The magneto is one sold by Joe Hunt at one time. I have the same mag that used to be on a Norton race-bike. The only difference on my mag is the finned cover actually says "Joe Hunt" on it, probably just an earlier or later run of castings. I e-mailed Hunt about it a number of years ago and they did not have much to say about it except that if I wanted replacement parts for it that they would have to see the mag or good photos of it's points etc. before they could tell me if they could supply them.
I agree that the bike should be kept as original as possible as a tribute to it's past builders/owners. I used to talk to Edward Bilton-Smith about Norton bikes and he sent me a lot of photos of his old bikes and him racing at one point a number of years ago. This bike is not his original racer from the early 60s that he won a championship on, but I think it originally belonged to a friend of his back then and he must have later ended up with it, and maybe he did work on it. Ed's original racer was one of the blue-Manxman bikes. He first raced it in almost standard trim with all it's street cycle-parts and blue paint, as time went by he ditched more and more of the original bike and in it's last version all that was left was the 650cc engine/gearbox stuck into a mid-50s Manx rolling chassis. After Ed won the championship with the blue Manxman, at the last race he let a competing rider take it for a lap and that rider blew the engine to pieces on a back part of the track were he was out of everyone's sight, Ed was sure he did it on purpose so he did not have to race against it anymore, for quite some time nobody could stay with Ed no matter what bike they rode against him with.
A local bike-shop bought that 650cc racer with the blown engine from Ed and they were pissed because there were no racing parts in the engine, Ed had just blueprinted the engine and modified the stock parts so they worked much better, he also did lots of testing at the drag-strip to get the exhaust and intake-tract length optimized which he said made a big difference in power. He won lots of drag-racing trophies with the bike too. He never saw the bike after he sold it, it did not get put back together and get back on the track, the shop could not duplicate Ed's engine-building skills, he was an expert machinist and a smart guy to boot.
The old photo I have of this bike shows it with street lighting and equipment still on it, so at a later point in time, maybe after Ed got it he turned it into a racer and modified the engine for racing.
This could be the last existing bike and engine that is intact that Bilton-Smith tuned back in the day, so it certainly is more important than the wishes and whims of any present and future owners of the bike, maybe Ed's son would like to have the bike? Lots of time should be taken deciding what to do to the bike to preserve it and it's history. If some butcher gets their hands on the engine and bike they may damage it or erase some details that will be lost forever, and that would be a shame. I certainly would not let Paul Zuniga get his hands anywhere near it until you call known expert Jim Comstock and ask him what he thinks about Mr. Zuniga as a Norton mechanic.
I agree that the bike should be kept as original as possible as a tribute to it's past builders/owners. I used to talk to Edward Bilton-Smith about Norton bikes and he sent me a lot of photos of his old bikes and him racing at one point a number of years ago. This bike is not his original racer from the early 60s that he won a championship on, but I think it originally belonged to a friend of his back then and he must have later ended up with it, and maybe he did work on it. Ed's original racer was one of the blue-Manxman bikes. He first raced it in almost standard trim with all it's street cycle-parts and blue paint, as time went by he ditched more and more of the original bike and in it's last version all that was left was the 650cc engine/gearbox stuck into a mid-50s Manx rolling chassis. After Ed won the championship with the blue Manxman, at the last race he let a competing rider take it for a lap and that rider blew the engine to pieces on a back part of the track were he was out of everyone's sight, Ed was sure he did it on purpose so he did not have to race against it anymore, for quite some time nobody could stay with Ed no matter what bike they rode against him with.
A local bike-shop bought that 650cc racer with the blown engine from Ed and they were pissed because there were no racing parts in the engine, Ed had just blueprinted the engine and modified the stock parts so they worked much better, he also did lots of testing at the drag-strip to get the exhaust and intake-tract length optimized which he said made a big difference in power. He won lots of drag-racing trophies with the bike too. He never saw the bike after he sold it, it did not get put back together and get back on the track, the shop could not duplicate Ed's engine-building skills, he was an expert machinist and a smart guy to boot.
The old photo I have of this bike shows it with street lighting and equipment still on it, so at a later point in time, maybe after Ed got it he turned it into a racer and modified the engine for racing.
This could be the last existing bike and engine that is intact that Bilton-Smith tuned back in the day, so it certainly is more important than the wishes and whims of any present and future owners of the bike, maybe Ed's son would like to have the bike? Lots of time should be taken deciding what to do to the bike to preserve it and it's history. If some butcher gets their hands on the engine and bike they may damage it or erase some details that will be lost forever, and that would be a shame. I certainly would not let Paul Zuniga get his hands anywhere near it until you call known expert Jim Comstock and ask him what he thinks about Mr. Zuniga as a Norton mechanic.
