Which Dial Indicator to buy and why?

[spencebm]

I am having trouble locating a dial indicator for purchase for injector pump timing.  I know Prothe sells one.  Has anyone tried his?  Is it any count?  There are some very expensive ebay ones as well which I am leaning towards because I know the quality is good.  Also, has anyone tried the one from harbor freight?  Is it SAE or metric?  Could I buy the adapter for it and use that one?  Lots of questions I know, feel free to chime in and give me some opinions.  Thanks.  Search function seems useless on this website, I hope it hasn't been covered too many times.

[R.O.R-2.0]

I am having trouble locating a dial indicator for purchase for injector pump timing.  I know Prothe sells one.  Has anyone tried his?  Is it any count?  There are some very expensive ebay ones as well which I am leaning towards because I know the quality is good.  Also, has anyone tried the one from harbor freight?  Is it SAE or metric?  Could I buy the adapter for it and use that one?  Lots of questions I know, feel free to chime in and give me some opinions.  Thanks.  Search function seems useless on this website, I hope it hasn't been covered too many times.

search function works great if you know how to use it..

gotta be on the main page, and search from there.. if you are in the GENERAL sub-section, then it will only search that section.

anyways, this topic might help me out as well, ive got a dial indicator, but no adapter to go with it..

[Luckypabst]

What adaptor do you have? You need to know if it's intended to hold a metric dial indicator or a SAE indicator.

Cheap indicators seem to work just fine, especially if you're just a hobbyist. That said, I'd choose a cheap 'name brand' from an industrial supplier before Harbor Freight. Enco has a basic Fowler SAE indicator for $35...

Chris

[spencebm]

Metric dial indicator location with adapter would be very helpful if you know where to find one.  I spend my whole life on the interwebz.

[Toby]

You never heard of Google. (JFGI)

Why not just spend the $53 and buy this one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VW-Diesel-Injector-Pump-Timing-Gauge-Tool-Injection-/390373321919?pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&vxp=mtr&hash=item5ae4102cbf

[rallydiesel]

The prothe one worked fine for me for several years. Only now am I looking at getting a better quality one.

[R.O.R-2.0]

You never heard of Google. (JFGI)

Why not just spend the $53 and buy this one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VW-Diesel-Injector-Pump-Timing-Gauge-Tool-Injection-/390373321919?pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&vxp=mtr&hash=item5ae4102cbf

uh, i dont mean to burst your bubble, but thats the guy we always talk S#!T about on the forum..

most of us WILL NOT buy ANY parts/tools from him, just because he re-sells cheap chinese garbage..

[Luckypabst]

I won't do business with Prothe anymore, but I do have his timing set and for a hobbyist maintaining a personal fleet, that tool works very well.

[spencebm]

Thank you very much for the quick replies.  I will probably give the Prothe one a try.

[bajacalal]

Anyway, I have seen good quality sets on ebay, but you have to be patient and wait for one to turn up. I bought a nice one, Schley, I think, with a Mitutoyo gauge, good stuff, for less than what Prothe sells them for, but you have to be patient and wait for a deal to come along.

I would get a metric gauge, it makes it easier to work with since the timing procedure was originally denominated in metric units and FWIW, a friend of mine who is a research scientist owns a high precision machine shop and he told me that gauges which are denominated in SAE units are just not good quality, since anyone who is serious about this uses the metric system.

[BigVWman]

I stick to communist chinese myself, is that offensive or honest?
I also was wondering since we're talking dial indicators has anybody been using the digital ones, mitutoyo has a nice one i have been eyeballing! Curious how their accuracy measures up so to speak!

[monomer]

Starrett big dial faced indicators are well priced, and made in USA. I have one here I plan on using. I'm far beyond a hobbyist, I'm a machinist.

Others may work, but it's hard to check an indicator when you don't have a surface plate/height gage handy.



If you by import, check for bounce and check for nice slide movement.

[vanbcguy]

I've got a pretty cheap dial gauge / adapter that I got off of ebay.de. 

It "works" as in you can use it to set timing, but the adapter is pretty weak (as in junk).  The gauge itself isn't threaded - it just slips in to the adapter and then there's a set screw.  If you bottom out the gauge in the adapter you can't get a good reading since there's not enough travel (guess I could shorten the pin to deal with that).

The bad part though is it binds like crazy if there's ANY pressure on it, and often does even if there isn't.  Basically you need to keep your finger on the end of the gauge to keep it in contact with the timing piston, so it gets a little annoying.  Still it works well enough to get the job done, even if it is kinda irritating.

Now the actual GAUGE - no issue with that.  I paid $45 for the whole kit - included cam lock, pump lock, adapter and gauge.  The pump lock and cam lock are nicely machined too.  Just the adapter lets the rest of the kit down.

[Blocksmith]

Anyway, I have seen good quality sets on ebay, but you have to be patient and wait for one to turn up. I bought a nice one, Schley, I think, with a Mitutoyo gauge, good stuff, for less than what Prothe sells them for, but you have to be patient and wait for a deal to come along.

I would get a metric gauge, it makes it easier to work with since the timing procedure was originally denominated in metric units and FWIW, a friend of mine who is a research scientist owns a high precision machine shop and he told me that gauges which are denominated in SAE units are just not good quality, since anyone who is serious about this uses the metric system.

x2
I found a very nice metric Kafer dial indicator on ebay for $25 delivered; I made my own timing belt tensioner wrench, so once I get this I'm all set: http://www.ebay.com/itm/380389794251?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

That gives me a very nice set up for under $100; and while that is perhaps a tad more than what you can get a set for from prothe, and while I do have to grudgingly admit that the Chinese stuff from prothe does do the job (as I'm currently using my father's prothe set and all motors I've timed with it have run just fine), it's not very inspiring to use. Very, very cheap and crude in comparison. I'd rather have a task be a joy to complete using good quality tools, rather than a frustration using a cheaply made one. To me it's worth the one-time price difference of $20 to have the tools that I KNOW will perform flawlessly and will outlast me if I take decent care of them.
Just my 2 cents.