I need to set my timing. I need to buy a timing light. It's not a race car. I also have read all of the posts about timing on here which are very helpful. What kind of timing light should I buy? Do I need my dwell meter that my father handed down to me? I don't even know how to use it. I wish I had a Chiltons from 69 to help me out as well.
Ken, There are a multitude of timing lights out there. In your case, I would just go down to the local Sears Hardware and pick up a timing light with an adjustable advance. I would probably (prolly) get a new dwell meter while your at it. If you wanted to spend a little more, you could get a digital volt ohm meter. Nobody should be without a nice DVOM. Most of the higher quality meters like Fluke have the ability to do dwell. Your going to need a point adjusting tool. The tool I have is made by "KD" and looks something like a flexible screwdriver with a 1/8" allen on the end. You could use a regular bent allen , but watch out for the skin on your knuckles!! That fan is awfully close to the little window. Adjust timing first, then dwell. Nobody should be without the factory service manual for our cars. The Buick service manual is full of everything you need to know. Most of the catalog companies have the re prints. And they're all over Ebay. Again, a must have.
Ken, Like Jason said, Sears makes an excellent dial back advance timing light. It's about 60-70.00. I have the Sears light, and a top of the line Snap-On Digital light. The Sears and Snap on agree almost exactly. Here's what you are looking for.
Larry, That is correct, dwell affects timing, timing does not effect dwell. So dwell first, then timing.
Ken, if you don't have a good dwell meter save your money and buy (bye or by) a Pertronix ignition. It probably (prolly ou: ) costs less than a good meter and will be more acurate. It fits right under the cap and rotor and can not be seen and the stock factory stuff goes back in a couple of minutes if needed. The car will run better and should (prolly) get better mileage. "pick up a timing light with an adjustable advance" Sears is fine and by using the "adjustable advance" feature you can see if your distributor's advance is functioning correctly. Mike
Just about. :laugh: And if I don't, out comes the digital camera, take a shot, into the card reader, and onto my computer drive it goes. I maintain them all in a folder(for when I need them again) A picture is worth a thousand words :TU:
Wow, thanks for all the info guys. I've considered a Pertronix unit, but I'm hearing from more and more guys lately, mixed reviews on this, and actually people who prefer points. I don't know either way. I just know I have points right now and my timing is probably off and it's just roughed in. If you install a pertronix, you still have to set the timing right? (dumb ? I know) What does the dwell do anyway? What exact service manual should I buy to accomplish this? All I have is a chassis manual I believe. And finding the old Chiltons are like finding hen's teeth.
Don't walk, RUN from a Pertronix unit. I've gone through two Ignitor 2 setups. Your best bet, according to Dave the IgnitionMan, is to get a set of points and condenser, the separate pieces, not the unipoints, and set the gap between .015 and .018 when gap is sitting at maximum on one of the cam bumps. This should give you the correct dwell. Now you can set your timing. Don't forget to unhook the vacuum advance while doing this. You can get the spring/weight kits cheap through Summit/Jegs to get your advance all in by 2000 rpm's or so. This should give you a good baseline for your engine.
Ken, If in fact you have a chassis manual, that is ALL you need. Forget the Chiltons, the factory manual is far better. All factory manuals for Buicks are available in repro form as well as CD ROM. It's hard for me to believe that any serious Buick owner doesn't have the factory manual for their car. It is literally THE BIBLE for your Buick. Secondly, I agree with Phil. Points and condenser will almost never leave you stranded. Pertronix almost certainly will, sooner or later. I've seen it too many times. Dwell, is the angle in degrees of distributor rotation that the points remain closed. For our cars, it is 30* + or - 1* Replacing points and condenser, setting dwell, and timing the engine are easy. Learn to do it yourself. We will all help you. Want a great ignition system? Buy an MSD 6AL. Use the points to trigger it. You'll have multiple sparks, more spark energy, ability to run bigger spark plug gaps, better faster starting, less plug fouling, and better performance. The points will last forever triggering the MSD box, because they will carry less current.
