TheSamba.com :: View topic - Another Pickle Post

Fri Jul 11, 2025 2:46 pm

I was going through some old photos and found this one, early 80's, of me and my friends building a launch ramp in the driveway. I'm the Tony Hawk haircut-havin' homeboy with his hand on the platform, 3rd from the left.

You can just make out the front end of my first car, a clementine '72 FI automatic Squareback. Ahh, the memories...

Sun Jul 13, 2025 3:25 pm

Reinstalled the air cleaner with some fresh oil, and reconnected the starter/ignition cable (after removing the remote starter). Turned the key, got the fuel pump going, she started right up and idled nicely. Went through the gears lightly while up on Jack stands in the driveway. All of them work :D

Now down to the FLAPS for some fresh oil. I’m going to replace the solid cover plate that came on the ‘73 and replace it with one that has a drain plug. Just seems cleaner/easier for future oil changes.

Sun Jul 13, 2025 8:05 pm

Got the stuff for the first oil change. Surprisingly the oil in the engine was extremely clean, and clear. No sign of gas or any sludge. The previous owner must have done some work on it recently.

The original oil cover plate had orange RTV caked between it and the engine case. No bueno

So all of that came off. The strainer was clear of debris. Got all of the supplies set up.

Got it all cleaned up, no leaks after a quick warm up. Then took it for a drive finally!!!

https://youtube.com/shorts/qpUhr_-bocc?si=CpBvk3KNnf2X58zK

Fri Jul 18, 2025 6:35 pm

I figure it’s never too early to stock up on spare parts. Got a great deal on all of this right here on The Samba.Thanks WheeliePete!

Sat Jul 19, 2025 12:34 pm

Some spares are good to have. You might want to check the AAR valve, as it can be leaned up to be used almost right away. That one is a mechanical version, and they usually work better than the electric one. You can test the injectors too, and maybe build a test harness to use the distributor to fire off the injectors. But you can hose them up and see if they leak, or hold pressure. I had a guy send me a bunch of used injectors, and I sat down one day and tested them using a spare dist to fire them (aimed into peanut butter jars, and using the cars wiring harness to fire them. Turned out only one injector was bad out of the 12-15 in the box. Well worth checking, and then cleaning off the old hose stubs so they were ready for use again. Some of the rest of the bits you'll need a spare engine (long block) to use on. :wink:

Tue Jul 22, 2025 12:40 pm

I had posted earlier that there was a vacuum hose connected to the bottom of the oil breather and running to the IAD, as shown in the diagram (in red). I was mistaken, as there is a nipple beneath the oil breather, but no hose, and seemingly nowhere to connect one at the IAD.

Does anyone have any experience with the '73 system that could shed some light on this? There is a bung on the air intake which has no obvious purpose (marked #2 in the third image), but it doesn't seem like a hose would have run from below the breather up around it and over to the intake.

EDIT* I looked through some older photos and remember now that there was originally a hose running from the bung on the air intake all of the way across the engine towards the "firewall" near cylinder 3, and through the opening to the charcoal cannister located beneath the load floor just above the tranny. Which seems weird, as I thought that that was supposed to lead to the bung in the elbow of the exhaust? So I'll just cap that off, along with the bung on the right edge of the oil bath air cleaner that used to have a hose running to the other end of the charcoal cannister.

Here is my breather configuratin:

I think this is an earlier setup...

Tue Jul 22, 2025 4:24 pm

I have a 72, which should be fairly similar to your 73 (no promises). I'm guessing you have some mismatched parts in your engine bay making things confusing for you. Can you post some photos of your engine to help us all look and see what doesn't make sense? Overall shot, closer shots of items that seem wrong or incorrect? I believe I can help with figuring what is right and what isn't and may even be able to provide you with parts to correct problems depending on your needs.

You might also want to start checking your fuel injection parts to make sure they are the correct part numbers for your system (ECU, pressure sensor, tvs, etc). Tram has a chart posted on here with part numbers for each version of FI.

Jon

Wed Jul 23, 2025 1:32 pm

FastyOrange wrote: I have a 72, which should be fairly similar to your 73 (no promises). I'm guessing you have some mismatched parts in your engine bay making things confusing for you. Can you post some photos of your engine to help us all look and see what doesn't make sense? Overall shot, closer shots of items that seem wrong or incorrect? I believe I can help with figuring what is right and what isn't and may even be able to provide you with parts to correct problems depending on your needs.

You might also want to start checking your fuel injection parts to make sure they are the correct part numbers for your system (ECU, pressure sensor, tvs, etc). Tram has a chart posted on here with part numbers for each version of FI.

Jon

Yes, your 72 will be closer than his last pic of the 68-70 system he posted above (last pic). If I remember correctly, there should be a plastic PCV valve under the small cap that should have a hose to the intake plenum (vacuum source for the valve). According to Ray, these valves have a tendency to leak, and cause weird idle fluctuations. He usually recommends gutting the valve, and adding a block with a 1-3mm hole drilled in it in the hose to get a consistent stable vacuum. It's been a while (a couple of years now) since this sort of thing has been discussed on here, which is why I can't remember which size hole he recommended you use. According to him, the valve would sometimes open at the wrong time throwing the system off in a funky way. By adding a block with a hole in it, it would keep the vacuum stable and eliminate the erratic opening of the valve on the system.
I really don't have any experience with the late system 2 cap breather box, other than knowing that it can cause some troubles with oil leaks if it isn't hooked up correctly. It's also why most people go to the single cap breather box, when they go to carbs on the late engines, due to not pulling enough vacuum to keep the oil inside the engine. Carbs and the 2 cap breather cause oil to be forced out behind the big fan at the case, because the carbs don't make enough vacuum. I hope this helps.

Wed Jul 23, 2025 3:27 pm

I think the last time Ray posted about it, even he said 1-3mm! Regarding the pcv connection on the bottom of the oil breather...there should be a metal tube that bends around the right side of the IAD down below the intake runners. That is what the fitting on the bottom of the oil breather connects to. My car and parts are all in storage right now (long story), but I can look for a photo of this detail tonight. If I don't find any photos I will be heading to storage this weekend and I can grab some pics.

Jon

Wed Jul 23, 2025 5:49 pm

I found this photo of a spare IAD that I am pretty sure came off of either a 72 or 73 type 3.

The tube bending around from the back cover of the IAD is where you will connect your crankcase vent valve. Pay no attention to the TVS that is installed in that photo, it came from a Volvo and I was seeing if it fit for a custom application. You can also see the threaded hole for the temp sensor in front of the intake runners. I believe that location should be the same for your year. I hope this helps!

Jon

Fri Jul 25, 2025 11:47 pm

FastyOrange wrote: I found this photo of a spare IAD that I am pretty sure came off of either a 72 or 73 type 3.

The tube bending around from the back cover of the IAD is where you will connect your crankcase vent valve. Pay no attention to the TVS that is installed in that photo, it came from a Volvo and I was seeing if it fit for a custom application. You can also see the threaded hole for the temp sensor in front of the intake runners. I believe that location should be the same for your year. I hope this helps!

Jon

Thanks for the pic, I’ll look again when I get back from Portland, but I’m pretty sure that tube doesn’t exist on my IAD.

Sat Jul 26, 2025 5:13 am

Portland is a lot of fun. Have a great time! I did do a quick check and there are a few of the late style IADs in the classifieds if you end up needing one. Normally, I would offer my spare...but it appears to have had a very hard life and I wouldn't trust it to be a decent unit. I think it will be a permanent mock-up use item.

Jon