New Member

[JustSurf94]

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.

[KTPhil]

Welcome! Nice survivor!

Engine bay pics? I am betting someone put an 009 distributor in, and that is causing your flat spot.
_________________
Current Fleet:
- '71 Fastback
- '69 Westfalia
Retired:
- '67 Beetle
- '65 Beetle (x2)
- '65 Bus
- '71 Squareback

[Pez]

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!
_________________
Chasing Squirrel's.

1971 Bay Window
1966 Baja

[oprn]

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!
_________________
Our cars get old, we get old but driving an old VW never gets old!

[JustSurf94]

[OldSchoolVW's]

[JustSurf94]

[oprn]

[OB Bus]

[JustSurf94]

[JustSurf94]

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?

[OB Bus]

Is that a socket stuck on the drain plug?
_________________
Larry in OB
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!
69 Westfalia and 2002 Eurovan Camper.
People deserve the Government they voted for.

[OB Bus]

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.
_________________
Larry in OB
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!
69 Westfalia and 2002 Eurovan Camper.
People deserve the Government they voted for.

[OldSchoolVW's]

[Abscate]

Cap off that vacuum advance port of the left side of the carb, like the others
_________________
🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🍊 🍊 🍊

[67rustavenger]

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.
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!
2003 Astrovan? GFYS again, Xevin!
Don't let your bad ideas remain, ideas!

[oprn]

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.
_________________
Our cars get old, we get old but driving an old VW never gets old!

[NJ John]

Welcome! I have a yellow 73, too.

_________________
1973 standard, yellow, lowered, 3” narrowed front, 1600 blo-thru turbo w/single dell 15.4@86, so far
11.41 et buggy. Long gone
Let’s go O’s! Let’s go O’s!
https://www.youtube.com/@AirSpooledGarage

[Heiferman]

[Bobs67vwagen]

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.