Welcome to the Culver Aircraft Forum

Hello all, I am new to this group and thank you for allowing me to be a member. Recently I had the opportunity to pick an old barn that has been in a family for over 100 years. During this adventure I came across a Franklin aircraft engine 4AC-199 with the prop still attached. Being in the automotive restoration business for the past 35 years this item caught my attention and I knew it had to be rescued. It has dual mags. I wired the engine up in an attempt to fire it up on the stand it came on. I removed the prop. With the plugs out the motor turns over freely. I put the plugs back in, attached the mag wires to a kill switch, wired in a starter button and plumbed in a pulse fuel pump.  With a fully charged battery and all good connections the engine turns over about 1/4 turn before acting like it's kicking back. And the starter bendix disengages. Several attempts more and the engine caught and fired up.I only ran it for a moment and shut it down. It acts like it has too much timing at start up.. Or the starter has an issue.. My question is.. Do the mags require some type of retard at start up? Not very familiar with these engines.. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks Ben