The timing light seems to be working just fine. Here it is hooked up to the #1 spark plug:
I think the dwell meter is broken, because it doesn't seem to respond when I change the points.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
(Old) New Toys
A coworker graciously gave me his dad's old timing light, dwell meter, and torque wrench. They're vintage and awesome.
The timing light seems to be working just fine. Here it is hooked up to the #1 spark plug:
I think the dwell meter is broken, because it doesn't seem to respond when I change the points.
The timing light seems to be working just fine. Here it is hooked up to the #1 spark plug:
I think the dwell meter is broken, because it doesn't seem to respond when I change the points.
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Wow. I don't know what any of those things do.
ReplyDeleteThe timing light is used to adjust when the spark plugs fire, relative to when the piston hits the top of its cycle (Top-Dead Center or TDC). You want each plug to fire a little before its piston hits TDC. I adjusted the timing to 12 degrees before TDC.
ReplyDeleteThe dwell meter is used to adjust the contact breaker points inside the distributor. For each cylinder, the ignition coil is charged and then discharged. When the contact breaker points are opened the coil discharges. How long the points are open is called dwell, and it's measured with a dwell meter.