Hi
I was wondering if anyone ever built a camera to go down the spark plug hole and look for burnt valves etc ?
Maybe hack a cheap webcam , and add some kind of LED light so you can see the damage
Yes I know there is EXPENSIVE set-ups like this , but webcams are less than $20
what do you think ?
Beaulieu
I wonder where surplus medical equipment goes when it is retired? 
Tyler H wrote: I wonder where surplus medical equipment goes when it is retired?
Our garage. We have an endoscope purchased at a hospital's silent auction when they were re-building years ago. It's a serious piece of equipment and still cost a few bucks. When we dropped a driver bit in the block of a ford 289 priming the oil pump it came to the rescue with its remote tiny claws.. The stuff now is way nicer, this is probably late 70's vintage.
If a digital cam/web cam could focus closely it would be ideal. <100 spent on fabbing stuff would still be cheaper than an endo/odo-scope.
I'm still sorry I didn't put in a bid on the giant lead door from the old x-ray room.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Pencam-pen-cam-eTime-home-endoscope-USB-Video-Endoscope_W0QQitemZ260283114875QQcmdZViewItem
http://www.dansdata.com/pencamera.htm
I'm in the CCTV camera busness. I'll look around my suppliers for this, but I don't know if there is one small enough. 12mm = 1/2", right? Price should be around 100.00 if I can find it.
my father is a dentist, and I've already called his intra-oral camera when he retires. 
Yeah...seems to me like the first generation of analog medical video equipment should be retired soon, if not already. Maybe they all go to South America, China etc, but I bet they could be adapted to work well. I'm going to start watching for auctions.
Hi.....thanks for all your info....
the ebay one and others like it seem OK , but it would be nice to be able to see at an angle , even almost back on itself to look at the valves next to the spark plug hole
and the ebay one is 12.2mm , I wonder if thats a little to big for a spark plug hole ? for sure its to big for the mini plugs used in newer small block Chevys , but are 14mm plugs measured on the outside of the threads ?
Tyler H wrote: Yeah...seems to me like the first generation of analog medical video equipment should be retired soon, if not already. Maybe they all go to South America, China etc, but I bet they could be adapted to work well. I'm going to start watching for auctions.
This is something similar to what we have; scope
It also has a light source, which is about the size of a vcr and is probably solid lead judging by the weight. Wouldn't be bad for looking down intake at back of valves, but I don't think it will do what you want either.
thirld world countries don't always appreciate donations of "old" medical stuff.
I have a cheap webcam sitting around, I'm not sure if you separated the "lens" from the circuit board if you would need to amplify the signal over wires, nor if it could focus close distance with LED's blasting.
What about rifle bore lights/scopes with some type of mirror? If you could get your head next to the "head" Or a set of head gaskets.... 
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