Lightfour/ Handifour parts interchange

[lyks2tinkr]

As I’ve posted before I picked up a 37 Elto Handifour.
I got it unstuck and apart. The original crankshaft
is not usable in my opinion so I picked up through
the generosity of another member a 36 Lightfour
Imperial powerhead.
The crankcase casting number is the same but the
the crankshaft and center brass bearing are slightly
different. Seeing that they are both 9.2 hp I figured
the crank assembly from the 36 would work in the 37
but there is a difference in the points trigger spot on the
crankshaft. The 36 crank has a much larger flat spot
than the 37 crank.
Will the 36 crank work in the 37 and trigger the ignition?

[jim-moffatt]

if the up ramp on the point cam is in the same place on both cams the point timing should be unaffected. I would guess that it would work. The caviat is that one may be a battery cam and the other magneto in which case I dont know.

[lyks2tinkr]

Thanks for the reply Jim.
The donor crankshaft was from a 1936 model 4181 Lightfour
Imperial that I know was a magneto ignition.
I will mount the mag and flywheel from the 37 Handifour on the 4181 crankcase to see if spark timing is ok

[lyks2tinkr]

I don’t have a 36 parts manual and was wondering what the magneto difference would be from 36 to 37.
I know there was some change in the mag in 37 after serial number 500. My motor is 508.

[garry-in-michigan]

1936 parts books are almost impossible to find. After WW2 dealers could only get replacements back to 1937, ef which I have two copies. The original is half eaten by fungus and held together with scotch tape – too delicate to put in the scanner. The backup copy was also well used and will require some work to get rid of the smudges and finger prints of 50 years of use.

I’m working on it – – – It will take some time. [/size]

• This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by garry-in-michigan.

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