Timing Light

I have a Gunson's Supastrobe which has inductive pickup and a dial to set the advance. Does everything I need and I'd rather have rpm indicated on a separate meter anyway like my old Testune or a DMM. I can't remember what I paid 15 or

20 years ago but it wasn't much. £25 or £30 maybe. Nearly fell off my chair when I looked it up on Google and found a supplier. They still make the same light but it's £76 now. Thank god mine still works fine. Mind you it hardly ever gets used these days and I doubt it's been used more than a dozen times in all. It's a good light though if you can't find something similar at a better price.

Ones without an advance dial are about half the price it seems but I wouldn't buy one like that. The dial is too useful if the car doesn't have a good range of timing notches or if you want to check full advance at high rpm which will be way outside the range of the pulley marks.

Maybe you can get a deal on Ebay.

Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines

I'm not at all sure why women like men. We're argumentative, childish, unsociable and extremely unappealing naked. I'm quite grateful they do though.

I've got a couple of decent RPM meters, but thought that since the timing light must calculate the RPM to work out the advance a display showing it would come for near free.

Yes- I've seen them in Halfords, but never thought Gunson products good value.

Machine Mart do a Clarke at 60 quid. But as with all things Clarke I wonder just how accurate it is.

Just the reasons I want one like that for. Plus the fact that an induction one would save burning your fingers making a connection to a hot engine.

I did bid for one some time ago - it was a 'posh' brand but without the badges. So possibly a second. Went for silly money, though.

Check out the Gunson's catalogue. I have one of their advance timing lights (Superstrobe?) which is excellent and cost around GBP 50 a few years back.

Thanks. I've seen it in Halfords, but Gunson stuff looks like it will break if you use it, and it's not cheap for what it is.

Dave Plowman realised it was Mon, 22 Sep 2003

02:08:16 +0100 and decided it was time to write:

PC did a comparison test not too many moths ago - might be worth looking that up.

My one is pretty solid. The only fragile bit is the induction pickup that clips around no. 1 plug lead. The main body is a heavily chromed alloy affair: not the flimsy plastic type.

I've got the Gunson Tachostrobe cheapo version with the spring thingy you put between plug No.1 and the lead. The plastic body does indeed look as though it is about fall apart, but I've had it for years and it does the job. Chances are that all the DIY ones are made in the same factory with similar internals. IMO Gunson stuff is adequate for DIY use and will last if handled with care, but Sealey and Draper etc are getting very keen on prices now so they've got to be worth a look.

Typical of the modern marketing, the latest PC tests show three hydraulic puller sets, all identical apart from the labels, priced at £70, £82 and £90! I'm guessing the market for strobe lights could be similar. :-)

I would be interested to know what you find.

Pete W

Advantage of a plastic body is that the body will never be strapped to one side of the supply. As these things are normally negative earth, you'd find a metal body would be at -12v with respect to the frame of a positive earth car - which is not much fun if you touch the case to any car bodywork during use!

I did a quick troll round the local places and ended up with a Sealey from Cannons in Clapham. Just under 50 quid + VAT. And built like a brick outhouse - much better than the Gunson. Too wet to play with it when I got home though.

advance timing

50 a few

it will

Check out the Sealey range.

I have one of these, a Sealey TL81. Cost me around £45 some years ago. The picture doesn't really do it justice. It is very well made. The steel chromed housing fits really well with no overlaps or gaps. A real precision fit. If you're looking for one that won't fall apart, these are built like the proverbial brick s**house. Maybe not the cheapest, but you wont be disappointed by the build quality. IMO it compares quite favourably with a similar Snap-On one. Which, IIRC, cost around £200. Mike.

You must have been thinking hard before writing this as I picked up your thought waves and bought one. ;-)

It is, indeed, beautifully made, and looks like it will last, and I like the plug in cables. My supplier had both these and the strobe tubes in stock as spares.

Cost 58.70, though.

I've got a couple of questions. The factory workshop manual mentions the amount of advance at specific rpm given in degrees. Is this distributor or crankshaft degrees? And is the timing light marked in crank degrees just to confuse? The instructions with it aren't clear. And presumably, the settings given in the manual are in addition to the static timing - ie an absolute in distributor terms for checking on a distributor test rig?

Crank

And is the timing light marked in crank degrees just

Also crank. No confusion.

The instructions with it aren't clear. And presumably, the

That depends on the manual. Usually it will be total advance but if it is just additional advance it will make that clear.

Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines

I'm not at all sure why women like men. We're argumentative, childish, unsociable and extremely unappealing naked. I'm quite grateful they do though.

In message , Dave Plowman writes

Crankshaft

The degrees shown are crankshaft

You only normally do static timing to start the engine after a rebuild etc., so if the engine runs just use the timing light. (If fitted with vacuum advance, disconnect it whilst you set the timing.)

"Mike G" realised it was Tue, 23 Sep 2003 01:46:58

+0100 and decided it was time to write:

Don't get me going on Snap-on. I bought a set of four no-name prybars at the last classic car show in Essen*) for about 20 euro's. Nothing fancy, just four stout pieces of steel with blue plastic handles in a cheap plastic tray. Probably made in China or India, but excellent for their job.

There was a Snap-on van at the same show selling exactly the same prybar sets in exactly the same plastic tray. The *only* difference was in the handles: they were red and had 'Snap-on' printed on them.

The salesman didn't even blink when I asked what they cost: 115 euro's. "That's excluding VAT, of course", he added.

Bugger.

Bugger again.

According to my factory manual, these are the specs with my findings alongside. What set me on checking this is that to give decent power it has to be set with about an extra 15 degrees of advance (off the end of the scale, so set by trial and error), but although it goes ok at high revs, this results in a slightly rough idle and some pinking. Also a tendency to kick back when starting which will be a problem in the winter. Setting the timing on the factory marks results in very sluggish performance at anything over 2000 rpm, and running hot.

So, with the timing set to the factory 8 BTDC and the vacuum disconnected

Speed Factory setting Actual result

600 8 8 1000 8-10 8 2000 22-24 10 5000 28-30 13

So my conclusion would be a faulty centrifugal advance. But I removed the distributor, stripped it, and it appears fine - no slop or seized bearings, and it moves freely against spring pressure to the full travel stops, and returns unaided to the minimum stops. Now weak springs I could understand, but they've got stronger?

My only guess is that something is jamming it when it's at speed which doesn't show on a static test, but for that I'd expect to find wear, and a lot of it.

Normally I'd just get an exchange distributor, but they are NLA. Rimmers suggest changing to a different make at a cost of some 400 quid. ;-(

It may have been rebuilt with the wrong springs at some time. Also are the advance weights present and correct? I'm sure someone with a dizzy testing machine would have a box of old springs accumulated over the years that they could get it right with. Aldon Automotive spring to mind. You can also stretch the springs a tad and do it yourself by trial and error or play with springs from other dizzies. It may be that Lucas can give you the correct spring rates or even still supply the springs.

Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines

I'm not at all sure why women like men. We're argumentative, childish, unsociable and extremely unappealing naked. I'm quite grateful they do though.

How do you know they were the same ? I _very_ much doubt it.

Do you have a Snap-on "nose hook" (I think they call it a cotter pin puller). It's the size of nothing, and you can beat on the thing with a lump hammer without breaking it. You can also buy a look-alike from any street corner car-parts shop, but it doesn't work the same.

I have a lot of Snap-on kit. It's not generally my favourite (Facom is often nicer), and it's usually (but not always) expensive. However I've never had a Snap-on product that I've felt wasn't as strong and reliable as it was possible to get.

-- Smert' spamionam

01:46:58

prybars at

Nothing fancy,

cheap

for their

same prybar

was in the

In that case they could not possibly be the same. Having 'Snap-On' on the handles makes them much better. Stronger, and longer lasting. A real quality product.

115 euro's.

Snap-On have an enviable reputation. It allows them to charge up to several times more than the tools actual value. The _real value_ of a tool is in it's strength, wear resistance, and how well it does the job it's designed to do. A nice finish and a lifetime guarantee, is just icing. It doesn't make a tool work any better, or last any longer. And there are cheaper manufacturers that offer lifetime guarantees. IME you're more likely to lose a good quality tool, than wear it out. The only thing special about Snap-On tools, IMO, is their price. Many manufacturers, make tools that are equally as efficient and durable, at only a fraction of the cost of the Snap-On version. Maybe they are not as smooth and as well chromed, but personally I prefer a rougher finish for a spanner, for the improved grip it gives with oily or slippery hands. Mike.