Unthreaded check ball plug removal on Solex H30/31PICT

[BoneStock67]

Hi All,

I'm back with my '67 beetle after about fifteen years of it waiting patiently in the garage for me.

So I'm starting to clean out the carburetor and notice the following:

No threads on the brass check ball plug! This is supposed to be M4 x 0.7 threaded for easy removal.

Someone on another thread (Cusser, maybe?) said he had to tap his, but I don't want to damage mine in the process. You can probably see the starting scratches of an aborted tapping attempt in the picture.

So, any tips, tricks, or alternate approaches out there?

Thanks.
_________________
1986 Wolfsburg Westfalia Weekender 2.1L stock
1967 Beetle, now becoming my daily driver again, after a long rest in the garage

"There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery.” -Enrico Fermi

[Cusser]

[BoneStock67]

Thanks, Cusser

Further information:
I opened up a Brazilian H30/31 I had obtained as a spare, and it showed the same unthreaded plug. So I'm guessing it was a feature of some rebuild kits.

I'm thinking of using my newly purchased M4 x .7 stainless steel machine screw/plug extraction tool and some force to tap into the brass plug directly, but I will probably wimp out and buy the right sized tap instead.
_________________
1986 Wolfsburg Westfalia Weekender 2.1L stock
1967 Beetle, now becoming my daily driver again, after a long rest in the garage

"There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery.” -Enrico Fermi

[leowagen]

Isn't this the one that can be set free by pulling a little brass rod protruding from one side?

If I'm not wrong there are only 2 ball valves in the H30 body. One gets out by pullin this rod on one side (about 1mm dia rod) and the other one comes out removing the brass dowel on lower body. You can see this dowel only once the cover is removed, its about 3 or 4 mm dia.
_________________
Frankenwagen: full 1957 pan, under late 60s Brazilian body

[leowagen]

This is the litle pin I mentioned. It's on the right side, as you can see. My engine is a 36 hp, but it has for now a jet modified H30 carb. As you can see, there is a channel that goes all the way to the bowl, which ends in the unthreaded insert you have shown above. REmove the pin, and the ball will be free and can be retrieved from the top side of the lower body.
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Frankenwagen: full 1957 pan, under late 60s Brazilian body

[BoneStock67]

Leowagen, my 30/31 has the little one coming from under that short pin in your picture. The other one is definitely under that brass circle with the hole (shallow) in the middle of my picture.
_________________
1986 Wolfsburg Westfalia Weekender 2.1L stock
1967 Beetle, now becoming my daily driver again, after a long rest in the garage

"There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery.” -Enrico Fermi

[Cusser]

[brando90gl]

When I’ve ran across one of those check ball plugs that weren’t threaded, I just used a sheet metal screw to thread it’s own way in the plug. Then yank it out with pliers.
_________________
67 Type 1
68 Campmobile
70 Single Cab

[scrivyscriv]

The H30/31 was not used on production cars that I'm aware of, and none of the handful I've worked on have a threaded accelerator pump check ball plug. The 31pict and 34pict are the only others I've worked on and they all had threaded plugs.

I did debate this myself and decided not to pull that specific plug on my H30/31s since there is an exit hole on the other side, in the accel pump well. The ultrasonic tank is exceptional with areas like that.
_________________
Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[Cusser]

[BoneStock67]

Nice, Cusser.
I ended up doing the same thing.
Here is the tap and die set I bought at Lowes:

Here is the newly threaded plug:

And here is the successfully extracted check ball, plug, "extraction tool" (a long M4 x 0.7 screw), and the tap that made it all possible:

_________________
1986 Wolfsburg Westfalia Weekender 2.1L stock
1967 Beetle, now becoming my daily driver again, after a long rest in the garage

"There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery.” -Enrico Fermi

[glutamodo]

Just spotted this thread.

My immediate question was if this actually needed to be removed? It's pretty easy to check the function of the accelerator pump system. If it works, no need to dig into it like this.
_________________
Andy T.

"What is Glutamodo, Horror of Toyko, besides total, fiendish, quality-a-you brain!"

[T-F-E]

I have usually gotten that plug out by soaking it in WD40 or something similar. And then stick a hex wrench in through the outside hole and gently pry it up. Making sure not to damage the hole. It has not caused any problems yet. But if the ball isn't stuck this usually isn't really necessary. If you already have the plug out and the ball is stuck, soaking it some more and then gently scraping around it with a thin needle usually gets it loose very easy.
_________________
1971 1302S - Miss Blue
1963 1200 - Old lady red
1973 Type 2 Panel - Helga Hippie container
1979 Mercedes 230 - Fraulein Grün the star pig

[BoneStock67]

Glutamodo,

The little ball was definitely stuck in there, which was not surprising considering the varnish I was finding in the rest of the fuel system (ok, just in the tank).
In retrospect, I think I could have just used a soft wire and/or just some high pressure carb cleaner poked into the hole on the side to jostle the ball loose.

But then how would I have justified buying my first ever tap & die set?
_________________
1986 Wolfsburg Westfalia Weekender 2.1L stock
1967 Beetle, now becoming my daily driver again, after a long rest in the garage

"There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery.” -Enrico Fermi

[Cusser]

[BoneStock67]

The set I got in five metric sizes was $25, so I actually thought to myself, hmm, that's only $2.50 per tap or die ... I'll take it!
Anyway, I'm glad I did.
Now on to cleaning out the main fuel line ...
_________________
1986 Wolfsburg Westfalia Weekender 2.1L stock
1967 Beetle, now becoming my daily driver again, after a long rest in the garage

"There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery.” -Enrico Fermi