I know it has been a while since we last posted anything, but, life has been a bit on the hectic side. Down to business. I guess this auto stick thing is a bit unique. After reading many pages on the wide wide world of web, and the Bentley manual, and various other sources, I sought out to figure out how to finally fix the timing issue. Several attempts with little success led me down the road of rebuilding the elusive 34 pict 3 carburetor and purchasing a Tachometer, and a timing light and learning how to do all of these things. we got so close to timing perfection, but we never could quite get right. The manual says to begin with a valve job. We ordered some new valve cover gaskets and started down the road. we spent a nice hot day working on the passenger side valves and found that they did need some adjusting. so, we adjusted them and put some primer on the valve cover and then put i back on. just as we started to open up the driver’s side, we heard thunder and decided to stop for the day. Next chance we get, we will do the other side and repaint the cover as well. while we were working on that, I decided to make some inquiries on the distributor. Literally everything I have read on the subject states that for the vehicle we have, there is no better option than to have a quality dual advance distributor. This was what the Volkswagen engineers designed and this is the best and really only option for the auto stick. On through the samba pages and various other online resources. I found out how to test the little brass puck on the outside of my current distributor. This is a vacuum advance canister. Its job is to receive vacuum signal and pull the distributor in such a way to react to my pressing the gas pedal. I found that mine was not able to hold vacuum and the only way to fix it is by replacement, or extraordinary rebuild process. I studied and found that the one I have is the one that has not been manufactured by anyone (including knockoffs) for 20 years. to find one that has not been used costs about 1-200 dollars just for the can. I found one from an online vendor and purchased it, only to be told they didn’t have it and could no longer get it so they simply refunded my money. I came to a fellow who claimed he had one that was freshly rebuilt (along with a whole distributor) and had the exact curve needed for my vehicle. After some emails back and forth, I decided to make payment and order the best case scenario for our little car. A bit later, I got an email from the seller that stated that he had sold the one he showed me and offered a “better” one that in fact costed more money, but due to the mistake, he make an exception and sell me the better one for the same price as the one that came so highly recommended by all people and articles that I talked to and read. The better one in question was a single vacuum distributor. This is a very common distributor and was not designed for my vehicle. Keep in mind, I have been a technical repairman for 20 + years. I certainly understand that later redesigns can be better solutions. In this case though, I really felt uncomfortable. I recently have had more than my share of online companies who showed me perfect pictures that motivated me to buy, then contacted me within an hour with some story that led to derailing the original agreement. Now, with all of the accolades and recommendations that this guy had was enough to get me past the online mistrust. In the end, I am still an IT guy who knows how easy it is to pump information to the masses and build a reputation. I am certain that this vendor is good at his craft, but, when he changed the deal after I paid, I was unprepared for the massive wave of mistrust and anxiety that this introduced. I an not typically a feelings based person, but, I felt this so deeply that i could not sleep. Those of you who know me, understand that I can curl up on a cold, wet rock and get a restful 8 hours. This was BIG. I crawled out of bed to email the vendor and request a refund. Thankfully, he followed through with an apology and a refund. Since this seemed to be my only shot at an original setup, i decided to put my refund to good use by upgrading the distributor instead to rid myself of breaker style ignition and go fully electronic. I found a reputable company and ordered what I needed. Unfortunately, i misread the coil specs and ordered a lower Ohm version. Sending that one back and ordering the right one in its place. Once they arrive, you should get another update on our next adventure.
Changing the subject slightly, we finally got a notice that the washer fluid squirt nozzle that I had ordered back in April were not coming. With the refund on that, I found a better online resource that shipped the right part and got it here in a week instead of 4 months. As you recall from the past adventures, we added an electric pump for this back in the spring. The new nozzle, was impressive. It shot water completely over the whole car. My daughter looked it over and deduced that we can adjust the aim of the nozzle to better suit the need. Well done. We finally can put the washer fluid on the window with a proper robot to shoot the fluid instead of relying on the spare tire to do the job. Plus, this new nozzle looks like a clone of the original instead of the universal model that never made it here.