibrations knocked the gunk around.
Basically, scrape any gunk from the points, clean the points with a bit of 1000 grit sand paper (or points file if you have one), set the points at somewhere around .025 inch, add a bit of oil to the felt pad (or a smear of grease on the cam).

Then disconnect and clean all the connections - probably the connector from the condenser, and the points connections.

Get the rust off the coil (mainly the poles), and the magnets on the flywheel.

The fact that it did run for 40 seconds is a good sign - hopefully it isn't the coil.

Regards
Tyler