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Wed Nov 04, 2009 6:44 pm

Just wanted to say hello to everyone and thank you all for a great forum. I have been reading over them for the past few days and have found tons of great articles, tech advice and best of all, the pictures.

Two days ago I got my very first beetle, it's a 73 super and it is a little rough around the edges, however it's a start. I have plans and visions, as most of us car enthusiasts do. Stack that with ADD and a short attention span and it's a lethal combination. At least that's what my wife says.

My 73's has a few rough spots, one rusted floorpan (passenger rear) and a bit of a carb problem. Otherwise it is daily driven and completely safe. Which is one of my main concerns.

I do have a question for you guys, for those that have more experience in the VW's than I. What is the best all around engine for daily driving and performance.. something a bit more peppy and fun than the stock 1600. I have been considering a 1641 but hear that i will not be happy with it. Any suggestion?

My carb also bogs when you first accelerate, i have gone through and broke it down and gave it a good cleaning, but it did not help as much as I had hoped. Any suggestions ? I

The motor is Dual port with a Solex 31, would you suggest a better carb for daily driving and tunablility?

PLease keep in mind that this car is daily driven and safety is a top concern.

Wed Nov 04, 2009 7:41 pm

For a lil more giddy up and still realable 1776cc.
Your stumbling could just be
Valve adjust, then set timing then the carb
What distributor do you have?

Wed Nov 04, 2009 7:42 pm

Yup.. a 1776 is a great daily drive. I put over 100k on my old 1776. It was driven daily and never garaged.... it was a lot of fun and very reliable.

Wed Nov 04, 2009 7:53 pm

My 73 SB has a 34/pic 3 carb that I rebuilt myself and it runs fine.

Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:03 pm

As far as I know, everything is bone stock. I just put new inner door panels in. New plugs, wires, dist. cap. I did notice that I have got a oil leak now that seem to be coming from pushrod tubes.. is this the right name? I have been looking at the aftermarket self adjusting pushrods and plan to replace them all. I'm sure, as old as this car is, that they all need to be replaced.

As for the distributor and ignition system goes, it appears to be bone stock. I have been reading that the 009 is a good distributor and the bosch blue coil. I don't know much about these, but i would like to fix up and upgrade the ignition system first. Since i manage an O'reilly Auto Parts, I get at HUGE discount on parts. I will take some pictures in the morning during the day for you guys. I'm warning you tho. She's rough, but other than the bog when you first start off, it purrs like a kitten.

Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:32 pm

coop3r wrote: I have been reading that the 009 is a good distributor

coop3r wrote: but other than the bog when you first start off, it purrs like a kitten.

The oo9 is the cause of your bogging when you start off. oo9's suck. I don't know what match is best for your Solex 31, but I can tell you that that there are much better options than an oo9.

Is it a Solex H30/31? If so, a rebuilt Bosch 010, or a 205 T or 205 M would be a nice match.

Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:34 pm

SkrapMetal wrote: Is it a Solex H30/31? If so, a rebuilt Bosch 010, or a 205 T or 205 M would be a nice match.
Bosch 019 works great with a Solex H30/31PICT.

Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:43 pm

Glen, I just saw your 74's and read over your notes as you patiently built one of the most beautiful VW's that I have ever seen. It's not the look that I plan to go with for my car, I'm leaning more towards a lowered flat black volksrod looks, but just.. wow. Impressive to say the least.

Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:49 pm

I was wondering if the timing being too retarded would cause the bog when I first start off. I believe that I am going to try to adjust the valves and try to seal up the pushrod tubes and then advance the timing a bit while turning the idle down a hair on the carb. I was told that the previous owner retarded the timing in fear of overheating the motor.

Another question, what is the average running temperature of these cars. I dont know much about these motors and am trying to learn everything that i can. I purchased a Haynes and a Chiltons for it today and have been reading over them. The motor is very simple in design and yet very effective. I have installed the decklid riser kit that allows for more air to flow through for engine cooling as well.

Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:19 am

coop3r wrote: Another question, what is the average running temperature of these cars. I dont know much about these motors and am trying to learn everything that i can. I purchased a Haynes and a Chiltons for it today and have been reading over them. The motor is very simple in design and yet very effective.
Buy a Bentley manual. Spendy, but worth every penny. Your engine shouldn't run any hotter than any other engine.
coop3r wrote: I have installed the decklid riser kit that allows for more air to flow through for engine cooling as well.
Completely unnecessary, and depending on who you ask, detrimental. If you have all your tinware and seals installed, and the engine in a reasonable state of tune, heat isn't an issue.

Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:32 am

1776 is a good size for an engine and is proven pretty reliable.

There are lots of similar issues with the 009 dizzy. I was able to tune the 30/31 carb to not notice the dead spots much but my 34 carb wants nothing to do with that distributor. I can keep it tuned for about a month then I have to re-tune the carb again. Look at swap meets for other distributors, buy a rebuild kit and throw it on there. I've got a 74 fed dizzy going on mine once I finish cleaning it up.

Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:04 am

I ran into a fellow VW man yesterday that has a SICK vw, he told me that he has a 34 he will sell me pretty cheap, I was thinking about buying this and going with a blue bosch coil and perhap the 019 as gene had suggested. Would this be a viable setup?

Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:07 am

IMHO, if you want to run a 34-3 carb on your engine, get yourself an SVDA distributor.

http://www.aircooled.net/new-bin/viewproductdetail.php?keyword2=IGD0001&cartid=

Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:18 am

the svda works on the same principle as the 74 fed distributor. You are probably likely to find one of those at a reasonable price.

Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:07 am

Yellowbeard wrote: IMHO, if you want to run a 34-3 carb on your engine, get yourself an SVDA distributor.

http://www.aircooled.net/new-bin/viewproductdetail.php?keyword2=IGD0001&cartid=

This is what I'm running on my '73 Super and never had an issue. It runs like silk on glass.

coop3r, welcome to The Samba. As a newbie, you did everything right. You looked around, answered many of your own questions and probably mastered the "Search" function. It will save you alot of time and effort and anything that you couldn't find using it will most likely be answered if you create a new post.

It's great you are saving another '73 Super. I have a soft spot for them, mine was the first VW I ever owned.

Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:17 am

19super73 wrote: Yellowbeard wrote: IMHO, if you want to run a 34-3 carb on your engine, get yourself an SVDA distributor.

http://www.aircooled.net/new-bin/viewproductdetail.php?keyword2=IGD0001&cartid=

This is what I'm running on my '73 Super and never had an issue. It runs like silk on glass.
:lol: With a bit of fine-tuning, you could get it running like shit through a goose... :shock:

:D

Fri Nov 06, 2009 2:51 pm

Yellowbeard wrote:
Buy a Bentley manual. Spendy, but worth every penny.

Here Here! I agree with that completely. Haynes and Chilton manuals are based on some guys trial and error at replacing a part. If it ran after that, they printed it. Not a lot of technical data in there.
Bentleys are the Bentleys of books, Top o the line, Creme de la creme!

Sun Nov 08, 2009 4:51 pm

Well, I had the day off from work today so I decided I would put the carb back togather after soaking it in GUNK carb cleaner over night. I took a brush to every part of the carb and put in a rebuild kit, as well as replaced the fuel filter again, just for good measure. After a little bit of tuning, this being my first time working on any type of VW engine, I managed to get her fired up and running. I drove it to my friends house who has a immaculate shop and borrowed his dwellmeter and set my idle and did some more adjusting on the carb. Finally, after all that, I had my bug running great, the bog was gone and the throttle was smooth all the way through. I must have took a 50 mile test drive, just because of the huge difference in the way it ran the days prior. Oh yes, I also learned that there is a 009 dizzy in the bug, which I put all new parts in when I redone the timing, however there is jsut a basic black coil on it, which I plan to upgrade to a better unit when I figure out what works great with it and the solex H30/31.

On the route back from my friends shop I noticed a good bit of white smoke behind me.. I was so focused on how it felt, i never really had noticed it the whole time I was test driving. I could hear an annoying exhaust leak, but in my mind it was fixable.. nothing major..

So.. I get back home and check the dipstick.. It's nearly bone dry.. Up under the car where I had sit and idled up and down a few times to watch the smoke was a puddle of oil.. I came back in to do some research on this grand site and google a few things as well, while the wife was cooking some boston butt and decided to go back outside and take the tin off of the head on the passenger side. I took the lower tin off so that I could see the pushrod tubes just fine and then cranked the car and to my suprise it was not the tube seals that were leaking.. I had a gap between the jug and the head big enough to fit a quarter through and it was pouring oil out like a faucet... so now the bug is sitting in the driveway with a gasket job half finished and my wife is slowly losing her patience. But that boston butt sure was good.

Hope you guys have had a better day than me. Cheers!

Mon Nov 09, 2009 6:58 pm

OK, perhaps I'm just really tired afte a 12hr day at working findig parts for other people al day, but I cannot seem to find head gaskets for my 1600 in my 73 SB. Do they even use gaskets? Are there any other things I need to know while I have the head pulled off? Links, info.. feedback are very much welcomed.

Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:41 am

No head gaskets.