The lever sticking out is not a magneto or timer advance, its just a starter lever, that’s all it does.

Its correct that these motors were positive ground 12 volt, except the Johnson SE and VE, which were six volt units. Don’t ask me why because I can’t tell you.

The rotor of the starter-generator is seated on the crankshaft the same was a flywheel is mounted. The rotor is the flywheel on these motors, thus is tightened in place by the usual flywheel nut. Its buried within the rotor beneath the timer plate.

FWIW, Sam Vance and I had a long discussion about the voltage regulators on these motors, and we were both of the opinion that the longevity of the unit is better served with the voltage regulator taken out of the circuit and the charging circuit disabled. If the points on the regulator stick together, and you happen to be running at high speeds on a hot day, it can cause an overcharge/overheat condition with the distinct possibility of the rotor windings becoming hot enough to soften and throw the solder that keeps things together. If that happens, your engine stops instantly and you have a rats nest of copper winding to sort out and remove. Needless to say, your Owen-Dyneto unit is scrap metal at that point. It’s the leading cause of these units having been removed and replaced with flywheel magnetos. There are many examples of Evinrude, Elto, and Johnson motors out there that have model numbers that show it to be an electric start but the motor is fitted with conventional flywheel or battery ignitions.

Attaching pix of a Johnson SE-50 just for shits and giggles.

Hope this helps.

Best,
PM T2

I think you will find the toggle switch controls the power to the ignition system. Thats how it should be at any rate.

You’re correct about the timing tho, the starting mechanism does retard it to start then allows it to advance once the starter lever is released. I haven’t worked on my electric Jr Quad very much so I got discombooberated there a bit, my bad. But what I was driving at previously is that once the motor is running, its not a lever to control the speed, thats what I was trying to get across.

At least with the top covers and shrouds removed, you can see the original round armature housing which is what you see on the outboards before Evinrude-Elto went to the “verandah” style starter housing, as Sam Vance referred to it. I’ve never had an Owen-Dyneto equipped motor that had a switch that set a “high” or “low” rate of charging. Charging was either on or it wasn’t, as it was always understood that it was an automatic cutout point that the electrical system controlled relative to engine RPM. At speeds above (approximately) 1000-1200 RPM, the charging system kicked in and was governed thereafter by the regulator circuit. My Super C electrics have a three position switch; One is RUN, the middle one is “CHARGE” and the third is “START”.  They were also equipped with a key switch for turning the battery juice on and off. The switch on the later model electrics was a lil different, as you’ve found out.

Hope this helps.

Best,
PM T2