6 Volt Timing Light

[Don St Peter]

Does anyone know where I can get one? I know Advance Autos sources does not make one

Tx

Don

[Don Coatney]

You can use a 12 volt instrument. Just power up the light source with 12 volts and spark plug wire as you normally would.

[Don St Peter]

So Don; you are saying just buy a 12 V timing light and hook it up across my 6 v car battery and clamp the sensor to # 1 plug wire and proceed?

Tx

Don

[Plymouthy Adams]

no...hook to your spark plug as stated on your 6 volt powered engine...but use the battery from you 12 volt daily driver as the power source for the timing light...the spark plug just supplies the trigger..the 12 volts powers the light

Edited December 5, 2014 by Plymouthy Adams

[Niel Hoback]

  My Craftsman 12 volt induction light works great on 6 volts. Just make sure you hook it up "backwards".

[desoto1939]

I also have a Sear 12v unit and I get plenty of light from the gun.. remember red clip goes to the ground or the head bolt and the black goes to the power source. You can clip the spark plug wire connector to either 1 or 6 spark plug wire.

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

[Don St Peter]

Thanks for hook up clarification. As you can tell I'm a novice at this, but will eventually learn. So could I purchase a battery powered timing light and use it? Also, I can't seem to find the recommended idle RPM's on my 40 Ply P-9 in the service manual. Can anyone tell me what idle RPM should be so timing will be right when correct procedure is done?

Also, I want to determine dwell angle with my RPM, Dwell, Voltmeter but can't find what dwell should be with points set properly ( which is .020 for my 40).

Thanks all

Don

[TodFitch]

. . . Also, I can't seem to find the recommended idle RPM's on my 40 Ply P-9 in the service manual. . .

In the '36-42 factory service manual the table with specs is under the ignition system section on page 144

 

 

. . .Can anyone tell me what idle RPM should be so timing will be right when correct procedure is done?

Also, I want to determine dwell angle with my RPM, Dwell, Voltmeter but can't find what dwell should be with points set properly ( which is .020 for my 40). . .

 

Distributor: IGS-4109-1

Ignition timing: T.D.C.

Breaker point gap: 0.020"

Breaker point dwell angle: 38°

Breaker point spring tension: 17 to 20 oz.

Max. Allowable drive shaft bushing wear: 0.008"

Condenser capacity: 0.25 to 0.28 mfd.

Automatic mechanical advance curve in degrees of distributor advance at distributor RPM:

0° @ 350 RPM

3° @ 400 RPM

6° @ 950 RPM

9° @ 1500 RPM

11° @ 1850 RPM

Vacuum advance curve in degrees of distributor advance with inches of manifold vacuum:

2° @ 6 3/4"

11° @ 17"

 

 

Note the mechanical advance is in reference to distributor RPM which is the same as camshaft and thus 1/2 crankshaft RPM.

[Don St Peter]

Thanks Tim. Just realized I have the " Plymouth Shop Manual" for 40 series and not " Service Manual" which I shall order. So, is it a dumb question to assume that at idle my RPM's should be indicating 1/2 of 350 or about 175?

Don

[TodFitch]

I don't see a Tim on this thread, so I will assume the question is directed at me.

 

350 RPM on the distributor would be 700 RPM at the crank.

[st63]

as far as the 6 volt timing light itself...recently found one on ebay for 20 bucks...works fine.  They do pop up from time to time, so worth checking. 

[Don St Peter]

Sorry I got it wrong Todd. I follow both yours and Tim Adam's post regularily as I have found both great sources of info!

Don

[Don St Peter]

I cannot find a 6 V Tach/Dwell/Volt analyzer, sooooo Based upon the discussion above regarding use of a 12 V timing light on 6 volt system; I assume I could use a 12 V Tach Dwell Volt analyzer on my 6 Volt system using a similar lash up using a 12 volt battery. Question is what would the hookup look like. I can't figure it out.

Thanks in advance for help

Don

[TodFitch]

Not sure what the volt part of your analyzer is or how it is integrated with the tach/dwell part so I'll pass on that.

 

Even cars with breaker point ignition have a 6v ignition system even if they are 12v everywhere else. Sometimes the voltage is reduced by a separate ballast resistor, sometimes by an internal resistor built into the coil.

 

Since your tach/dwell connects to the primary wire between the coil and the distributor, it is really a 6v instrument. Only issue is whether to connect the red wire to the ground or to the points connection. If your car is positive ground like Mopar was from the factory, then the leads will be the opposite as what the instructions show.

 

I bought a relatively generic brand new tach/dwell meter a few years ago from my local auto supply which works fine on my '33. Only issue was it had to be ordered as they don't have a large demand for those any more. The did have all sorts of things for reading diagnostic codes from computers in stock, but not an old fashioned tach/dwell meter.

[Don Coatney]

Don St Peter, on 11 Dec 2014 - 10:29 AM, said:

I cannot find a 6 V Tach/Dwell/Volt analyzer, sooooo Based upon the discussion above regarding use of a 12 V timing light on 6 volt system; I assume I could use a 12 V Tach Dwell Volt analyzer on my 6 Volt system using a similar lash up using a 12 volt battery. Question is what would the hookup look like. I can't figure it out.

Thanks in advance for help

Don

How many leads are there on the meter you are looking at? Two, or four? Are the leads labeled or color coded? Are there instructions with the meter you are looking at? If so what do the instructions say?

[Don St Peter]

Guess I sent something unfinished! I'll try again

 

 

Thanks for reply. My P-9 is positive gnd. I've attached a pic of the meter I was using and it shot craps. Now I'm in market for new reasonably priced meter that will work for me. As I can only find a 12 V out there, I would probably go with a two lead tune-up analyzer that would read out volts, PT resistance, dwell and tach like the one I have unless you have a better thought.

  

[T120]

Tools to maintain our older vehicles in my opinion are not in short supply except perhaps for a few special applications - but even then sometimes we can improvise. If a person is not in a hurry and knows the application,tools can be found and need not be expensive. For example, here are photos of a few that I have along with the price I paid and I tend to stumble across the stuff I'm interested in and haven't spent a lot of time looking .

     ($7.00 - auction)   ($5.00 - garage sale) ($20.00 - ebay)

These are tools I use and were in good operating condition when I purchased them ...

Edited December 13, 2014 by Ralph D25cpe