Out of Storage!
I got the Ghia out of storage today and took it for a couple of drives. Started right up and still running like a champ. I cut the wires I was using to hold open the heater flaps and re-adjusted the timing, too.
I learned a little bit more about how to properly set the timing for any VW thanks to my experiences with the bus. Apparently, as long as you're setting the timing to somewhere between 28 and 32 degrees before top dead center at 3000 RPMs you're good. It doesn't matter where your timing is at idle as long as your timing at speed is good.
Before putting it away for the winter I had VW Man fix what I couldn't figure out on my own after installing the new intake manifold: it needed a new fuel pump. When they installed that they also took out my second vacuum line to my distributor which retards the timing at idle. They told me a year ago that part of the distributor wasn't working right and I guess they decided to just get rid of it and block off the port for it at the carb.
That's why I wanted to check and re-set my timing. I wasn't sure if they'd gotten that right.
Well, of course, they appeared to know what they were doing but the timing was still a little bit too retarded. I used a handy little formula to figure out where to put timing marks on my unmarked crankshaft pulley. I based all my measurements off the little notch in the pulley that was at 5 degrees after top dead center. From that I measured 7.4 mm (approximately) to the right for top dead center. Then, I measured 11.5 mm (approximately) further to the right for 7.5 degrees before top dead center. For the last mark of 30 degrees before top dead center I measured and marked about 45mm to the right.
I just wanted to make sure I was getting good advance at high RPMs because you can miss out on some of the motor's power if your spark is a little late. Seemed to do the trick although VW Man's fixes were the real key. The car idles more solid than it ever has.
Of course, it was fun just driving the thing around today, too.
I learned a little bit more about how to properly set the timing for any VW thanks to my experiences with the bus. Apparently, as long as you're setting the timing to somewhere between 28 and 32 degrees before top dead center at 3000 RPMs you're good. It doesn't matter where your timing is at idle as long as your timing at speed is good.
Before putting it away for the winter I had VW Man fix what I couldn't figure out on my own after installing the new intake manifold: it needed a new fuel pump. When they installed that they also took out my second vacuum line to my distributor which retards the timing at idle. They told me a year ago that part of the distributor wasn't working right and I guess they decided to just get rid of it and block off the port for it at the carb.
That's why I wanted to check and re-set my timing. I wasn't sure if they'd gotten that right.
Well, of course, they appeared to know what they were doing but the timing was still a little bit too retarded. I used a handy little formula to figure out where to put timing marks on my unmarked crankshaft pulley. I based all my measurements off the little notch in the pulley that was at 5 degrees after top dead center. From that I measured 7.4 mm (approximately) to the right for top dead center. Then, I measured 11.5 mm (approximately) further to the right for 7.5 degrees before top dead center. For the last mark of 30 degrees before top dead center I measured and marked about 45mm to the right.
I just wanted to make sure I was getting good advance at high RPMs because you can miss out on some of the motor's power if your spark is a little late. Seemed to do the trick although VW Man's fixes were the real key. The car idles more solid than it ever has.
Of course, it was fun just driving the thing around today, too.
posted by Chris Druckenmiller at 7:27 PM
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