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Thu Nov 13, 2025 1:14 pm

Hello All! Glad to have joined The Samba after a few years of lurking here and there.

I'm a native of San Diego, CA and have always wanted an old air-cooled VW. It helps that my wife was on the same page! My previous wrenching experience is on vintage Japanese motorcycles (Honda and Yamaha), RWD Volvos (the old 240 Bricks), Ford and Toyota/Lexus. Completely new to the air-cooled world and am learning a ton.

Just bought a survivor 1973 Standard Beetle from fellow Samba member Mike Farnham in Southern California, who was selling on behalf of the original owner, yes you read that right!

Car is all original, and cosmetically tired after 52 years of baking in the California sun, but the 1600 DP seems to be a strong runner (almost certainly rebuilt at some point). Runs really well aside from a flat spot when transitioning onto the main jet. which is almost indetectable once its been driven awhile.

My search for main jets for the Made in Mexico Bocar 34 PICT-3 is coming up fruitless... sounds like it might be a good idea to contact Antonia Trejo on here, as perhaps he has access to extra jets.

Thu Nov 13, 2025 1:56 pm

Welcome! Nice survivor!

Engine bay pics? I am betting someone put an 009 distributor in, and that is causing your flat spot.

Thu Nov 13, 2025 2:02 pm

Welcome aboard and congratulations on the incredible car! Sure hope you don't change it esthetically in anyway, but only do a mechanical refresh and enjoy the years to come with it!

And also congratulations on the transition from Swedish steel to the steel with a German heritage. I've spent sometime behind the wheel of several 244's and a 745, great cars but to many issues and much to rare in East Texas. But I always found myself back to my roots, that is air cooled VW's.

Hope you enjoy your adventures and keep us updated with plenty of pictures!

Fri Nov 14, 2025 5:20 am

Very nice find!

I can be made to run properly but there will be a parts search to do it. My Boss from my last job called me a few weeks back, his wife HAD to have this '71 survivor Beetle she found. I told him to be prepared to have it drive him crazy trying to undo all the screwups and make it run properly again.

Well, they bought it and guess what? It runs like crap! Now the parts chase/real restoration work begins. The list is always the same.

-$20 chrome air cleaner
-009 distributor
-Bocar/EMPI/No Name carb
-Lower tins missing
-thermostat and flaps gone
-header that doesn't properly feed the heat riser
-plugged heat riser from no flow and over rich mixture trying to get a cold engine to run.

Symptoms are predictable too.

-starts but won't idle dependably
-runs great on the highway but not in town
-flat spots, stalls, hesitations
-fouled spark plugs
-accelerator pump maxed out, need more
-takes forever to warm up

Yes, post a photo or three so we can see how many of these things you have to deal with.

That car is well worth the effort to get it right!

Fri Nov 14, 2025 12:05 pm

oprn wrote: Very nice find!

I can be made to run properly but there will be a parts search to do it. My Boss from my last job called me a few weeks back, his wife HAD to have this '71 survivor Beetle she found. I told him to be prepared to have it drive him crazy trying to undo all the screwups and make it run properly again.

Well, they bought it and guess what? It runs like crap! Now the parts chase/real restoration work begins. The list is always the same.

-$20 chrome air cleaner
-009 distributor
-Bocar/EMPI/No Name carb
-Lower tins missing
-thermostat and flaps gone
-header that doesn't properly feed the heat riser
-plugged heat riser from no flow and over rich mixture trying to get a cold engine to run.

Symptoms are predictable too.

-starts but won't idle dependably
-runs great on the highway but not in town
-flat spots, stalls, hesitations
-fouled spark plugs
-accelerator pump maxed out, need more
-takes forever to warm up

Yes, post a photo or three so we can see how many of these things you have to deal with.

That car is well worth the effort to get it right!

You pretty much nailed it! I'll post engine bay pictures when I get home from work today.

- Stock 1973 airbox is re-installed, I just put the correct Mann filter in last night.

- The car does does have an 009 distributor on it and 'pointless' ignition. The seller advanced the timing by a few degrees and currently it does not ping in high load situations, like flooring it up a big hill in 4th gear. I'm not sure if putting on a stock vaccuum advance distributor would cause issues with the timing as-is, or if I would need to re-time it (never done this before... need to read up).

- Bocar Mexican carb (34 PICT-3 style). I believe the main jet is either a 127 or 127.5. Unfortunately, its an odd sized jet that is physically smaller than the Solex ones. I also dislike that there is no removable slow jet; it appears to just have a fixed circuit.

- Not sure about the lower tins, I'll post a picture from underneath and would appreciate any advice.

-I'll have to check to check the thermostat, flaps and heat riser, and definitely read up more on those too. Will send pictures.

- Have not pulled spark plugs yet, but that is next on my list

The symptoms are more or less how you described: Flat spot off-idle, and takes a good 30 minutes of running to warm up fully. It doesn't ever stall at idle, but my warm idle can definitely get lumpy where it shakes the car. I'm sure the transmission mount is also past its prime, so that probably doesn't help. But I know this thing isn't running its best... I have the twin carbs on my Honda CB450SC totally dialed in and it runs so good, you'd swear it was a fuel injected bike.

Thank you in advance to everyone! I want to teach my wife to drive this car, but there's no way I can have her practice driving stick AND deal with getting past flat spots...

Edit: wow I really see alot of bad sentiments about 009s after looking around more. I know this car had a vacuum advance distributor on originally, so I don't understand why the seller swapped on an 009 for a stock engine. Sounds like a rebuilt 034 from SparkWerx would be the best option for a stock DP.

Fri Nov 14, 2025 2:35 pm

JustSurf94 wrote: Edit: wow I really see alot of bad sentiments about 009s after looking around more. I know this car had a vacuum advance distributor on originally, so I don't understand why the seller swapped on an 009 for a stock engine. Sounds like a rebuilt 034 from SparkWerx would be the best option for a stock DP.

Or ...

Get a restored Solex from Tim at VolksBitz ( https://www.volkzbitz.com/home.html ) and pair it with restored distributor from SparxWerks. Tim and Bill will be glad to guide you to the best combination for your engine. Bill's restored fuel pumps are excellent and most importantly, deliver fuel at the correct psi . If you've got an aftermarket one, the pressure is probably too high. You'll be amazed at how smoothly these engines can run with the compatible stock components.

Fri Nov 14, 2025 3:22 pm

OldSchoolVW's wrote: Bill's restored fuel pumps are excellent and most importantly, deliver fuel at the correct psi . If you've got an aftermarket one, the pressure is probably too high. You'll be amazed at how smoothly these engines can run with the compatible stock components.

I do believe I have a stock, mechanical pump on there, so that's a bright spot.

Again, I will post pictures tonight

Sat Nov 15, 2025 6:41 am

JustSurf94 wrote: I know this car had a vacuum advance distributor on originally, so I don't understand why the seller swapped on an 009 for a stock engine.
Because:
1) some 1/4 mile guy in southern California in the late '60's put one on his race car and won a race. The popular performance VW magazines at the time said it was the latest "Hot tip!".
2) the 009 is what 100% of the aftermarket venders sell as a replacement distributor because... see reason #1.

Ever since then it has been the "Gospel" among those that don't know what it takes to make WVs run well on the road.

Old habits die hard!

A 034 may work reasonably well, I have never owned on but the proper vacuum distributor matched to a stock Solex will give you better off idle drivability and about 2 - 3 mpg better fuel economy. That's what the vacuum pot is for.

Sat Nov 15, 2025 2:48 pm

OldSchoolVW's wrote: JustSurf94 wrote: Edit: wow I really see alot of bad sentiments about 009s after looking around more. I know this car had a vacuum advance distributor on originally, so I don't understand why the seller swapped on an 009 for a stock engine. Sounds like a rebuilt 034 from SparkWerx would be the best option for a stock DP.

Or ...

Get a restored Solex from Tim at VolksBitz ( https://www.volkzbitz.com/home.html ) and pair it with restored distributor from SparxWerks. Tim and Bill will be glad to guide you to the best combination for your engine. Bill's restored fuel pumps are excellent and most importantly, deliver fuel at the correct psi . If you've got an aftermarket one, the pressure is probably too high. You'll be amazed at how smoothly these engines can run with the compatible stock components.

Completely agree on these suggestions and the references.

You might want to become friends with:

Robbie McCarthy (Airschooled)
and
Gary Schulte (Aeromech).

Both are talented mechanics and will treat you right.

Where are you in SD? We are in OB.

Sat Nov 15, 2025 10:17 pm

Quote: Completely agree on these suggestions and the references.

You might want to become friends with:

Robbie McCarthy (Airschooled)
and
Gary Schulte (Aeromech).

Both are talented mechanics and will treat you right.

Where are you in SD? We are in OB.

We are located in Escondido. Just joined the North County Air Cooled group.

Sat Nov 15, 2025 10:33 pm

Here are some pictures from the engine bay and underneath. Unless I'm mistaken, it appears that all of my tins are in place, including the lowers. It does have a vintage 4 Tuned muffler on it.

All comments are welcome! Sounds like it's in my best interest to go back to an SVDA distributor for a street driven car. I'm not opposed to keeping the Bocar 34 PICT 3 for now, if I can find spare jets (would be nice to try a 130 or 135 main... or at least have an extra 127 to drill out). The accelerator pump has a nice healthy squirt as soon as you open the throttle.

Anyone know if the heat risers can be checked without pulling it off the car? Like, with an IR thermometer to see if exhaust is passing through the middle of the crossover?

Sat Nov 15, 2025 10:40 pm

Is that a socket stuck on the drain plug?

Sat Nov 15, 2025 10:42 pm

I see you have the fabric wrapped fuel line in the engine compartment. There have been many problems with that line cracking internally. Suggest you replace it with gates barricade.

Sat Nov 15, 2025 11:38 pm

OB Bus wrote: I see you have the fabric wrapped fuel line in the engine compartment. There have been many problems with that line cracking internally. Suggest you replace it with gates barricade.

I have no issues with using the Gates Barricade since it holds up well to fuel with ethanol (which is pretty much everywhere now). As far as I know, however, it doesn't come in metric sizes, so you'd want to be sure all connections are well clamped. I noticed that the PO used fuel injection style clamps for the fuel hose. That's what you'd want to use regardless of what fuel hose you use ... their design creates a more uniform, secure seal. BTW ... the original style fabric wrapped fuel hose most definitely does not hold up as well to ethanol, however, there is ethanol resistant fabric wrapped fuel hose available in metric sizes. Here's one source:

https://belmetric.com/eckstein-braided-multi-fuel-rubber-hose/?

Beware ... many VW parts sellers are still selling the original, non-ethanol resistant fabric covered fuel hose and some will tell you it has to be replaced at least once yearly regardless of miles driven ... I'd guess most of us would prefer not to deal with that chore that frequently.

On a side note ... IMO, it would be wise to move the fuel filter out of the engine compartment. Those clear plastic filters aren't as durable as metal bodied ones and the fewer fuel line connections in the engine bay, the better. Next to the transaxle or under the fuel tank are safer locations.

BTW, I believe your fuel pump is a non rebuildable aftermarket style. They're very common, but I doubt yours is delivering fuel at the proper psi. One of my bugs came with one and it was putting out over 5 psi ... proper psi is around 2.8 - 3.5.

Sun Nov 16, 2025 2:15 am

Cap off that vacuum advance port of the left side of the carb, like the others

Sun Nov 16, 2025 6:41 am

Re: The heat riser test. Start the engine and as you have already stated, check the heat across the heat riser tubes to see what temp they are reaching.

I suspect it will be very little. Typically, most header systems don't provide a good amount of flow across the heat riser tubes unless, you modify the header tubes to catch the how exhaust gasses to help get the gasses flowing across the heat risers.

Sun Nov 16, 2025 6:44 am

It does indeed appear to have all the bottom tins and a thermostat! That is very rare today!

The first order of business in my view is to take a hot pressure washer to that engine top and bottom and clean off all that accumulated muck. This will help you to locate the oil leaks.

It is hard to tell by the photo but it looks as though the thermostat is fully extended. If it is it could have failed and holding the flaps open causing the engine to run cold. Awesome Powder Coat on this site has new ones available. It could also have all the flutes plugged up with that muck and that will hold it open too.

Yes you can use a heat gun to establish flow through the heat riser. It would be very rare to have that style of exhaust properly support flow. You should be seeing at least 90*F on the aluminum heat sink directly below the carb after a good run on the road. Never mind what the temperature is at the ends of the heat riser, the center tells the story. Here is a good read. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=755518&highlight=

Yes, move that plastic fuel filter out of the engine compartment. It is perfectly positioned to spray fuel in the ignition system when it cracks. And given enough time it will.

I played with a Bocar carb for several years and never did get it to run right. Maybe you are better at it? I also have no idea what the vacuum signal is from it and which distributor matches that signal properly.

Sun Nov 16, 2025 7:11 am

Welcome! I have a yellow 73, too.

Sun Nov 16, 2025 10:12 am

OB Bus wrote: Is that a socket stuck on the drain plug?
Appears to be a pipe plug. :?

Sun Nov 16, 2025 10:48 am

Welcome and good luck with your bug as it looks like a solid base to start with. It is what I would expect a san diego bug to look like and I hope you bring it all the way back.