1979 carburetor to fuel injection conversion

[airschooled]

Hi everyone,

With Tour cancelled this year I'm helping a few people out locally, and the current project is a '79 Westy that has been smogged for cash under the table for a decade. Now the owner wants it to pass properly (and drive better,) so into my parts stash we dive!

Thanks to KentABQ for the intake runners! Polished the injector bores before and after paint for perfect sealing.

The beast, as it came off the tow truck:

"Oh, let me do my favorite thing and remove the deck-lid so I can work from above and below without interruption!"

"Oh…"

Ever wonder why some Type 4 engines seem to run hotter than others?

The PO was kind enough to leave all the wiring unmolested, though the double-relay and FPR will be replaced with new and kept as spares. The engine is from a '78, so the EGR hole will be grommeted and used for the eventual O2 sensor wire.

Anything that seals in rubber needs to be clean, especially because we won't be using any hose clamps on vacuum fittings!

Of course this is what the fuel lines looked like……

Classic breather hose setup…

Polish your grounds, especially since the electronic hall effect distributor module will ground here too.

Maximum disassembly, as it sits now, waiting for my 3d-printed intake block-off plates so I can really get cleaning in there without worrying about contamination.

Since the bus is an auto, I modified this manual plenum to have the correct vacuum-restrictor to the decel/FPR circuit. Here's a sneak peek of what we're shooting for…

Anybody with a '79 CA exhaust system in Southern California? I really don't want to ship the complete system from Oregon in the classifieds…

See you on then road,
Robbie
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[SamboSamba22]

Solid information here in regards to the strenuous and peculiar 79 CA emission models. I'm tagging along for a 79 Westy that just came in with the same setup.

Thank you for documenting all of these steps and components Robbie. It's nice seeing them in actual photos versus black and white exploded views in the manuals.


Sam
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The Bus Barn Ltd. Co.

Oct. ’67 Double Cab (’68 Crew Cab)
[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate-44412.png]Click to view image[/URL]
March '69 Delivery (Panel Bus)
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[SGKent]

1979 california or federal? Federal will need a working EGR or they will call it tampering. California didn't have an EGR but had O2 sensor with a cat. Magnaflow makes a cat now. Be careful with any used cats, BAR likes to go around and try to trap people buying or selling used cats. It is like a $10K fine in CA. They pretty much own the person if they catch them.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[andrewtf]

Damn you KentABQ.

I wanted to get that stuff out of MY garage.

Robbie - can you clarify... don't you need to install the EGR system to pass smog in CA? (This is just ploy to get one more thing out of my garage). I read you are going to use the EGR hole for an O2 wire. The engine from a '78 had an EGR but you don't need to put it back together that way? I ask because I do not see the EGR cross over pipe you would need - and mine would rather live out west.

I'm glad I live in a non smog state !
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'75 Riviera - 'BIG EMMA' (Pan American highway trip paused for a make over)
'77 Riviera - Murphy' (being reborn.... slowly)
'63 Austin Healey

[airschooled]

[KentABQ]

[cmonSTART]

What's a smog test?
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'78 Bus 2.0FI
de K1IGS

[SGKent]

Robbie - when the test is done, the tech types the VIN into the computer. That uploads to BAR. BAR's computer then tells the technician what to check step by step. That is why some folks will not get tested on some things while others will. It is also why one year the test might include a visual looking for the EO # on the cat while other years they don't look for it. One year they wanted to PRESSURIZE my canister system way too much, and I said no, so the tech called BAR, discussed it with them, and they waivered it as long as the hoses looked good. I came back the next day and he completed the test. One time they had a shop check the factory timing, and because I was timing it to 28 BTDC at full in they flunked it - it was off the 7.5 BTDC on the timing scale at idle.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[airschooled]

[airschooled]

[SGKent]

[airschooled]

Bummer about your smog shop.

I would qualify for that new program, except I drive too many miles for collector insurance...

Steve, do you or anyone else have the EO number for a ‘79 CA catalytic converter? I’m seeing mixed results in searches, but most helpful threads are 10+ years old; I want to stay current.

Robbie
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[pittwagen]

I am looking at the cat that was (I believe) original to my 79 CA bus. The VW part number is 039 131 701A.

The only other number on the cat is OS0692422. Not absolutely sure of the first letter. Don't know if that is what you are looking for.

I recently removed all the left side tin, heat exchanger, manifold, cat and the crossover pipe and replaced it with a left side Federal/Canada heat exchanger, and tin along with a 4 into 1 header, collector with an O2 bung and turbo muffler. O2 sensor is still connected. I was going to replace all the topside FI parts but may just disconnect the O2 sensor (as some here have suggested) and see how it runs. As it is, it has more power in the mid and upper rpm range.

No smog checks here for the last 5 1/2 years. Oh, and when COVID hit here our air quality improved dramatically and we never had a total shutdown either.

[SGKent]

The EO is on the magnaflow converter. Right now they only hassle Vanagon owners on the Emico one.

The Magnaflow direct fits 75-78 and 79-81 Federal without O2 - meaning it is not the dual flange one for stock California 1979 -> models. If you use a 75-78 system on a 79 then the oval port heads will run hotter than the 79 style square port with short pipes to the heater boxes to dump heat. It has a larger cross section than the Emico so I am looking forward to seeing if the head temps are lower.

Also - my understanding from reading the CARB II rules when they were passed, if you come across a NOS VW one that a dealer can kiss the sale of that would be excluded also. The pisser has always been that VW used the same catalytic on Beetles but the state doesn't consider the Beetle ones to be legal since they are a car and we are a truck.

"on 1995 and older model-year non-on-board diagnostic II (non-ODB II) trucks with one catalytic converter per bank (T-1). Series 3391000 TWC may be sold as a universal or direct fit part." 2nd paragraph in the PDF.

[SlowLane]

[Silverboot]

Robbie,
I have a 79 CA here in LV, NV that I smog yearly. I can take pictures, grab part #'s, etc. or whatever you need.

Scott
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79 FI CA Riviera
74 Smallframe Vespa

[SGKent]

[SlowLane]

[SGKent]

there seem to be two styles of the mechanical EGR. One is a smooth steel block that was machined. The valve inside has a slightly different diaphragm. The other is the cast one that has a couple machined surfaces. One is kind of a copperish-blue tint on the steel, and the other an cad-plated gold color when new. They seem to inter-change. Over the years I've seen the smooth ones occasionally and have wondered it those were made by VW when the others ran out, or if they were a vendor who reproduced them. First time I saw one I thought it might be one someone machined but since others pop up it isn't one-off.

Smooth, ignore IVWShane's circle

most common

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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[airschooled]

Thanks for the correction, SlowLane.

I have a pile of mechanical EGR valves, both styles, though I won't be needing any for this particular engine.

The only new cat I can source is a "drop in replacement" EO# D-193-132. It's $350 out the door, so I'm going to visit the shop again and ask how they'll be judging the cat. Sometimes they have to crawl up under and look at the EO, some just check that it's installed, some don't check at all. We'll see what their computer wants them to do. (The stickers have all been painted over; only the electronic ignition module tells me that it's a CA spec, and the technicians don't know that.)

Normally I'm in the "don't buy parts that they won't check" camp, but the CA-spec emissions requirements are way too narrow to pass without a good 3-way cat.

--

Powder-coat shop is taking forevveerrrr on the tins, so I'm rattle canning my spares in case I get this thing on the road before they're done…

Robbie

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