So far I have completed the following work:
- New Exhaust - Rear box was leaking
- Replaced Fuel All fuel line - Leaks and cracks along most rubber pipe - Worse one was under the tank.
- New Carb - Original Solex 34 Pict 3 was leaking from throttle shaft - Replaced with cheap "Empi" plan to get the original Solex re-built at some point
- New Distributor - Getting rid of the 009 - Went for new SVDA re-pro - Again I will find a second hand Bosch / VW when I find a good one.
- Replaced Spark plugs
- Replaced HT leads - Bosch Mexico one was broken out the box!
- New Distributor Cap, Points & rotor.
- Removed Tar Paper from Engine bay - Saggy as a wet flannel when hot
- Oil Changed
- Tappets done
- Timing & Carb Basic setup
- Fitted a "save my bug" oil temperature sensor
- New heater pipes from fan housing to heat exchangers
So after all this work my observations where:
- Great to drive when at low rpm there is hesitation and engine bogged down at low rpm. Picks up at higher rpm.
- Spluttering & Hesitation was only improved when timing was set to 10-12 degrees BTDC (Way too advanced) and around 40-45 at 3000rpm
- After a few drives the timing & points gap would need resetting. Idle rpm was low and stalling. Dwell angle was all over the place.
- Spluttering was much worse when cold
- Back fire when not accelerating (ie Idle rpm) but still moving - Engine breaking or downhills. Only little popping.
So after a few weeks use decided to upgrade alter a few things to get hesitation and spluttering.
- Checked compression - All about 105 psi but one at 90psi - Not as bad as I expected.
- Vacuum check - Again all withing the good range
- Points replaced with Petronics electronic points - This was simple, easy to fit and much improved.
- New Vacuum advance unit - My distributor was only 1 month old but the vacuum unit had failed
So after these mods the electronic points give much better idle, spark smooth rpm throughout the range. Idle is a little high around 800-900. Vacuum advance stops the little backfires as retards the timing when throttle closed.
Managed to get the timing at 7.5 BTDC and full advance around 35 TDC at 3000 rpm. So much happy cooler engine
Hesitation and splutter - still there when cold (after choke has gone off) but only for about 5-10 minutes its fine.
What I am thinking is that the lack of thermostat & pre-heat of air and pre-heat of TP manifold (Both exhaust pre-heater are blocked) its a small amount of carb icing and also the fuel accelerator pump fuel is not atomizing due to the cold air and cold manifold.
Plans for engine work is:
1. Thermostat - Got an original working one but flaps feel a little sticky so wait until I drop the engine
2. New manifold - Got an orginal TP mainfold - Need to unblock the pre-heat tubes and wait until engine is dropped.
3. Rebuilt Solex - Get my old carb rebuilt - Wait until I got the money!
4. Inlet Air Pre-heat - Got rear tin and stove pipe BUT my airfilter is 1966 version (Pipe on left) and need to find a good secondhand air filter with pipe on right.
5. Sort out end play - See if I can set end float with some shims. Drop engine.
6. Front Engine doghouse tin - Need to get some front tin to replace crappy chrome one (too many holes due to bending)
Anyway I have grown to love "Gus" he has become one of the family and looking forward everyday to drive him to work!
Here are a few pics of the engine.
Next Posts - History of Gus from Previous owner restoration & Plans for next work! - coming soon
