'66 Beetle - '70 Engine: Fuel Flow from Carb

[Cusser]

Individual plastic grommets are sold individually at Ace Hardware.
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[tasb]

I have always assumed that the three wire fan shroud clamp was for holding the distributor to coil plug wire in place, no?
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Roads Scholar &
1957 Kombi low mileage 36 hp governor equipped M 178 Slow Drag Winner 2014, 2015, 2018

1965 hardtop Deluxe Microbus owned since 1990 M 620 factory 12 v 1500cc

1961 (October)Single Cab- Road Trip Workhorse

Member# 2059

[colonel biggs]

One element left out of the fuel line location discussion has been the placement of fuel filters. Zerotofifty shows how close to the fuel pump his fuel line comes, if it is directly connected. Is the fuel filter still in the engine compartment? Somewhere between the clamp and maybe in front of the distributor?

I have read here where VW placed the fuel filter up front (under the tank?). An inconvenient location, but no doubt much safer.

[zerotofifty]

VW has a mesh fuel filter sock inside the fuel tank. It is a course filter.

Add on filters need to be fire safe of course.

One issue is cheapo plastic body filters, some may crack, and spill fuel. The plastic can also melt or be weakened by heat. I prefer the metal body filters, sure you cant see inside, but they are unlikely to crack open. Just about every modern car has a non see through filter. So see thru is not a huge benefit, specialy with routine replacement. A larger filter will extend filter life.
Of course maintaining good fuel in the tank is important too Maintaining the tank means keeping dirt and water out (water makes rust) Keeping the tank topped off helps reduce water ingress do to thermal cycling day and night in a humid environment. a full tank simply has less volume of air, so less humid air can enter. Occasional use of a fuel dryer additive can remove water that has accumulated too. Only use a fresh bottle of fuel dryer, as once open the bottle of fuel dryer will start absorbing moisture. Very old plastic bottles, even if never opened can swell, that is because they has absorbed water!!!

For filters, one additional concern is mounting, the larger metal filters are heavy, and if left to dangle on a long run of hose can bounce around and come loose of the hose, tear the hose. a hose clamps can be used to mount them, the hose clamp being attached to a ridged part of the car.

If a filter leaks one of the worst places for that to happen is near an ignition source, cause that means FIRE!!!! Sources of ignition are oft found int he engine bay. The distributor has high voltage arcing happening thousands of times per minute. The generator and regulator also has electric arcs occurring. The engine bay is also very hot, not good for plastic filters, the intake manifold heat pipe can melt the plastic, it gets HOT!!!
Many folks do mount a filter near the distributor, that is ok, till it leaks, then kaboom!!! dont be the guy or gal. Some folks get away with it for decades, but why risk it?

One of the preferred places to mount a filter is near the transmission above the left rear axle area. The metal fuel line exits the chassis there, going into a rubber hose to the metal line that enters the front of the engine bay. So mount the filter there.
It is fairly easy to access there, there is no ignition source there. No heat source there either. folks will use the tiny light filters there without a mounting bracket, but if you choose a heavy larger filter it should be placed in a bracket, perhaps attached to the top of the frame horn, a large hose clamp can be used for this. or even zip tied to the clutch bowden tube (not the clutch cable!!!)
Besure to replace worn or very old fuel hoses. Modern new fuel resisting hoses are preferred these days, as some new fuel formulations can attacked the older types of hoses. Look for lined hoses for best life. Although VW did not use hose clamps on some hoses, I prefer to do so Use solid band type clamps rather that the clamps with perforated bands as the rubber hose can extrude thru the perforations thus loosening the clamping over time. The solid band types are oft sold as "fuel injection" type clamps make sure the clamps are sized for your diameter hoses. The old Bugs use a fairly small diameter hose. Too large a clamp will perform poorly, may not snug down well. The OUTSIDE diameter of VW Bug hoses can be less than 3/8 inch. Note that clamps may be labled for either outside or inside diameter of the hoses, so open the box to confirm the clamp fits your hose A hose clamp for a 3/8 inch inside diameter hose will be much much too large for your Bug

For correct fit, the hoses should be a tight stretch fit over the metal pipes. I have seen folks too big diameter hoses and compensate with a tight clamps, but that aint good, buy the right sized tight fit hose. 1/4 inch inside dia. hoses are TOO BIG!!!

Me, well I gots a metal filter mounted near the transmission on my Bugs. No plastic filters in the engine bay.

[Cusser]

[zerotofifty]

[colonel biggs]

Amazon has a 5/16" (8 mm) fuel injection clamp; outside diameter is 13-15 mm. The id of WW's fuel hose is 8mm. Seems like this might work?

Again, I'm not at the car to experiment.

Thanks for the detailed description of the filter setup. Near the trans seems ideal.