Well, after 41 years my "ole dwell/tachometer" finally died. So, I need to buy a new one. I really like my induction timing light, it is only about 25 years old.

So, what does a old bald guy, who loves to work on engines, buy for himself that the wife won't have a conniption (google it) fit when she see's the bill. I'm thinking that a nice inductive unit would be nice on the tach side, but know that the dwell will still have to be a manual hard connection to the coil positive. I can set points by eye, but prefer the accuracy of the dwell meter.

How about some suggestions? What do you have? What should I avoid????

 

Instead of explaining what I use, just took a few bad pictures. Is this what you're looking for?

 

Sorry, only one picture for a post.

 

And the whole kit.

 

I bought a Actron timing light that has a tachometer on it from advance auto if that this something you're looking for. I think I paid around $100 for it and so far it does what I need it to do - check timing and provide RPM

 

I CAN'T recommend a top of the line SnapOn digital timing light. What a waste of money that was. Despite about 10 years of limited use with no drops, resting in it's case, and being treated with love it's readings are wandering far far off and there are several stories on the same model.

Being involved in cars since the 80's I've had several timing lights from SnapOn, Penski, Craftsman, Sun, Flaming River, and a couple that I don't even remember. In the 90's I purchased my first dial back timing light from Actron but it failed within a couple of months. It got replaced and the replacement lasted about a year. The NON Digital timing lights without the dial function remain the most reliable and accurate for me. When it comes to higher output ignitions they seem to work better too. My snazzy SnapOn had a problem with MSD systems while the non digital ones didn't.

So far my favorite timing light is the very basic Ferret Elumininator 80. There isn't much that can go wrong with it unless it's caused by the operator. There's no digital readout, no dial back option, and no trigger. Just hook it up and it flashes on TDC. It's got the brightest flash I've ever seen and it's known for accuracy. Ferret also makes timing lights for other companies with a higher price tag. While it's not the cheapest light out there being Ferret's lowest optioned timing light it also isn't the worlds most expensive.

If you're working on a points system I can't blame you for wanting a dwell meter but I can't recommend anything there. At one time I did have have a Craftsman timing light/dwell meter but it failed and was replaced within a year then failed again. That's my only experience with dwell meters.

A long time ago Sun did make some good products but it was hit or miss, I have no idea what they're like today.

 

Wow your rough on timing lights!!!

I still have my Sun Tach and Dwell Meter it has not been used in years.

Another one who lives in fear of wife

 

I've disposed of a couple and sold a couple along the way because I found something else I liked better.

I've ran and worked on MSD systems since the early 90's (not so much now) and I set up more than a couple friends drag cars for a few years so they got a good workout, but nothing abusive. I had read that MSD boxes can cause some lights to fail because of the rapid pulsing.
Anything like that I'm very careful with and always tuck them out of harms way when not in use. These days I take even more care with my electronic stuff and torque wrenches. They now sleep inside the house when not in use.

 

Any one tried the HF brand?

 

Oops, you did mention you didn't want the ball and chain to freak....

HF will work and it should be fairly accurate at an idle but who's to say for how long.
It's probably just me but I'd rather have a good used Sun timing light off ebay than a new one from HF. Like I mentioned I'd rather have distinctly separate units, I've just had better reliability that way.

 

I have a good working timing light, it is about 25 years old. when new I sprung for a good one.

It is the dwell meter/ tachometer that I need to replace. When using it on the 85 4x4 it wouldn't give me a an accurate rpm reading. While I can "ear" tune a carb I'm more accurate with a tachometer when setting the idle mixture. I can guess pretty close on the idle RPM but still to be dead on I like having a tachometer.

Has anyone tried the digital induction unit that HF offers for $35? My current one has a analog meter and is difficult for these old eyes to read. The problem is the closest HF is 75 miles away and they want $7 for shipping which puts it up at $42 plus tax. Is there is a better one out there for the money????

I've used HF tools for years with good results for the money. A thread unto it self.

That said all (30 or so) of my wood working tools are dewalt due to the the battery cost, tight tolerances and dependability.

BUT..... I'm glad the wife is more like the dewalts rather than the HF Tools