78 Super Convertible

[dockane]

Well I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, but life gets away from us sometimes. Let me rewind a little, I previously owned a 75 super convertible and suffered an engine fire while my wife was driving it. Thankfully she was unharmed and the fire was contained to the engine compartment only. Well due to being transferred to VA I had to put the rebuild on hold. Life got away again and the poor thing sat and rusted away on us. I was gearing up to just toss in the towel and turn away when we found a shop that was willing to give us a good deal on buying our 75 and sell us a 78 that runs.

We took him up on the offer and April 16 we became the owners of a 78 white convertible. The P.O. had converted from fuel injection to carburetor. At the time she was running, not great but was running. I was able to tinker with her and she improved some. Fast forward to Jan 17 and my wife and I found out our unborn son has Spina Bifida. We decided on fetal surgery and had to move our lives to Philadelphia area for the remainder of her pregnancy. Well good news she is fine and our son is doing great, he’ll be 9 months at the end of the month. Well as you can imagine somethings got put to the side. We moved to New Jersey in May, and a friend watched our beetle until Nov for us.

So here we are in Feb and she is not running anymore. Battery checks out good, still getting power to everything. What i have realized is that it is a DP 1600 that the P.O. put a 30 pict carb on, also looks like it is a dual vacuum advance distributior. Not totally sure that those two work together, also very sure that the timining is off. Haven’t been able to crawl under to check the starter yet. I get a clunky sound when i turn the key but the engine will not turn over at all. I had meant to take some pics today, but little man has a fever and just wants to cuddle. So i’ll Try to take some pics tomorrow. Body is in good condition, surface rust is all i can find anywhere on it, and i took care of that already. Top is in really good condition. I would love to do a detailed rebuild, but time and money are a limiting factor. So will do what i can asi am able to. Right now i’ll Be getting a new carburetor and distributor as soon as possible.

Questions to come as i can come up with them.

[Buggeee]

Hey Congratulatins Dockane, on the bug trade and on the success with your son!

Looking forward to the pics of your 78 when you post them. With pictures to study, these guys will help you get it back on the road. Happens every time.
_________________
1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[AlmostHeavenWV_VW]

Dockane,
First of all congrats on the well being of your son. That is truly a thing to be thankful for. Spend all the time you can with him, you'll never regret it. The beetle will be waiting for its time, and when that time comes to mess with the beetle, let's see if I can help you out- sorry in advance for the long post.

See if you can find and write down the part numbers from the side of the dizzy, that'll help the experts on here really narrow down what you've got and how to get the best combo.

Again, there are much more authoritative experts on all this but I'll try to help as best I can.
First, the basics (just covering all bases here)
Distributor shorthand:
SVDA (Single vaccuum dual advance = Vac advance and mechanical/centrifugal advance) (this is commonly referred generically as a "034" although that doesn't mean it's always truly a real 034 german dizzy)
DVDA ( dual vaccuum, dual advance = Vac advance, vac retard, and mechanical/centrifugal advance)

These are not to be confused with:
SVA (single vaccum only) (these are the dizzys that seemed to be designed for earlier pict30 carbs)

There is also "Mechanical advance only" or "009" dizzys (no vacuum can)

A good write up for general knowledge on dizzys (it helped me out)
http://www.aircooled.net/vw-distributor-options/

Possible Carb options for your engine include:
Solex 34-3 designed for DVDA dizzys (this is the most common/can be modified to work a SVDA)
Solex 34-3 designed for SVDA dizzys
Bocar 34-3 (all of these are designed for SVDA dizzys)

There may be other PICT34-3 carbs you can find, but they are mostly Chinese copies and have a wide variation of quality (you might get lucky and get a good one, but most aren't much good)

Neither a SVDA or DVDA distributor work well with the PICT30 (the carb gives the wrong vacuum signal for these) An option to 'just get it running' for now would be to source a "009" mechanical advance only distributor (German is best, Brazilian/Mexican is good, Chinese is bad) By running a mechanical advance only, you don't have to bother with the vacuum signal 'matching' between carb and dizzy. Although you may notice a 'flat spot' when accelerating from a standstill with the "009".

Most Solex 34-3s would work well with that DVDA distributor, but you could even get an "034" SVDA (single vacuum can) and just get a carb which is designed for SVDA(see below)
Although avoid the chinese dizzys if at all possible, but be aware they are everywhere (German rebuilt dizzys are available from several guys here in the classifieds.) If that's a German Bosch DVDA you already have, those same guys on here can refurbish/rebuild it for you if it needs to be. Also they are a great resource for questions too. Check 'em out, they frequently have dizzys rebuilt and ready to go as well.

These are the ones that I see come up frequently:
Glenn (Glenn Ring)
wcfvw69 (Bill)
tasb (Tim)

A proper Solex 34-3 can work very well with that DVDA dizzy you already have. When you get a hold of a Solex 34-3 carb you can make that decision. Simply, if you get a hold of a Solex 34-3, check the flange base number and compare to the chart in the thread below to determine if it is likely a DVDA or SVDA designed carb.
Listing of the Stock dizzys and carb flange #s by year (dizzys listed by VW's part #)
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=185095 (Carb & dizzy listings)
Also:
Dizzy listing by year (listed by Bosch's part # and includes tune up parts lists)
http://www.aircooled.net/ignition-tune-up-distributor-parts-chart/
"Old Volks Home" Dizzy listings (includes dizzys which 'superceeded' the previous dizzy and lists part #'s for tune up parts)
www.oldvolkshome.com/ignition.htm

German carbs are difficult to find in good shape nowadays, but check out in the classifieds. This guy is a pro at rebuilding the Solex carbs, and typically has some rebuilt and ready to go as well.
VolkzBitz

The most common 34-3 Solex was designed for DVDA distributors, but in 1974 (if I remember correctly), they changed the design of the throttle plate to work with SVDA distributors instead.
A DVDA compatible Solex 34-3 can also be modified to work with the SVDA distributors (per thread below yourself) or VolkzBitz can probably also modify one for you as well to work with a SVDA dizzy. (it would also be good to ask him to put in a threaded float bowl fuel inlet as well if he's doing work for you- it's work the $20):
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=365762&highlight=rivet
And once you get that 34-3 carb here's a helpful reference for getting it to idle/run properly
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=56411 (PICT 34-3 carb troubleshooting)

Long and short, decide what dizzy/carb combo you want to use:
DVDA solex flange 34-3 carb with your current DVDA dizzy
SVDA solex flange 34-3 carb with a good Bosch SVDA dizzy
Bocar 34-3 with good Bosch SVDA

You can use that PICT 30 on your engine, but it requires a flange adapter and isn't really the optimal choice for your engine.

Hope I've helped, sorry for the long post.
_________________
1973 Standard Beetle
1600DP AK case
Solex 34PICT3 Carb
Bosch DVDA 205AJ Distributor

[Boble]

Hi,
Good to hear about your kid!
Anyways, what I get out of your diagnosis is:

[djkeev]

Was he in CHOP?

That is an amazing place!
My grandson has spent time there and several of my daughters friends who has seriously ill children.

Did you stay at the Ronald McDonald house?

Philly's isn't the best example but overall that is an amazing charity and I encourage all to support it generously!

I've seen first hand what they do for parents of sick children. My oldest daughter stayed for a year in the one in Denver while the Childre's hospital there gave her born at 24weeks son a very real chance at life.



Dave
_________________
Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos

Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[glutamodo]

I run a 30PICT-1 (via an adapter) on my 1585cc dual port Baja Bug. But it's correctly matched with a 113905205K 1966-7 vacuum-only distributor. And other that maybe a tiny bit of hesitation if the engine is really cold, it otherwise runs great. I just drove it a couple of days ago for the first time in months, and it did wonderfully.
_________________
Andy T.


IMAGE NOTE: It has been noted that Chrome based browsers may have issues in displaying my vast image library, which use non-secure links and are on an FTP server. Images should still be viewable if the link is clicked though.
I do not know how to fix this. All I can say is it all works fine for me with what I use, Firefox.

[dockane]

Well after a long weekend in the hospital with my son, all is fine with him now. AlmostheavenWV VW, thanks for all the information. I was looking at getting a new carb anyways, this should help me get a better combination.

Bobie, i can turn the engine manually, I actually tried to start it today, and still no joy. And the sound i was getting is gone now. Still have power, all my lights are still working. It did run before, but not very well. It was a very rough idle and usually took me reving the engine a few times to get it to not stall out.

Djkeev it was at CHOP, and it truly is an amazing place. We actually did stay at the philly Ronald McDonald House, it also is an amazing place. We stayed there for 3 months. We both have given our time since leaving there and plan on continuing where ever the Navy sends us next.

Here are the photos i took. I tried to get a good shot of the numbers on the dizzy, but not sure how well it came out.

[74Shovel]

The first thing I noticed looking at your photos is the carb is not mounted to the intake correctly. The mounting flanges don’t align, and as a result one of the two mounting bolts is missing. If the other bolt is loose, your carb could be moving when the gas pedal is being depressed. In addition, lack of a good seal at this point will introduce too much air to the mixture, which will cause the engine to run poorly. The ports of the carb and intake might also not be aligned properly, which would also cause it to run poorly. You can change to a carb that fits the intake correctly, make an adapter plate, or modify the existing carb and manifold so they align and seal correctly. This will need to be addressed before messing with anything else.

[74Shovel]

The fuel filter also looks very old, so you may want to replace it while fixing the carb issue.

[74Shovel]

I keep looking at the photos and seeing more things wrong. I see three brass fittings on the carb that appear to be vacuum ports. Unless these are supposed to be connected to some thing, like the vacuum advance on the distributor, they need to be capped off using rubber vacuum caps. The one at the base of the carb looks like it has something on it but it may be deteriorated. Again, not having these capped off or hooked up properly will cause the engine to run poorly.

[Meiang]

A few other things:
1) There is a fuel pump somewhere - I wonder what fuel pressure the carburettor is getting.
2) The distributor clamp has been tightened so much is is badly distorted.
3) The air cleaner element looks well past its use by date.

I think a strip down of the fueling, intake and ignition systems is in order - at the moment it looks like a dogs breakfast.

[Cusser]

Looks like 30/31 carb on an adapter for DP engine.

Doesn't that distributor use two vacuum lines?

Anyway, besides the three rear-facing outlets on the carb which should be capped, see the big manifold outlet facing the driver side? That must be capped too.
_________________
1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[dockane]

So I just got back from Michigan and was all excited to have my new carb and dizzy had arrived while I was gone. All set to put them both in after my son’s medical appointment, and well the picture shows why it didn’t happen.

So it will have to wait since the wife wants to keep the family car in garage so it is easier for getting kids in and out, on a brighter note I did get word that we are heading out to San Diego in a few months, new orders. Pretty happy just got to get her running and she’s my daily driver.

[74Shovel]

Congrats on getting the bug going, and I hope the weather in the Norfolk area gets better soon. I’m retired Navy and spent my first two-years service at Naval Base Norfolk a aboard a destroyer. While I can’t remember if Norfolk had one (it’s been 30-years anyway) many bases have auto hobby shops where you can rent a stall, some with lifts, to work on your car indoors. Something else to look at is joining the local VW club. My club has monthly tech days where we get together and work on our cars at a members garage.

[74Shovel]

Sorry, I double posted, and couldn’t figure out how to simply delete the post altogether.

[Buggeee]

Wow a convertible bug in the California sunshine. That sounds wonderful!
_________________
1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[dockane]

Well I had to replace the battery on our family car, and decided to take the beetle’s battery in to check. Well it was going bad also so I walked out the door with two new batteries. Dropped it in and now she will rotate but still won’t start. Should be nice enough tomorrow to crawl under and take a look at the starter. Hopefully I can also drop the new dizzy and carb in. Keep your fingers crossed that I can get her running soon.

[dockane]

Ok, so i have changed the carb to a 34 and changed the dizzy to a single vacuum advance. I also changed the plugs and the wires, i had recently changed the coil so i didn’t touch that. I checked the starter and it was bad also, kind of surprised since it had rotated a few times after i changed the battery but it was bad according the John Muir, so I tossed a new, remanufactured one in. Hands are all scraped to hell and I pushed that bolt back through so many times before I finally got it attached. Checked my fuel and it was good. Jumped in and got some rotations but didn’t start.

Had to come in to help with dinner. Doing some more reading and hope to get back out tomorrow. Gonna run the fuel system from tank back. I did find a fuel pump that I had bought for my other bug, so if that is bad I can rock and roll. Question though, for the electric fuel pumps where is the best place to install them? Also getting a few new fuel filters and a few meters of new fuel lines, figure I already have to look at them, might as well change them out.

[dockane]

So I am getting frustrated. I checked the fuel system and it is all solid. Changed the fuel filters, well moved the one in the engine to under the car next to tranny and added one before pump. All the lines are good now, changed all the hoses. I changed the ignition switch, and she will rotate now and I’ll get s few coughs but still won’t start gonna crawl back under to make sure the starter connections are all solid. After that not totally sure which way to go. I’ve read the Muir procedures and followed them and still not starting.

[Buggeee]

You changed the distributor so my guess is timing. When I built my motor I timed it by some static method or whatever but when trying to start it I had to move the distributor just a little bit this way or just a little bit that way and then, finally, vroom, it started. Then I hooked up the timing light and dialed it in. Also, it took me many minutes of cranking that motor over to get the fuel system fully primed as the gas slowly made it all the way from the tank to the carburetor. So maybe that's some of whats going on too since you just put new lines on.

Don't give up! If its coughing you are making progress.
_________________
1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764