Low dollar distributor tester

[jeff74]

I came across an article about building your own distributor tester.. "Build your own distributor test machine for under $100" by Joe Randolph

Seems like a neat idea and I have everything on hand except for a pwm motor controller, which I ordered from ebay for about $15. The first picture is a test of the fan motor from my truck , using a cheap digital tach I had bought to use with my lathe, but haven't mounted yet. I just taped the magnet to the 'coupler'(piece of heater hose) to try it out. It's pretty steady right around 3000rpm

Second picture is a few other parts, a degree wheel that I printed and glued to a piece of thin cardboard , a toasted honda timing gear that will be the hub for the wheel, and an old oil pump shaft to drive the distributor. I had to open up the timing gear slightly on the lathe to be a nice fit on the bottom of the distributor gear.

I'll build the stand this week, for now it will just be 2x4's. I also have a coil and some old spark plug leads around here. The truck is mostly parked for the winter so it'll be cool to get the distributor all set up.