buy yourself a adjustable timing light. i bought mine from Kragens.Its digital,reads rpm's on the tach, and also came with a remote starter switch,vac. gauge and volt meter for 99 bucks.
I bought a tac/dewll meter from JC Whitney. It is an external unit that I hook up while tuning the carb and such. You can use it while tinkering under the hood. You can probably find something like that at your locat parts store or check JC Whitney out on the web.