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Tue Sep 20, 2011 1:57 pm

OhHerrooo wrote: the new carb install will be finished tonight! bought some rubber, flexible tipped taylor spark plug wires to finish up the install.

isrrael fixed my accelerator pump linkage clearance problems, all i need to do is hook up the spark plug wires, re-install the assembled linkage, time and tune the car. hoping to be going around the block tonight.

Haha I just asked about the car in the OCT3 thread. Good to hear! Good luck and hopefully I'll be seeing you tomorrow.

Tue Sep 20, 2011 2:30 pm

you should be. no sleep until car is done. i don't see any other problems i could run into.

Wed Sep 21, 2011 8:09 am

the car is running and moving under its own power again. we ran into a few snags but its up and moving. now we just need to:

adjust linkage so my decklid can go back on
fix my exhaust leak
retard the timing based on my compression ratio
clean up engine compartment

Tue Oct 04, 2011 2:46 pm

spent a quality 10 hours working on the car last weekend and accomplished/found out the following:

pulled motor
re-torqued heads
reset valves
made new linkage using stronger bar
eliminated slop in driver's side linkage
shortened linkage to clear under the decklid
new gaskets & silicone sealant to eliminate exhaust leaks

took it around the block and man this is a fast square.

the bad:
need a new ring on cylinder #4
mystery blockage in cylinder 4 carb throat

i left the car at Brien's house on saturday and he has since cleared the carb clog, found and fixed a vacuum leak, made a venturi grub screw for the one i was missing on one carb and started to fix/replace my ring issue.

hopefully the car will be 100% good to go this weekend.

Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:55 pm

turns out one of my IDFs is bad. fuel is not making it through the slow speed/idle circuit on the throat for cylinder four. the rings were replaced on cylinder 4 and heads/valves re-torqued and re-set.

the carb blockage was cleared temporarily, but the problem persisted even after a second and third thorough cleaning. when the carb was put on the 1/2 side of the motor (cyl 4 was not getting gas at idle prior), cylinder 1 showed the same symptoms.

anybody have a 40IDF they'd like to sell me?

Thu Oct 06, 2011 5:12 pm

OhHerrooo wrote: turns out one of my IDFs is bad. fuel is not making it through the slow speed/idle circuit on the throat for cylinder four. the rings were replaced on cylinder 4 and heads/valves re-torqued and re-set.

the carb blockage was cleared temporarily, but the problem persisted even after a second and third thorough cleaning. when the carb was put on the 1/2 side of the motor (cyl 4 was not getting gas at idle prior), cylinder 1 showed the same symptoms.

anybody have a 40IDF they'd like to sell me?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/WEBER-2-BARREL-CARB...4aaf601b64

Check out that auction. Maybe you could get a deal on it? What exactly is wrong with your carb? The fuel passage just wont clear out?

Thu Oct 06, 2011 5:20 pm

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Weber-40-IDF-volksw...43aa0a6a61

Or this one?

Thu Oct 06, 2011 5:58 pm

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/pts/2636356027.html

i found this one earlier. account is frozen on account of the ID theft though so i'm SOL for a bit.

Thu Oct 06, 2011 5:59 pm

i'm going to bring brien my other ICT tomorrow so he can get them back on the car in the meantime.

Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:19 pm

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1200977

Theres a link to that same 40 you found on craigslist, but its 50 cheaper on thesamba.

Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:52 pm

So sorry I couldn't get them to work. I was so sure that it had to do with the compression. However, when I redid the rings on the car, I did find that your rings were gapped wrong. The rings had more than .024" gap when they should have no more than .012". Not to mention the gaps on the piston rings were less than an inch apart on cylinder 4 and not much better on the others. What that equates to is poor compression. When I blew compressed air down the spark plug hole on #4, you could feel a pretty steady stream of air out the breather on the top of the block. I did a compression test only on that one head. #4 only had 90lbs. and #3 had about 120lbs. It's now where it should be with new rings on all four cylinders and proper ring alignment. Figured I would do them all since the engine was out and there really wasn't any point to changing only 1 set of rings.

I began thinking that the heads were part of the problem, but when I had them off, they showed no cracks or signs of being in poor condition. The old gas in the chamber test proved to that the valves were seating just fine.

After I got the engine back in I took her for a nice long ring break in through the hills of Fullerton for about an hour. I figured that the rings would've seated and then a quick re-tune and she would've been good for the OCT3 meet. I was wrong. The car was running strong in the high RPMs, but the mid range transition still felt like she was starving for fuel. When I got home, the same shit was happening. I went and bought 2 new spark plugs. Still didn't make a difference.

So, I pulled the carb for the 4th or 5th time (routine at this point) and paid close attention to something that I passed off as a casting flaw when Steve first showed me the carbs. Cracks.

Upon closer inspection, one of the cracks goes about 1/2" up the side of the emulsion socket on the problem throat. It's hard to see in the picture, but it's definitely there.

The strange thing is that the crack doesn't go all the way through the bottom of the float bowl. It is , however, enough of a crack to not allow the pressure to build in the emulsion socket.

In my last ditch effort to make these carbs work, I swapped the carbs. left to right. The problem went from #4 to #1. Thank god. That was actually good news. This was something that I should've done in the beginning, but, we would never have caught the ring issues, exhaust leaks and the loose head on the 3 & 4 side.

At this point I just needed a second opinion on the carb issue, so I called Old Speed and told them what was going on. They ran through the basics. Jets, timing, valves, plugs, synchronizing ...etc and then I told them the kicker. I told them that no matter what I did, when I put my hand over the throat and rev it up, the RPM would pick up and hang out for a second or two after I removed my hand. Jeremy says, "ooh! ooh! Russ knows this one! Let me call you back!" He calls back and says, "It's an INTERNAL VACUUM leak." He asked if there was any cracks and I said yes. He says, "the carb is junk, sorry to tell you." He went on to tell me that I could smear some JB Weld on it and it would temporarily fix the problem, but that it would over time show itself again. For me, I would rather repair something properly rather than fix something temporarily. Not talking shit about what Old Speed told me by any means, but, after 6 straight days with my head up this car's ass, I wasn't about to let it go with a bubblegum patch. Maybe for my own car, but not for a friend's or customer's.

Annnnnd that's what happened.

Fri Oct 07, 2011 4:59 am

"good on ya" for spending 6 straight days fixing the rings and finding the cracked carburetor on a buddy's car! 8)

Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:09 am

Brien I can't begin to say how thankful I am for all the work and continued effort you have put into my car. You are the kind of person that makes me proud to be a part of the same ACVW scene. I would never have been able to diagnose, track down or fix any of the problems with my motor/carbs that you have in the past 6 days. I can't even begin to express my gratitude. This car is my baby and I wouldn't trust it in any less capable hands than yours.

I"m on the hunt for a single un-cracked 40 IDF if anybody has one laying around.

While we may be back to square one, I feel like once I get another IDF, everything will go in easy and the car will be running nothing short of amazing. Thank you again, Brien, for everything you have taught me with this car, fixed on it, and put up with my naivete when it comes to technical motor information. I know I have learned a ton over the past week and feel way more comfortable around my car.

I'll be by ASAP with my ICTs and hopefully I can find a decent IDF in the near future.

Fri Oct 07, 2011 10:46 pm

How does a crack like that develop anyways? Age?

Fri Oct 07, 2011 10:52 pm

chaosisme wrote: How does a crack like that develop anyways? Age?

The carbs looked like they barley had any miles on them. If I had to guess, I would have to say that the carb was dropped at some point in it's life.

Sun Oct 09, 2011 5:41 pm

question for everyone:

the car has its ICTs back on but has a throttle problem.

its like i have to almost force the gas pedal down before i get any throttle. it feels like i'm having to fight it to get any power. does anybody know what this problem could be?

Sun Oct 09, 2011 5:46 pm

So, the linkage is hard to move?

I would check each part of the linkage for binding or anything else that isn't smooth and easy. Got a nice picture or two of the linkage as it sits now?

Max

Sun Oct 09, 2011 8:54 pm

OhHerrooo wrote: question for everyone:

the car has its ICTs back on but has a throttle problem.

its like i have to almost force the gas pedal down before i get any throttle. it feels like i'm having to fight it to get any power. does anybody know what this problem could be?

Maybe double check the adjustment of the throttle cable itself.

I would say check to make sure your carpet isnt snagging the pedal roller. Mine does that but I have that stupid removeable carpet in my car, not a proper carpet set like you do.

Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:02 am

Max Welton wrote: So, the linkage is hard to move?

I would check each part of the linkage for binding or anything else that isn't smooth and easy. Got a nice picture or two of the linkage as it sits now?

Max

here ya go!

Mon Oct 10, 2011 10:20 am

Make sure all the joints are smooth and check the width of the hex bar. It may be adjusted too far out making it bind in the sockets.