Engine Timing

[dodge55]

Good Morning Everyone,

Finally getting around to starting my 37 Dodge 4 door. My son and I took the engine apart to replace several gaskets (did not take anything out like pistons etc). Put everything back, and the engine started right up. Vacuum holds steady at about 18 to 20. No smoke either. Oil pressure good, generator working fine. Now I want to adjust timing and dwell. How do I hook up a 12 volt timing light, and how do I connect my dwell meter? Since the car is positive ground, how do I connect the wires? Any other timing tips would be appreciated as well. Thanks.

Steve

[Guest brian]

Hook up your timing light with the red lead to negative terminal and black to ground. There is a good chance it will light on 6 volts. If it does not do so, use an idependent 12V battery as a power source and connect the plug lead as normal. In terms of the dwell meter, just observe the polarity of the unit - it probably does not care whether it has negative or positive ground.