Barnfind Buggy Build

buzzboy said:

wearymicrobe said:

Cannot tell if that is a 009 distributor or not but I find them to be 100% total junk. Find a OEM one and have it rebuilt it will run way better.

After trying a few different dizzys on my 1600, then 1641, I found that the 009 always worked. The 034 and 010 seem to be well loved by the community but seemed to require more fiddling in my experience.

I have never run them on anything but a factory single carb with any luck. With duels I have never been able to kill that flat spot off idle that everyone seems to get. Could be that the 009's reps are just terrible though.

So after I put the new master cylinder in, the brake pedal was returning way past vertical

Upon inspection, I realized there used to be a pedal stop where that hole in the floor is. So I made this plate (the stops are in different spots for both pedals) 

Installed behind the pedals:

And put a few tacks on the edge to hold it in place. Hit it with some black spray on the bare metal. Success! Took a few attempts to get the free play measurement right. 

I also made a speedometer light bulb from an old Autometer gauge I had (fit the VW speedo perfectly!) and wired up the oil pressure gauge and gas gauge. It has a full tank, and the gauge says full... but we'll see what happens as it empties, lol. I need to get a new voltmeter so I didn't mess with that. 

 

All the lights now work as they should with the installation of a new switch. 
 

I received a Volt meter in the New Year's Game this year. If you can use it, I will send it your way.

In reply to Woody :

That's a lot of volts! 
I actually have one a buddy is giving me.

Appreciate the offer though! Thanks! 

Saron81 said:

In reply to Woody :

That's a lot of volts! 
I actually have one a buddy is giving me.

Appreciate the offer though! Thanks! 

Jeez, I never noticed that... I guess they were Aussie volts.

More pedal problems.... 

After getting it on the road, I thought..."man, this thing is SLOW!" I mean, I know I'm only working with 1200ccs, and 40hp (long ago!) but I was having trouble getting it up to 50, and 4th gear was pretty much useless. It should be faster than this... a stock Beetle could do 70ish, and this is lighter, even with the huge rear tires. 
I was always suspicious of the short accelerator pedal travel it had. The pedals roller ball hit the firewall after what seemed like just a few inches. So I taped the pedal to the floor 

and went and looked at the carb:

As suspected, no where near fully open.

So, I removed the roller ball, and the pedal gained a few inches of travel. You could actually feel it hit the stop now. I could've probably just lived with the shaft of the pedal, but decided I'd make a pad for it. I found a running board bracket that looked like it'd work well, and cut a piece out after making a CAD template. 

I was originally going to make it a bolt on piece with a u bracket at the top, but found some pretty strong clips in my stash, so I went for a complete clip on solution.

Tacked these in place, then painted it. 
 

It's a lot faster (relatively) when you can give it full throttle. It'll do at least 60 now! But has a pretty bad vibration at around 40. I think it needs a steering dampener. 
 

I'm running out of projects to do that don't involve removing the body, and I'm not doing that until over the winter. My goal for this year was to make it road worth and enjoy it, then reevaluate what needs to be done. I want to repaint/powder/bedliner  pretty much everything when I take it apart, but decided to do the passenger compartment for this year. Removed the seats, and taped up everything.

Went over everything with a Scothbrite pad, and laid down some semi gloss Rustoleum from a rattle can:

I'm pretty pleased with the results!

Here's the finished gas pedal too. Probably going to put some grip tape on it.

Awesome!

I check the pedal to throttle opening on every single one of my challenge cars, but none has actually had a seat of the pants improvement yet. Nice work.

Where in MD are you? I'm in VA and taking this quarantine time to get my new shop set up. I sold all my spare parts when I moved, but I still have all the tools and equipment and am gearing up to start building engines again. Let me know if you need any help with anything.

In reply to bashr52 :

Thanks! I'm up in Harford County. About 20 miles NE of Baltimore. 

Installed a new exhaust. Love the look. Got rid of the dual cannons and went with a 4 to 1 stinger setup. Much better low end power.... and it needs all the help it can get, lol. It's actually quieter at idle, but louder under throttle, though a lot of that may be just where the outlet is now.

I adjusted the valves... after removing the old exhaust, I could take the valve covers off. They were all extremely loose. Not surprised. The spec for the early 1200 like this was .004, then .006 for the later engines. I discovered that the smallest feeler gauge I have is .008, so I set them at tight .008. Much less tappy now. 
 

Also installed a new speedo cable that fixed the bounce and noise in the speedometer, and a new steering dampener that solved most of my 40+mph front end vibrations. Making good progress, and running out of things to do! 
I think it may need a starter bushing though... it's cranking over slowly sometimes. 
 

Still looking for GRM priced Ford Cortina or BMW 1600/2002 round taillights! 

wearymicrobe:

I have never run them on anything but a factory single carb with any luck. With duels I have never been able to kill that flat spot off idle that everyone seems to get. Could be that the 009's reps are just terrible though.

I was chasing that some too... found that setting the accelerator pump on its max setting, and running the idle mixture a little rich really helped. 

There is a nice write up about the history of the 009 distributor here:

009 history

It's on the internet, so it must be true.  Anyhow, it states that the 009 was basically an ignition distributor for VW industrial engines that ran at a constant speed.  All that was needed was cheap centrifugal advance distributor to operate those types of engines.  At some point it was realized that the 009 was a cheap "one size fits all" instead of a correct replacement distributor for VW cars.   

BTW, nice buggy!

In reply to noddaz :

Good read! It would make sense to use on an engine that saw the same speed and load range constantly.

Well, bad news on the buggy front. :(

I drove it to work last weekend, and on the way home, it got very hot, and started losing power. I pulled off the highway as soon as I could, but it was already too late. It's got a serious rod knock now. I'm pretty bummed as I was looking forward to a fun summer with this, and don't think I'll have the funds to replace the engine this year with all the financial uncertainty going around. Hopefully I'll be able to pickup a cheap 1600 dual port in the not too distant future. 

(it was hot!!!) 

Send me a message I'm going through my vw stash soon and may be able to help

In reply to Saron81 :

Dang, sorry to hear that. Do you know why it got hot? Rodents in the fan shroud?  Lost the fan belt?

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

Send me a message I'm going through my vw stash soon and may be able to help

Will do! Thanks, that would be awesome!

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Saron81 :

Dang, sorry to hear that. Do you know why it got hot? Rodents in the fan shroud?  Lost the fan belt?

I'm assuming just worn out, and too much load for an extended period of time. I double checked all the usual suspects (distributor didn't slip, still at 28°, valves still adjusted in spec, belt on and not slipping, and fan tight with no obstructions) and couldn't find anything out.  Maybe it needs a flat 6.?.?  Wheelies are cool. 

That is not good.  

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

Send me a message I'm going through my vw stash soon and may be able to help

My pm got bounced back. :( 

Well that sucks. I was enjoying this vicariously. I've always wanted a buggy but my wife is terrified of them. Well, terrified of riding in them with me anyway.

Saron81 said:

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Saron81 :

Dang, sorry to hear that. Do you know why it got hot? Rodents in the fan shroud?  Lost the fan belt?

I'm assuming just worn out, and too much load for an extended period of time. I double checked all the usual suspects (distributor didn't slip, still at 28°, valves still adjusted in spec, belt on and not slipping, and fan tight with no obstructions) and couldn't find anything out.  Maybe it needs a flat 6.?.?  Wheelies are cool. 

Yes, and Yes. 

check the fan , put your hand back there and see if it sucked anything into the fan like a plastic bag , 

you might want to put a screen over the opening next time (356 Porsche motors all had a screen )

I have pulled string , paper towels and plastic bags out of the fan thru the years......

In reply to Saron81 :

chevylumina at gmail dot com