68 Bug

[Glenn A]

If someone is going to cut off the nub, I'd bet it would be you.

[Brown]

If someone is going to cut off the nub, I'd bet it would be you.

I'm not sure i have anything to spare!!

[Big_kid]

Just keep it out of the carnage thread.

[Brown]

If you have been following along recently you know that i have been fighting with a carburetor problem (or so i thought) for the past couple of weeks, The initial problem was an engine that would not idle, unless you consider 2000 rpm idling. I assumed that the problem was a worn throttle shaft, which actually is a little worn and has a slight vacuume leak, so I rebuilt a another carburetor (34 PICT 3) I had in the garage, installed that on the car and it idled great. probnlem solved I thought, but when I took it for a test drive there was a major hesitation and it would struggle to run at speed. Since the old carb accelerated fine I tried rebuilding another carb only to find that would not idle or acclerate.
After some research on The Samba i discovered that there is a known problem with the 34 Pict 3 carb with the Pilot (idle) jet if it is overtightned. Since it is accessed from the outside of the carb, just under the choke, it is easy to access and i followed the fix which is to back it out 1/4 of a turn and low and behold the engine would now idle, however I still had the acceleration issue.

I figured let me go back to the original carb which did not idle but accelerated and I would be good to. Backed out the pilot jet 1/4 turn started the car and bang it idles like a champ. Take it for a test drive and now problems accelerating and ocasionall problems at speed. I'm like waht the F???

For those of you who have not read the whole thread i had previoulsy adjusted the valves, set the points and the timing was spot on so i figured time to go back to square one and check the fuel system.

I pulled the tank, which i had previoulsy sealed and removed the filter screen and it was nice and clean. The i removed the palstic filter which i had installed under the car and found that the ends of the filter were miss shaped and one end had twisted which resulted in a narrowing of the fuel inlet passage. The filter evidently was too close the the heater box and had begun to melt, which i figured could not be good. While i had both ends of the fuel line open i blew it out with compressed air but it appeared to be clean. I ran a new line from the line coming out of the chassis to the engine and installed a new gas filter under the tank.

Now when i fired it up and took it for a test drive, no hesitation and it ran well so i think i finnaly got to the bottom of the problem.

Here are some pics of the filter .







By the way after i backed it out 1/4 they say to play with it a little until you find the best spot for idle and then put some locktight on the threads to hold it in place.

Location of Pilot (idle) jet

[Brown]

While i had the tank out i decided to investigate the problem with my horn (did not make any sound). The first thing i found was that the ground wire from the steering column was attached to the bolt making with the column on the steering wheel side but not the steering box side.





So I cleaned up the connections and bolted it to the bolt connecting to the steering box. Alas still no horn.

Next I checked to see that I had 12 volts at the horn with the key on, which i had.

Then i traced the ground wire from the horn and discovered this;



This wire is right behind the speedometer.



Therefore the horn button button was not connected to the ground side of the horn. I made the connection and tried the horn but still no sound.

Now i went right to the horn and connected the ground lug right to the body and still nothing, i.e. a bad horn.

Scrounged around in the garage and all i could find was a rusted old horn but when i connected it bingo it work, not very well, but at least i now know i have all the connections right.

For those who don't know the VW horn is connected what i would call backwards. When the key is on there is always 12 volts on the horn. When you press the horn button you are actually completing the ground circuit and the horn works. The problem lies when the ground wire from the horn gets shorted directly to horn completing the circuit and sounding the horn constantly. The solution is to get down by the driver side front fender and pull one of the wires off of the horn.

[Brown]

i found a new horn amongs my stuff so that's been solved but I took the bug to Home Depot yesterday and evidently i did not solve my hesitation and/or poor running problem.

It seems like it is starving for gas at times. Some times it will accelerate and run fine and then other times it will hesitate badly and won't come up to speed.

Today i checked the fuel pressure to see if the fuel pump is a problem. I was getting 4.5 PSI fuel pressure and when i ran the idle up it stayed solid right there. I'n not sure but i think that is good.





I really at a loss right now.

[Brown]

I'm wondring if i could have an intermittant electrical problem. I'm going to check the plugs tonight to see if any of them are fouled and I ahve a new set of wires to throw on to see if that helps.

[Brown]

I'm about to head out change the plugs, wires, cap and rotor and test the coil.

If that does not work, does anyone know where i can find a big tree??

[Brown]

Tonights update!!

Removed the old plugs, which are not that old, they were all black from what loosk like a too rich mixture. Installed new bosch plugs, but i did not have wires, cap or rotor. Took car for a ride and there was no change.

I tested the coil like Rob and Dave said and it did not look good, 5 ohms across pins 1 and 15, they sway 3 to 4 ohms and about 7K Ohms across the spark plug wire connection and pins 1 or 15, they say it should be 10 K ohms. The problem was all the coils i found in my staff basicly read the same, but i tried a different one anyway and low and behold it seemed to run alot better, although there was still a little hesitation.

Stuck in the back of my head was the fact that i had played with the timing during all of this testing of the carburetors and even though it was timed at 7 Degrees ATDC, i decided to adjust it and advanced it so the timing is around TDC, which is closer to where it was previoulsy and then took it for a ride and it rides really nice. I don't understand why that is the case but i'm going to leave it and monitor the engine temperature to see it is not running hot.

I'm also going to order a new coil, cap, rotor, condensor and points so everthing will be in tip top shape.

[Brown]

Last night i drove the bug to the meeting and it ran pretty well. Last year i picked up a set gauges for oil pressure, temp and RPM. The Oil press works well, the tach jumps around quite a bit but the temp guage which starts at 120 degress, barely registers. So last night when i got home i checked the temp with a long food thermometer and it read just 150 degress. That seems awful low to me conisdering i drove 15 min on the SS. I'm going to check out the thermometer but anyone have any thoughts on that?

Thanks

[mannys66]

I have one of those "aim at" digital lazer beam thermometer if you wanna borrow it, those thing don't lie

[Raj]

did the dipstick feel warm at all? When its bitter cold out, even after a 10 mile drive they dont get as hot as you would expect.

[Brown]

I have one of those "aim at" digital lazer beam thermometer if you wanna borrow it, those thing don't lie

Thanks Dude i'd like too!

did the dipstick feel warm at all? When its bitter cold out, even after a 10 mile drive they dont get as hot as you would expect.

The Dip stick was warm but not too hot to hold. I'd think drivinghome from D&B to baldwin should be enoguth to heat the engine up. More to follow!!

[Glenn A]

I'm going to check out the thermometer but anyone have any thoughts on that?

Thanks

Thats probably why the guy threw out that thermometer Ken. Stick it in a glass of ice water should read 32 degrees. If it don't toss it.

Keep us posted.

[Brown]

My trunk has been leaking due to a poorly fitting trunk lid and bad seal. The seal track is all rusted so i decided to reaplce it. Here some pictures of before. My question is what can i treat this with before i weld int he new pieces. It is pitted so it will very difficult to completely remove all traces of rust and then after i weld them in there will be bare metal under the track. I would like to fix this right to minimize the liklihood of rust coming back.

Thanks

[D-A-N]

You've probably seen this already and maybe decided against it

http://vwparts.aircooled.net/Front-Hood ... odseal.htm

but in the event you haven't, I've read of people happily using these in lieu of reattaching a stock seal track because these seals mount in the hood rather than the body of the car. I have only very limited welding experience but it seems like welding a new track in would be a big PITA with a lot of potential for burn through given how thin the metal is. Unless you have one of those small spot welders?

[mannys66]

that works D-A-N, but Ken is trying to make this a 10 point show car. that wouldn't work for what he has in mind.

[Brown]

that works D-A-N, but Ken is trying to make this a 10 point show car. that wouldn't work for what he has in mind.

Did Glenn take over Manny''s user name????

Dan,

I just read about them at lunch today as well, but even if you go with them you still need the Seal channel along the top. Also i like to try and find the most diffiuclt route to take and then that's the way i go!!!

[Brown]

Here are a few shots after i remvoed the tracks and wire wheeled the rust.

[mannys66]

looks clean enought.

[D-A-N]

So you're really going through with it! I'm impressed. What's your welding set up like?

[Brown]

So you're really going through with it! I'm impressed. What's your welding set up like?

Of course! Like I said I don't do anything the easy way!!! My welding set up is a Lincoln Mig welder. It works well for the sheet metal on cars. I'll post more pictures as i progress.

[Glenn A]

PM sent. Good luck Ken.

[Brown]

I've been working on cleaning up the front of the bug, addressing the seal tracks and a few small rust areas. I was actually quite pleased that none of the fender nuts have any problems. There are just a few areas that need to be patched. The spare tire well is bad but i'm going to try to patch it. As fas as the Heater channels go i just ordred them from CIP1 who carries Dansk. I also picked up the Bug me vidie and already watched it one time. Following the video it looks pretty straight forward.

One question though about spraying the sheet metal after i clean it up. Can i spray the epoxy primer this time of year or is it too cold?

Thanks

[Brown]

Nothing like some new parts to get you charged up.