First parts order in months
I ordered a few things from Cip1.com today. The parts I ordered were certainly needed, but I think the purchase itself was due to the weather and Powers that Be curbing my skiing season. Not only is this one of the warmest Januaries on record but Dad decided he's going to stupid Paris for his Spring break and not Montana.
It sucks being me sometimes. Here's the loot I got:
* Carburetor rebuild kit for Solex 28-34 PICT carburetors
* Manifold boot kit - red rubber with clamps dual port style engines
* Feeler gauge with .006 blade
I took 1/2 an hour this afternoon to remove the carburetor from the manifold. After reading up on the procedure enough times in the various books I have including the new Bentley manual I got for Christmas I knew pretty well what to expect. Removal went without incident and gas didn't spray out of the tube when I pulled it off the top of the fuel filter. I kind of did that once when I replaced that filter. I did a few things wrong then and promised myself and my blood pressure not to do them again.
For one, the car had just been running 1/2 an hour before, so it was a little warm and fuel pressure between the pump and carburetor was pretty high. Then, I didn't do anything to relieve fuel pressure before yanking the hose off such as pumping the throttle arm several times or unscrewing the main jet plug. I also didn't expect fuel to spray at a frightening rate onto a hot engine with the negative battery cable still hooked up. Based on stories I've heard, I was very lucky.
I did all the right things today and all I need now is the rebuild kit so I can take apart the carburetor, clean it out and replace the gaskets. I'm going to take the manifold out to clean it up, replace the gaskets and the boots and clamps so I can be assured of no vacuum leaks. While things are taken apart I'm also going to clean the whole engine compartment. It'll be nice to have it all sparkling before reinstalling the manifold and carburetor.
Next I took the vacuum advance pot off the distributor to have a look at it. The mechanic at VW Man told me I needed a whole new distributor because the vacuum advance wasn't working. The mechanism is only a diaphragm that gets sucked in one direction by the vacuum in the carburetor to pull the point plate on the distributor. This makes the car run better at lower RPMs. Based on what I've read it appears to be working just fine, so I'll see how everything runs with a rebuilt carburetor.
Lastly I got the .006 inch feeler gauge because I'm just crazy enough to try doing my own valve adjustment. You need a .006 inch gap between the rocker arm and valve stem top when the piston it's on is all the way to the top, so the feeler gauge tells you if you've got that gap.
I'm glad for the advice to do this stuff in winter. It's really nice having patience on your side rather than rushing it and the problems that go with that.
It sucks being me sometimes. Here's the loot I got:
* Carburetor rebuild kit for Solex 28-34 PICT carburetors
* Manifold boot kit - red rubber with clamps dual port style engines
* Feeler gauge with .006 blade
I took 1/2 an hour this afternoon to remove the carburetor from the manifold. After reading up on the procedure enough times in the various books I have including the new Bentley manual I got for Christmas I knew pretty well what to expect. Removal went without incident and gas didn't spray out of the tube when I pulled it off the top of the fuel filter. I kind of did that once when I replaced that filter. I did a few things wrong then and promised myself and my blood pressure not to do them again.
For one, the car had just been running 1/2 an hour before, so it was a little warm and fuel pressure between the pump and carburetor was pretty high. Then, I didn't do anything to relieve fuel pressure before yanking the hose off such as pumping the throttle arm several times or unscrewing the main jet plug. I also didn't expect fuel to spray at a frightening rate onto a hot engine with the negative battery cable still hooked up. Based on stories I've heard, I was very lucky.
I did all the right things today and all I need now is the rebuild kit so I can take apart the carburetor, clean it out and replace the gaskets. I'm going to take the manifold out to clean it up, replace the gaskets and the boots and clamps so I can be assured of no vacuum leaks. While things are taken apart I'm also going to clean the whole engine compartment. It'll be nice to have it all sparkling before reinstalling the manifold and carburetor.
Next I took the vacuum advance pot off the distributor to have a look at it. The mechanic at VW Man told me I needed a whole new distributor because the vacuum advance wasn't working. The mechanism is only a diaphragm that gets sucked in one direction by the vacuum in the carburetor to pull the point plate on the distributor. This makes the car run better at lower RPMs. Based on what I've read it appears to be working just fine, so I'll see how everything runs with a rebuilt carburetor.
Lastly I got the .006 inch feeler gauge because I'm just crazy enough to try doing my own valve adjustment. You need a .006 inch gap between the rocker arm and valve stem top when the piston it's on is all the way to the top, so the feeler gauge tells you if you've got that gap.
I'm glad for the advice to do this stuff in winter. It's really nice having patience on your side rather than rushing it and the problems that go with that.
posted by Chris Druckenmiller at 1:28 PM
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