Unfortunatly the Fox Adapter is not modifiable to work like the Ferret Adapter.The Ferret has more elaborated technology. The Fox has a simpler design and is easily repairable.If all the parts are replaced the sum would be around $10 dollars. The Ferret would have to be replaced as a whole unit.Parts would be near-impossible to find.The cost of the piezo pick up/Clamp itself is over $100 dollars. The luminosity probes are readily availiable.IMHO The Fox is more pocket friendly in the long run. A cetane hydrometer when used with the Fox is still a cheaper option. I have added pictures of the Fox from the inside. I have also drawn a layout of the circuit board for those wishing to referance a parts list for repair as needed. One could actually build his or her own if the Fox becomes sold out. As per the instructions that come with the Fox; you don't need any lummy tach or timing meters. All that is needed is an adjustable advance timing light with tach function. IIRC adding in the 20* offset will flash your lamp near center of the hole for the not-need magnetic probe, that would normaly insert into the damper timing mark plate.That is where the tach function comes into play. Timing is ATDC: 1* = aprox. 1/16 in. Any comments are greatly appeciated.THANKS to you, that without the pictures that you posted this would not have been possible. I have yet been able to load the pics I uploaded to my file. If you can explain how you loaded your pics,I can finish posting mine. Larry

 

If you are a supporter u can attach files directly or you can upload the files to something like photobucket and the copy and past the link and they will show up here.

 

 

Y'know, my thought was to use the principle of the Fox adaptor and take it one step further: Take the luminosity probe bits, pair it with a hall effect or VRS sensor which will fit in the timing hole, hook it up to an Arduino for timing of pulses, and have it display the current speed & degrees on a 20X4(or 16X2, whatever) character display which you could put on your dash.
This would allow you to watch the timing curves under light/heavy load, low and high speed, and make more in-depth adjustments and see how they affect things --- stuff like changing the curve on the light-load advance lever, or changing springs internally to change your timing.

Just a thought. I think I could do it, too, if I was able to get together a magnetic sensor that'll fit in the timing port. I've already got basic timing code and schematics for handling a VRS sensor; getting the input from a photodiode and calculating timing shouldn't be hard.

 

I noticed yesterday when I applied a pulse flash from my android phone to the g probe of the Fox, that the LED flashed late. To bad I sold my scope. I can't watch the phase shift between them. But then again, I did'nt hook up the timing lamp to the loop. Maybe the Fox compensates for the difference. Could it be easier to get your reference curve if you tied in to spark pulse fo the loop with a pic up like the clamp on the timing light? I will repost my layout again. There was a line I forgot to add between a pin on the IC and the line between the 100k resistor and the 104 closest to chip. This can be seen in my album shots. Larry.

 

 

Can you explain better what part of the plate you targeted for the timing? I just got the fox valley thing, and have a basic timing light that has adjustable advance offset on it, so I just need to figure out what to target at 27 degrees. I think the magnetic probe hole (that I am not using) but not sure. Thanks!

 

Just took and uploaded a picture: http://imgur.com/5uBkr6h
See the red line?

 

Holy crap I just bumped my timing forward by 3.5 degrees. I have 100,000 miles on original IP and probably never been adjusted. Based on age, relatively high EGTs, and sluggishness I have assumed timed was retarded. WOW did the change ever open thing up!! I feel like a gained 50HP! The truck throws me back in my seat now! . I used the fox valley adapter with an adjustable advance light. I will try to post better info soon for others to have a reference on method and targets.

 

Did you have any issues Johnny ? Im thinking about getting the fox valley adapter

 

No issues with the fox valley adapter. I got it from the guy in Edmonton that seems to have a batch of new old stock. That turned out totally legit and works great.

The trick with the fox valley thing is that it was meant to be used with a special timing machine that also has a magnetic pickup that goes into the upper hole on the timing plate at the balancer to detect TDC. So the 20deg offset and timing numbers they instruct you to locate are all based off that, not a timing light reading. With a timing light (with advance feature) you can measure the timing accurately, but what results you want to target and what line to measure against are a little unclear still. working on it... but I do know I advanced my timing 3.5 degrees that is for sure. without a specific target you can always make your own baseline and adjust from there knowing how much you are changing things and take notes to create your own target for future adjustments. Macrobb noted 27 degrees worked well but i suspect his timing light may have different readings than mine since my results came out different from his by about 5-10 degrees even though both our trucks run great.