Timing

[Baker72chevy]

What a good timing light

[VWNate1]

You want an inductive typ, this means the wire clamps around the plug wire and then you have two clips to connect to the battery .

New @ O'Reilly's it's just under $40 , used ones are far cheaper, I've been using a SEARS Craftsman one in Commercial Service for over 50 years now .

$5 at an Automotive Swap Meet, look up how to use it on you tube then don't pay a dime until you've tested it .

Most sellers have no idea how to use this useful tool anymore and so will take pretty much whatever you offer .

The ones with a dial on the back are the best and easiest to use, once you learn how to use it you can make $ and impress your buddies by fine tuning their older engines....

In general you want the engine to be warmed up and idling as slowly as possible (under 700 RPM) and set the timing to 8 ~ 10 degrees BTDC .

There should me NO VACUUM SIGNAL to the distributor until you open the throttle .

[68 P.O.S.]

The one's at your local parts stores are good enough to start with. A dial back light is a must so you can set your total timing. Total timing is more important to set than initial.

[Baker72chevy]

Order a innova 3555 timing light

[siggyfreud]

I too use an Innova, but I got the one when the digital screen where I can also see engine rpm. Then I can dial timing up or down on the gun, and re-center the timing mark to zero to accomplish whatever advance I want.

[VWNate1]

Here ya go : https://www.amazon.com/Innova-3555-A.../dp/B000EVYH7W

The one with the manual dial is what you want, the more expen$ive digital ones are not D.I.Y. friendly .

Just take care of it, don't ever drop the pickup because it has a delicate easy to crack bit inside .

['68OrangeSunshine]

I bought a new CenTech timing gun from Harbor Freight for $30, with the degrees dial on the back. Works OK. My old Craftsman chrome timing light, I think cost me $99 back in the day, gave up the ghost when I went to HEI.

[siggyfreud]

Originally Posted by VWNate1

Here ya go : https://www.amazon.com/Innova-3555-A.../dp/B000EVYH7W

The one with the manual dial is what you want, the more expen$ive digital ones are not D.I.Y. friendly .

Just take care of it, don't ever drop the pickup because it has a delicate easy to crack bit inside .

The digital one definitely requires some reading and familiarization. If you've ever used a timing gun you can just pick up the dial ones and go. But it only took me about 20 minutes to get comfy with the digital. That said, the dial one is likely all you need. I just didn't have a tach at the time, so having the gun tell me the engine RPM was helpful in tuning.

[Baker72chevy]

Its coming in on Wednesday will see how it goes

[VWNate1]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

I bought a new CenTech timing gun from Harbor Freight for $30, with the degrees dial on the back. Works OK. My old Craftsman chrome timing light, I think cost me $99 back in the day, gave up the ghost when I went to HEI.

It cares not a whit about HEI, the pickup prolly died, I've had the plug on the light end of the wire go bad too .

Well worth buying another base model SEARS light just to get the cord off of......

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by VWNate1

It cares not a whit about HEI, the pickup prolly died, I've had the plug on the light end of the wire go bad too .

Well worth buying another base model SEARS light just to get the cord off of......

The cords are fine. I had one of each. The dial model uses the same plug and cordset as the simpler one. They just quit firing at #1. Both are shot.

[VWNate1]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

The cords are fine. I had one of each. The dial model uses the same plug and cordset as the simpler one. They just quit firing at #1. Both are shot.

?? "quit firing at #1" ?? .

What does this mean? .

Did the dial quit working ? .

['68OrangeSunshine]

The whole gun was dead. The dial one went first, then I used the older no-dial unit. Also failed.
I got a new one from Harbor Freight.
Sears is toast these days.

[Killer Bee]

fun little factoid;

my buddy Keith Andreason invented and patented the hinged timing gun..

he spent several years designing and programming tools for innova in fountain valley and irvine..

he now teaches college level advanced automotive diagnostics..

we met in the navy seabees

[Sheepdip]

Originally Posted by Killer Bee

fun little factoid;

my buddy Keith Andreason invented and patented the hinged timing gun..

For my lack of knowledge ...what the sam hell is a "Hinged" timing gun?
Enlighten me, never heard of such a thing. I even googled it and got nothing.

[siggyfreud]

Like this. It can move/bend on its center hinge:

[VWNate1]

Yeah, SEARS has been walking dead for some years now, a sad thing indeed as I still have many Craftsman tools that were made by Miller Tools in America....

I tried one of those fancy-schmancy timing lights, it was a PIA, every time you let off the trigger it changed and had to be re set ~ as a Journeyman Mechanic I like simple tools that don't require much time / effort to use .

I paid $50 for my big chrome, metal SEARS timing light 50 years ago and it still works, the guys at the vintage car Tech Sessions laugh and call it my 'bazooka' but they all love how easy it is to set up their ignition system to run better than ever before....

['68OrangeSunshine]

I'm in the same boat. Most of my tools, tool sets, and tool chests, compressor, etc are Craftsman. Sometimes you can get a broken tool replaced at Ace Hardware or Lowes, but often they say, "Oh we can't get that one anymore.''
Don't know why my Craftsman timing gun won't work, but the strobe does not pop on cylinder No. One. It schitzes and lights all over the place, but it's an unusable signal.
I could take it apart and check for burned components, but without any real customer support, it's no good.
A CenTech cheapie works fine now.

[68is4me]

What kind of ignition system are you running? If Hei or stock then Innova works great. I found out if you are running any MSD coils or modules, those timing lights don't work you will get erratic timing. I have heard the older timing lights would still work on MSD.

[siggyfreud]

Yeah I've heard the MSD boxes that cause cylinders to multi-spark can make it difficult. Theoretically it should only fire on the first spark, because the sparks are so fast it shouldn't really mess with the timing light that much. When I wire those in I like to do the harness with an easy bypass that reconnects the HEI module to the cap, and 12v to the coilcap so I can do the timing, and once that's complete switch it back over to the module, just so I'm sure.

That said when I last had timing/ignition issues on my truck I yanked the MSD box out completely as it was from the previous owner, and in an unknown condition to me.

[68 P.O.S.]

It's easy to take the multi-spark out of the equation....set total timing, not the initial.

[68is4me]

Originally Posted by 68 P.O.S.

It's easy to take the multi-spark out of the equation....set total timing, not the initial.

Yah, that kinda of works, but still can't set timing curves and check max mechanical advance or vacuum advance degrees.

I ended buying the MSD timing light @$180.00+. total rip off but it was the only way i could set timing accurately. I have 3 timing lights now including the Innova.

It all depends on what he is using it on and using it for.

[Baker72chevy]

Well got the timing light got the timing set at 35 .now a had a bad leak at the rear of the engine. Fix one thing then something else's everything new it never stops lol

[demian5]

Just get one that has a knob on it to adjust the timing light so you set the timing to 0 when you adjust the distributor. Don't need anything fancy unless you have $$$$ or are a professional tech.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by 68is4me

What kind of ignition system are you running? If Hei or stock then Innova works great. I found out if you are running any MSD coils or modules, those timing lights don't work you will get erratic timing. I have heard the older timing lights would still work on MSD.

Not sure if you were asking me, or the whole group,
But I'll answer anyway.
1] '71 GMC Jimmy 350 V8 =stock HEI
2] '68 C/10 292 L6 = a] Pertronix II,
later b] GM HEI