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Yes that is what I was looking to see. So matching that with the NASA description the dynamo/generator is normally open circuit and feeding the coils wound around the magnet. When a cylinder is due to fire the breaker in that cylinder closes so a current builds up in the coils of the coils and the dynamo. At the firing point the breaker opens and the current tries to continue to flow resulting in a spark.With modern magnets you could probably build a suitably scaled dynamo to achieve 10V 4A (40W), but I doubt if the stored energy would be sufficient so an additional inductor (spark coil) would be required. The breakers in the cylinder with a 1" bore would also be a challenge
With regard to the ignition.I'm not an historical expert but this looks to me to be simple LT (low tension) type as described above .The internal contact points are normally open , the generator is idling producing a few tens of volts , as it is unloadedAt TDC or just before (adjusted here by a sliding shaft) one cylinder's contact points will close (all 4 are connected together) ,the generator will now be loaded fully , producing somewhere near the rated 10v (which will be lost in the winding resistance) and 4 amps (which will flow through the winding creating a magnetic field of stored energy)shortly after, the contacts will open, causind the current to stop and the magnetic field to collapse rapidly. As the field collapses, a much higher voltage is generated causing an arc at the contact point (which ignites the fuel air mixture)You can replace the generator with a battery , but it will need an inductor (i.e a coil of wire on a soft iron former) to limit the current and store energy for the high voltage arc.