Yr right, in my early years as a farm boy and fixing engines and pulling them apart just to see what makes them tick and trying always to improve things from trial and error is what I was taught on the farm. I grew up with briggs and Stratton, Holden and land rover motors, the old Cooper stationary engine and lister diesel engines. As a kid I found a glass plug that was used mechanics in go cart racing so they could tune the engines by looking at the color of the spark. I spent hours in the farm workshop playing around with spark timings and mixtures and leads whilst watching what it did to spark color and HP and found in the mag driven big old stationary pump engines that if a good strong spark was present then you could have a mass of problems else were and they would still run smooth.
If I think of the spark as water and apply things learnt about trying to keep pumps and pipelines going and keep a good supply of water up to stock isn't it the basic same principle. Look after the pipeline the pump will keep running smooth. Introduce any type of restriction or hammer in the line your flow slows, the pump, it knocks and hammers and self destructs and the stock fight for water and loose condition.
It maybe a non scientific and basic look at a very complex issue but I feel by taking away the restriction and allowing the mag to provide the spark in a way it is designed and a good even flame in the cylinder provides a nice even burn translates to a nice even power flow even timing and a happy engine.
From my experience I feel spark is the most neglected but most important step on the path to happy engine. At the moment I am looking at the next step and trying to work out the importance plug leads play and how reliable they can be.
I am happy to be corrected and learn more, just my experience and cheque book tells me I have stumbled onto something that works for me out here in the bush. Maybe it might for anyone else who has had problems in the past with premature mag failures and rough running engines.