Hey I haven't posted on here in a long time but looking through Ryan's thread on dashboards I thought of something today and the answer (or lack of it) is driving me nuts. There was a gage that was often sold in the old J.C. Whitney and Almquist type catalogs..it had 8 little strobe light or indicator lamps that were arranged in a circular pattern which would flash to indicate the cylinders were firing ? At least I think that was the concept. I never owned one but I surmise they (the lamps) must have been triggered inductively and that there must have been a wire for each that was clipped to the corresponding plug wires. Maybe more of a gimmick than anything else but I wanted to see a picture of one again. I thought it was called a "Moto-Meter" or "Moto-Minder" but they don't match up. I'm sure somebody here has one or remembers what I'm talking about. Thanks in advance.
Wow that was fast ! Spark-O-Matic sounds right although the one I had pictured in my mind had round lights in a circular pattern vs those rectangular lights. That looks like a 6 cly version, maybe the V8 version was different or there were other imitators ? Or maybe the illustration in the catalogs was not completely accurate which was often the case. Or maybe I'm getting old and my memory is shot. In any case that's a cool piece thanks for posting it. Save Gas - Avoid Trouble ! lol
Sparkomatic was the manufacturer, they made cheap car stereos and shifters and things. The gauge itself was called the Lectrascope. This one is a 6 cylinder version. I have an 8 cyl one too but couldn't find it... there are small wires that you shove in the dist cap along side of each plug wire
Thanks Moriarity. Like I said I haven't been around here much the last few years but one thing I remember is you always had the coolest stuff in your collection.
Now that you gave me the name I was able to find a picture of the version I remember. Not sure if this was earlier or later.
Yeah I'm still not clear exactly how it functioned. As you can see in the instruction sheet there was an inductive wire inserted next to each plug wire at the cap as Moriarity stated. I imagine each bulb flashing just like a timing light does.