Having had a bit of experience with Villiers engines and coils, the coils do tend to be the main culprit of "failure to proceed". I have not had a lot of luck procuring replacements in Australia but there are some suppliers in England that do have replacement ignition parts. Meetens, Villiers Services and Villiers Parts are the ones that I can think of immediately. Whilst I do not endorse any particular supplier, to give you an idea of what is available have a look at:
I know that the three companies listed are happy to send items to Australia and that it pays to get a quote for parts from each of them as prices vary from place to place.
Hope that this is of assistance in your quest for parts.
Thanks for that, I must admit that Villiers info is pretty thin on the ground as they haven't been produced in Australia for a long time and thus many have found their way to scrap years ago. Every now and again I'll fall across one that's being tossed out and I'll grab it but then the main parts of the engine are in superb condition with mainly the ancillary parts being the issue and that's where the problems begin with spares being so wildly priced making them a non viable option. As an engine they were built very solid indeed but the bolt on stuff is the opposite.
I'm still going to investigate the main coil I have and see if it's not the HT lead that's giving me grief at the coil connection point as they can be unscrewed and replaced, but finding the thin HT lead is becoming harder nowadays with most of it being the thicker variety. I all else fails I shall have to use the suppliers you've suggested so as to get the main 412 H2 engine going reliably. I see that an Electronic version of the magneto assembly is available now for a whopping 50 pounds, which when shipped equates to over $100. Ouch !
Once again thank you for your info as it's greatly appreciated.
Cheers, BB
Last edited by bonnar_bloke; 15/06/1408:00 PM.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
I tend to agree on the coil pack being the main culprit. Youve done all your timing settings and checks so go backwards now. Tip of lead to the coil and eliminate the most basic thing first. I just finished of a villiers mk2 midg. Rebuilt the points assy completely with new insulators as it was grounding (common problem). Removed coil mounts and cleaned all the rust and crap then buffed the coil poles to shine and reassemble. Recheck spark still crappy and intermittent. Switched coil, same issue. Ok so I went to the ht lead spring pin. Seems ok from outside. Pull the pin, unscrew the spring from the ht lead, problem found. The screw had worn the lrad end and mashed the wire and basically slipped down the side of the lead touching insulator only. Simple fix cut the lead flush centred the wires with a spike and re centred the screw...bang beautuful blue spark....anyways not necessarily the same system but worth checking if the coil and points check out ok. And btw I approach everything the same way as I do my HT also, and the 7 before it:)
Again thanks HT
This is definitely the next plan of attack before purchasing anything from overseas as that's going to hurt big time. I'll post how I go but as I'm about to move house within two weeks I won't be able to spend any time on it now.
Cheers, BB
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Please do not PM me asking for support. Please post your questions in the appropriate forums, as the replies it may receive may help all members, not just the individual member. Kindest Regards, Darryl
Gee we had fun in the days of Lucas stuff. Getting from A to B and back was always an adventure, even on the good days when the headlights didn't go out or the distributor get wet. Lucas should have been running a fun park instead of an automotive electrical business - that's where his talent was.
Reading this old post reminded me that riders of British motorcycles say 'Lucas' stands for "leaves us cold and stranded".
I'm told there was a bumper sticker seen on a Jaguar in the US about 25 years ago: "Why do the British drink warm beer? Because they have Lucas refrigerators."
Please do not PM me asking for support. Please post your questions in the appropriate forums, as the replies it may receive may help all members, not just the individual member. Kindest Regards, Darryl
Hi. I found this old post and was wondering what the final solution was? I’m working on a Villiers C25 with this exact ignition system. I have replaced (new) the coil, condenser and points but still only have spark at high rpm’s. Which makes it extremely hard to start. I have ordered a new length of copper core HT lead and another new plug but at the moment it’s got me stumped as to what is going on.
It ended up being the High Tension lead that was the issue.
The engine in question ended up being sold just recently to another member on here and I'm lead to believe that he did the work and replaced the lead and got it up and going reliably.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Thanks mate. I’ve got a new length of copper core lead coming and hoping that will sort the issue. Just wanted to know if I should be looking for something else. Thanks! 👍👍
Thanks. I’m looking at buying an electronic kit for it from Villiers parts in the UK. Hopefully that will sort it out and no issues down the track. I’m restoring a Stothert and Pitt, Vibroll. Pedestrian, cricket pitch etc vibrating roller.
Brilliant, Paul, I sort of thought that might work but now we know. Much easier than trying to get points and condenser all working together. So Jeremy, $20 for a new module or scavenge one from an old Victa Powertorque
And btw I approach everything the same way as I do my HT also, and the 7 before it:)
