Bad Bug

[tcmia]

Thank you for the link!

[tcmia]

Last week I started having problems shifting down from third. I found the problem to be the rubber coupler that's under the rear seat area. The old one had a lot of play in the center of the busing. They were not originals, no VW markings on the cage either. I got some Urethane ones because that all i could find here. They were a real pain to get switched out. Amazing how a piece of rubber makes such a big difference in the quality of shifting. Super nice and crisp now.

[tcmia]

Only thing I am still struggling with is the cir clip the goes on the front plastic bushing. It does work with out it, but to make it right, what is the best way to get that split ring in there?

[dustymojave]

1st trick to getting the circlip on the bushing is to take the shift rod out. Put the ring on the bushing before inserting the bushing into the bracket. The ring goes on the end of the bushing towards the shift lever. Not on the end behind the bracket.THEN install the rod.

Use some lubricant on the shift rod. Dry lube spray is my preference so it doesn't collect dirt later.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[sailtexas186548]

[tcmia]

Thanks for the tip. I have it back together now. I probably made it more complicated in my head than it is. The worst thing was access to the inspection plate as it is behind my hood. Both bolts broke off and I had to drill and re-tap both. That is one thing I should have done when the body was off.

Also the shift rod was totally hacked when they shortened it. They shoved the end inside the rod and put a big bolt thru it. Half way forward they cut the rod again and had a big blob of weld on it. I repaired that and welded the end onto the pipe after I made it as round as I could keeping the hole in the end perpendicular to the shifter cup. I wire wheeled the rust of the rod, osphoed it, polished it where the bushing goes, and used gun blue, that I had left-over, for some protection.
Assembly as in the tips, with lithium grease to make it slide. I have not driven it yet, because I need some gas, but all the gas stations here are out of alcohol free gas due to the pipeline hack problem.

[tcmia]

This weekend I changed the oil. First one since the 300 mile change. Somewhat a pain to refill it being under the body, but the little pumps they sell for outboards did the trick.
It was dripping some on the aluminum oil pan cover. I sanded it smooth on a sheet of glass. So nice to have a dry garage floor. Let's see how long it lasts.

Shifter is also great. So glad I was able to change all the bushings.

[tcmia]

We had some nice fall weather on Saturday, so I took it for a longer drive. Still runs pretty good. I did notice though that it stumbles at around 2000 rpm. You have to give it a lot of gas to pass that range, or shift after 2500 and then it is ok. Is this something I should check into or just drive more?

[tcmia]

Took the buggy to the local Downtown car meet. Some nice cars there, but unless you have a muscle car or some other fancy old ride, people were not interested in you. The crowds were attracted to the rides that came in on trailers and muscle cars.

Couple of pics:

The pink bug was quite nice.

[oprn]

Ya, kind of sad that people value trailer Queens above runners.

As for your stumble, it need not be so. I forget what distributor/carb combo you have. Getting that right and the proper timing will make it so much better to drive.
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[tcmia]

I have dual Spanish webers, but don't remember the distribuitor. It has a crane cam xr700 ignition. No vacuum advance. It has a finned billet cover over the can so I cant see the numbers.

Sorry it took so long to get back with the info. I have a new problem, my positive terminal on my aux fuse box melted some of the plastic while driving on Saturday. Made it back home. After I replace it i need to chase what the big jump in amp draw is from that side.

[oprn]

Your stumble could be a lean spot in the transition. A bit richer idle jet could fix it but get an AFR meter on it before you pursue that line of thought as it could also be too much accelerator pump stroke.

The other thing it could be is not enough initial advance. You should be in the 10 to 12* BTDC depending on your compression ratio and grade of fuel. A vacuum advance distributor could help there too if the carbs have enough signal to activate one. Many dual carbs don't typically depending on the cam installed.
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[tcmia]

Thank you oprn for the pointers. I do not have a ARF meter in my tool set yet, I will put that on Santa's list. The first thing I should check is my timing.

Got the aux fuse box out, and it seems the positive mounting point has loosened. I have a new panel coming and will use the nyloc nuts this time to attach the terminal. Then I can start it again and check for the timing.

Is there a proper way to check the accelerator pump stroke? I think it is a threaded rod with a nut on the end that attaches to the pump lever.

[oprn]

A quick and dirty accelerator pump check is to stand behind the Buggy and give it a quick yank or two on the throttle linkage (engine fully warmed up). No need to buzz the crap out of it, you are just looking for the response in the first second or two at the most. The engine should have instant acceleration with no hesitation and clean exhaust. If you get black smoke then for sure it is too rich! If it stumbles and smokes it is way too rich. If it stumbles with no smoke, try increasing the stroke.

Fine tune it later by just increasing or decreasing the stroke and test drive to see how it responds to sudden demand.

An AFR meter will tell you for sure what is happening though.

If nothing is changing it might be a timing thing, should be in the range of 10 - 14* initial and 28 to 32* total depending on C/R and fuel octane, or... if the timing is good and this one I think fools a lot of guys, the engine is just plain running too cold around town. My Manx copy did that. I tinkered with timing and carbs for hours until I realized that it ran nearly perfect after I took it out and ran it hard. Then after the first traffic light it was back to stumbling and farting again. It cooled off too much! Putting the thermostat, flaps and bottom tins back on the engine was the final piece of the puzzle that fixed it all!

So you see, it's a process of elimination...

Webers and Dellortos are the best of the best in carbs and should run silky smooth at all throttle settings and conditions. My Webers do... now!
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[tcmia]

The weather has not been too nice on the weekends. It seems while at work it is sunny and nice but not so much later.
I made a note of your suggestions. I do think I need to evaluate the accelerator pump settings. They hard to get to installed.

Finally have the fuse box replaced and used the nyloc nuts to keep everything tight this time.
This was what the aux fuse box looked like before.