Where to get a dwell meter?

Good ... freaking ... luck!

I'm guessing that this is for setting up the breaker-points ignition on your Corvair?

Practically no one knows how to deal with those any more!

Time for an electronic-ignition conversion ... might be easier ...
 
Sears used to carry one, called Actron I think. We had one for years but I haven't seen it in years either.
 
apparently some older multi meters have a setting for points dwell, I went and looked in the toolbox and there sits a multimeter with a picture of a set of ignition points as a setting. I've never used it for that, I'm a feeler gauge guy but its yours if you'd like it, tell me where to drop if off.
 
I have an old dwell tach tester from decades ago. 4-6-8 clylinder PM me if you're interested. Bloor / 427 So old it's made in Japan not China.
 
Don't most mechanics just use a timing light for points ignitions?
 
Brian P said:
Good ... freaking ... luck!

I'm guessing that this is for setting up the breaker-points ignition on your Corvair?

Practically no one knows how to deal with those any more!

Time for an electronic-ignition conversion ... might be easier ...
Click to expand...

i did the electronic conversion on my old car. Set it once and didn't have to touch it for 13 years. Probably cheaper than buying a multimeter
 
Electronic ignition systems for Corvairs are not always that reliable either. You're moving from 60's technology to late 70's technology. New points are $6. Should last me 2-3 seasons. Good enough for now. Down the line, when I have the money and time, I may upgrade the car.
 
I had it on my 75 beetle. You can a pertronix kit for $80. The multimeter you're looking for might cost more than that.
 
RetroGrouch said:
Don't most mechanics just use a timing light for points ignitions?
Click to expand...

Even those can be hard to find. Car engines haven't used mechanical distributors with ignition timing that you could adjust for a couple of decades now.

For the old skool folks ... the timing light serves a different function from the dwell meter. One thing is when the breaker points open (timing), the other thing is for how long they stay closed before opening (dwell). I had a 1978 Civic with breaker points and I seem to recall that there was a procedure in the book for setting the dwell via feeler gauges to make sure the points opened the right amount (which inferred the right dwell), and setting ignition timing (roughly) in the absence of those instruments, which I never had. Everything that I've owned since then has had electronic ignition which I never touched.
 
They have them for 25 bucks on Ebay. I just have some free time now and didn't want to wait for shipping from the States which can take 2 weeks sometimes.

I was thinking about the Pertronix kit but those things are not fault proof either plus I don't think points seem that much of a challenge.

http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.php?1,683714,683714#msg-683714
 
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We had 70's dirt bikes with points, and farm tractors and some old farm trucks. They were not always finicky and 99% reliable. I've never had anything leave me stranded with a points ignition issue, But not changing distributor cap/rotor/points every 10k is pretty nice. On my first F150 truck the cardboard sliding pc on a pack of smokes was close enough to gap points, and the foil liner could be wrapped around a tube fuse to get the lights back on. My idiot brother used a penny once to bridge the clips, he was no mechanic........
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