I've started with a SupaSwift Deluxe 1974 torque major 140 , 2 stroke that now is running with a Honda GCV 160 pointless coil.
I thought about using a Tecumseh pointless coil but it was too large to fit under the flywheel.
The Honda coil only works with the Villiers Torque Major that has the alloy top plate that the coil mounts on so this coil will not fit the earlier Villier motors with the steel plate that the fuel tank mounts on.
There is a lot of filing to be done on the Honda coil ,the centre square needs to be opened up a little so the Honda coil will slide onto the Villiers steel core ,the back of the coil needs filing so the coil can slip on a little further so it's not rubbing on the flywheel and some contouring on the coil also helps the flywheel to have some clearance.
This setup may work on a Kirby 4 and 2 stroke but have not checked.
The earlier Villiers 2 stroke Torque Major I was looking at a 50 cc line trimmer coil to see if that would fit but haven't tried that one yet .
One bolt under the coil needed to be ground down about 1 mm.
Video below showing the motor running after fitting the Honda coil. ( usually in the Video the motor will idle then I will give the motor a rev)
Thanks for that tip Max, your engine sounds very smooth, I might try it myself. I'm still running my Villiers 140 with the original Phelon system, and the idle is uneven and spluttery. I've adjusted the carburettor as best I can. Possibly the spark is weak at slow speed, leaving unburnt fuel to randomly pop in the hot exhaust?
Yes the Villiers 140 runs a lot better suebutcher with electronic ignition ,I've converted 5 Villiers now ,you will need a second hand Honda GCV160 coil ,I tried a couple new Chinese replacement coils from eBay for around $25. each and they failed straight away ,the original equipment Honda coil is a lot better than cheap new replacement coils..
I was going to check the timing with a timing light suebutcher but at the moment I just fit the coil bracket with the bolt in the middle of the elongated slot and see how it runs then see if the motor runs better with the bolt out of centre about 1.5 mm in the advanced position and then try out of centre 1.5 mm in the retarded position and leave the coil in the spot that runs best.
In my image of the Honda coil I have 1mm advance on the coil.
Originally Posted by NormK
I would have thought original GXV160 coils would be a bit hard to come by Max, the motors last so long.
Depends where you look Norm ,the GCV160 came out in 1997 and the GXV160 came out in 2002 so there are a lot of worn out motors out there.
I see people throw them away when the mowers base rusts out.
Max, I could only hope to find a Honda thrown out with a damaged base, only ever picked up one Honda but the motor was coutered, but I got a few bits off it, the rest I scrounge around and I pay up to $75 for a good runner, then scrap the body and use the motors on my other projects, like the Ariens, because they sell for reasonable money
I've had at least 15 Honda mowers Norm and only one with a rusted base and they were all thrown out at the side of the road ,you could check out Mentone when they have hard rubbish ,I happened to be in that area once when hard rubbish was out and there looked like a lot of good rubbish but I didn't bother picking anything up.
A lot of the time I can buy mowers for $10. each so I don't bother picking them up for free.
At swap meets I always see Honda mower engines and ask how much and it's usually $10.
Not long ago I was at a tip and there was a small outboard engine thrown out and that was a Honda mower engine, there's tons of this stuff thrown out .I saw a good twin cylinder Z250 complete bike thrown in the rubbish at the scrap metal yard.
Honda mowers can be found but you'd rather pay $75 for one than spend a day looking for a free one.
I was talking to a surveyor and he said he goes to houses before they are sold and there's a skip bin out the front with thousands of dollars worth of stuff that the owners throw out because they are getting a few million when they sell so they just put expensive items in the bin and the surveyor sells what he gets from the bins.
I've had a few people give me good mowers because they bought a house that the last owner left lawn mowers in the shed and the new owner doesn't want them.
