Timing light

[booalou]

I have a stock 62 Thunderbird with all original components. need to purchase a timing light to use with this car. I need to know what kind of timing light to buy, should I buy a new inductive type or just buy a used 6/12 volt vintage type from ebay.

Thanks

[Guest]

I just timed my 63 with a newer one. Its not a matter of staying original in my opinion becuase obviously technology has come a long way but still the basic stuff is pretty reliable. After you use the light just listen to the engine and drive it around for a few miles and you'll see/feel how many degrees to advance or retard. The one I used was pretty simple it just hooks to your number one plug wire and had a swiveling head which helped out. If you have a dwell meter (old technology but a few companies still make them) it will also help out a lot for a better reading of points and voltage etc. It mainly comes down to how much money you want to spend and you take a small risk when buying a used one or anything off of ebay to be honest. I bought some "unused oem plug wires" off ebay a year ago and they sure did burn out after a month and that was with sparatic driving.

[Guest]

Modern timing lights

Modern timing lights are a big advantage when setting up an old car. When equipped with a digital tach and adjustable timing wheel in the back there is something you can do that couldn't be done when these cars were new. You can set the car for the specified full advance and this is the most important timing setting. Race cars are set for high speed timing not base time. If for example the spec is 38 degrees at 2400 rpm with a new type timing light this can be accomplished. Setting at cruise compenstes for vacuum advance and centrifugal weights. When you set base time at idle at let's say 4 degrees you are assuming that at cruise it will be 38 degrees. Now you can gaurantee it will be 38 degrees.