New Member 1976 beetle 1600 carb conversion question

[Bobs67vwagen]

For the 34pict-3carb you are running,probably the best match is the SVDA distributor that would have come on a 1974 US 49 state federal emissions bug. Source the Samba classifieds for a used German one as others have said and or contact samba vendor Bill at sparkswerks for a rebuild.

[messenger123]

The distributor that is correctly curved for a 34 PICT-3 carb is: VW# 043-905-205C Bosch# 0231-170--034. sparkserks and vwnos both sell recurved SVDA distributors that match the 034 for less than the original.

Note: Aftermarket SVDA distributors are junk.

[cletus_zuber]

Yep your all set with the stovepipe already in place. looks like someone cut the snorkel off the air cleaner?
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2756773
you want the one on the top right
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1972 1302
HPMX 40's & 019

[Rome]

You won't need to provide heat to the carb's electric choke. What you need is a heat source to the base of the carb. On carb engines, there was a "preheat" pipe that routed hot exhaust gas alongside the metal intake manifold down in the horizontal portion. The preheat pipe contacted the manifold to transfer the heat to the manifold metal, and up to the "neck pipe" where the carb was mounted. That junction area was held in place by the molten aluminum section.

The heat that is transferred to the neck pipe prevents the drop in temperature from the increased speed of the fuel/air mixture. So even at moderate ambient temperatures, without such preheat, the neck pipe can form moisture condensation droplets on the outside due to the relatively much cooler temperature along the inside of the pipe.

The BEST way to get such preheat is to buy a used intake manifold that has the 2 small preheat pipes still in place. Very important is that the insides of those pipes are not clogged with carbon. They must be free inside so that the exhaust heat flow passes through.

Here's a shot of my refurbed stock intake manifold with cleared-out preheat pipes, a 34PICT-3 carb, and a '70-ish oil bath air cleaner. That setup went onto a mostly stock 1600 engine in my '77 Beetle. Your air cleaner is this style but the intake snout was cut down alot. On mine, you can see the large round air inlet below the snout. That takes the large-diameter hose that goes to the "stove pipe" which is peeking up out of your engine's rear "breast plate".

On your engine, the intake manifold does not have the two preheat sections. To remove the manifold and install a different one with those preheat pipes is quite an effort... The right leg of the manifold won't fit through the small space below the alternator. So you'll need to remove the alternator... Not easy to do with the engine in the car unless you know a few tricks which we can explain here.

Here's my engine in the '77. It has the intake manifold, carb, and air cleaner shown above.

The PO removed the original bulged apron with the single exhaust outlet on the right, and installed a smooth one without any exhaust cutout. So the exhaust system which APPLEGREENVW showed would work well. But on that one, those two small horizontal flanges at the top, with the 3 holes, must have the large center holes drilled through so that exhaust gas from the large pipe can travel into the flanges, and into the preheat pipes...

Your engine is likely still based on the original '76's fuel-injected unit, and does not have a fuel pump. On carbed engines, the fuel pump is mechanical and is mounted between the distributor and the alternator stand. On your Beetle, the original FI system has a high-pressure electric fuel pump near the front of the car. That unit cannot be used with a carb because the carb only needs about 3 psi pressure. The stock FI pump would put out about 20-30 psi. So the PO probably installed a low-pressure fuel pump. If you raise the front of the Beetle, support it on jackstands and turn the wheels to the left, you should be able to look inside the wheelwell and around the bottom gas tank area to see the pump.

Another air cleaner solution is the plastic one with paper element which was used as of ~ 1973. It also takes that large air hose coming up from the stovepipe (Gerb gallery).

[Bgriggsb]

[Bgriggsb]

Thank you for all of the replies. Just for an update I got new diaphragms installed after carb body was ultrasonic cleaned. It ran but after checking intake boots for leaks (and replacing) it starts, revs, and idles. I checked the timing and put it to around 7 degrees. It starts good. I can't drive it yet due to the previous owner buggered the steering column threads/nut. I got new ignition switch installed and working great. My column shaft may be ok but the nut is wasted. it's also missing the anti rattle bushing. Im going to try and find a diagram to see if there's any other pieces missing in there. Thanks to everyone. I'll keep you updated. Brian.

[redhot]