Gal calls me up with a "My VW won't run complaint". I go over to take a look and sure enough, it doesn't run. No aircleaner, missing forward, rear and doghouse cooler tin. 009 distributor, crusty looking
34pict-3 sitting on a VW DP intake with the pre-heat pipes cut off. Ultra-cool "Bugpack" exhaust.So I start with the basics. After replacing the battery I find out that we have spark, but no fuel. Pull the line from the carb, nipple comes out(!). So off comes the carb for an overhaul and a fuel inlet repair. Fuel pump doesn't, so it comes off too so we can get a new alternator style fuel pump.
After I fix the fuel inlet with a file and sleeve retainer per resident expert Bob Hoover's directions, we find out the bottom of the carb is warped to hell. That would explain the gobs of RTV on the bottom that were plugging up the passages, and the two gaskets. Carburetor is junk, despite a relatively young 1993 casting date. Has the generator linkage on an alternator equipped engine. Gal says "Yeah a couple times the throttle stuck on the freeway and I hit like 80 mph". Gee, I wonder why given the gouges into the side of the alternator case that line up perfectly with the bolt on the accelerator pump arm.
Gal doesn't want to spend too much money so I chem-dip it and clean it up anyway. We put it back on with extra gaskets and I hope for the best. Throttle shaft bushings are shot, but at this point it doesn't really matter. If it runs at all it will run like shit and I'm not tooled up to replace the bushings myself.
New fuel pump goes on, packed with grease and a new pushrod and mounting flange. I have her crank and nothing happens, no fuel. I put a vacuum gauge on the line to the carby and manually pull fuel to the fuel inlet. She cranks some more. Still No Fuel with a NEW #*(#$&#*@ pump. Pull fuel pump, and checking pushrod protrusion at the highest point it isn't 13mm per the Bentley manual but the other pump DID work at some point. Install fuel pump a second time, try it again, no fuel delivery. Remove fuel pump again, find pump lever broken off(!).
So off to the FLAPS we march with the pump in one hand and receipt in another. "Never seen that happen before...." according to the guy behind the counter. Bull Shit I'm thinking to myself. To set his mind at ease I buy another mounting block and a couple carburetor base gaskets. He warranties the pump and we head back to the car. I am DETERMINED to make this @**@*#& piece of #*#* run tonight.
New pump gets packed with grease. I test fit the pushrod in the new mounting block and it won't drop through. Mounting block is warped. The pushrod tested straight according to the kitchen counter roll- test, so we put some sandpaper on a stick and try to buff out the bore in the mounting block with limited success. After cleaning and a judicious application of grease to the pushrod it moves freely enough to look like it will go back down after it gets pushed up by the distributor drive gear. So I put the pump on again.
After a few seconds of cranking the filter on the suction line starts to fill with gas. SCORE one for me, finally. After a few more revolutions I pump the throttle a few times and the thing comes alive, sorta. Running like shit, but running. I break out the timing light while the choke is still on just to see where we are at.
Timing was 40 degrees AT IDLE(!!) according to the kewl aluminum degree wheel. I set the timing down to about 9 degrees and it still runs like shit, so I shut down and pull the cap. Point gap was perhaps .006. Re-set point gap, rubbing block is basically gone thanks to the lack of lube on the distributor cam, but the points appear to be new. It runs a little better but still 'like shit' compared to a normal car. It runs like shit compared to a properly assembled VW with all of the 'unimportant' equipment working as it should. It runs like shit compared to my Volkswagen, which runs and drives like a normal car thanks to the fact that I've put as much of it back to factory spec as possible.
Anyway, I drove it, and I listened to the transaxle growl in every gear, probably due to a lack of oil. This 1964 bug has a nice paint job, a nice interior, an alarm, lotsa kewl chrome, and to top it off a
-=total shit powertrain=- that needs to be replaced in its entirely.
It is truly a shame, the longer I stay in this hobby the more depressed I become when I see people BUTCHER these cars with a hatchet. On the upside, this car did have the little spring in the center of the distributor drive gear. That made my day, despite all the other screwups on this particular engine it had that damn spring ;-)
Chris