Just rebuilt carb and timed our 1973 super beetle. To get the motor to run good I needed set the timing advance at 18 degrees! This is a lot of the specified 5 but that is what it needed. At 5 degrees it would not run at all. Has anyone else encountered this or know what is happening here?
Open up the idle bypass screw (the big one). That'll adjust the idle speed. Really should be at around 7 degrees or so. Just put it there and adjust the carb.
Are you sure, you have the TDC mark in correct place? Is the points gap in spec?
Stock '73 times at 5 Deg *AFTER* TDC.
I'm pretty sure, my standard 1300 -73 and 1303 -73 1300DP engines sold=20 here have SVDA and are timed 7,5 degrees BTDC. Did the US have=20 double vacuum on all -73 supers?
US had 1600cc DP and, yes, they had double vac: Advance/Retard. This setup was used on '71 thru '73.
I guess my real point should have been: "No one can tell you what timing setting to use unless they know for certain which distributor you have mounted on the engine."
The stock timing marks have zero meaning for any non-stock distributor.
Speedy Jim
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