Quote:
Originally Posted by captndan
Can a timing light be used on a Model A?
|
Yes. I have done it on one of my cars that came with a timing mark and degree indicator.
My main complaint with it is, unlike a modern car where you can loosen the hold down clamp and rotate the distributor body to adjust the timing, you have to turn the engine off and open up the distributor to adjust the timing on the Model A. Then put it back together and restart, recheck. Kind of a pain. I tend to overshoot, then undershoot, etc.
With the timing pin and an ohmmeter, I can get the points to just open (per the meter) when the pin has the #1 piston at TDC. I set it where when I take all the slack out of the distributor shaft with a cam wrench, the meter says the points are closed and when I let the pressure off, the points are open.
Once timed, I used the light to confirm the full 40 degrees of advance with the spark lever from top to bottom. It ended up being more like 38 degrees, which is still too much for this high compression head. So I don't advance it all the way when I drive.
YMMV.