1971 VW Type 3 Fastback

[broady_6]

New parts can be defective, have you put one of the old ones back, blocking off the other rear circuit ?

One of the old ones was leaking, so its gone in the bin. And i replaced in pairs. Ill have a couple of hours in there this afteroon and see whats what.

[purplepeter]

Which bin? the permanent, gone forever one? Theres a repair kit sat on my desk, that's never made it over to the garage
Whilst I'm here, I'm not sure if it's actually a later version or just aftermarket, but theres a differently shaped fuel pump cover, which is Black & has a different profile to your white one, before you start playing around with peroxide

[broady_6]

Yeah, the gone forever one. I kept the non leaky one. But as they were new about 7 years ago, and leak already. I figure they werent the best quality. I cleaned up the "good one" and dug out this very old ATE one. Which also need a bore polish.



After both had had a proper clean and lubicate, I installed them this evening, a quick bleed and the brake pedal works perfectly. I just need to clean up and adjust the shoes. So it it was new crap parts again causing the problem. I bought them from autodoc, and to their credit Ive filled in the online return form and with in minutes they accepted the return as faulty parts and approved my refund. So now I just need to order a decent pair, for when these two old ones start leaking.

[937carrera]

The increased use of chinesium as a key raw material is making maintaining older cars much harder than it should be

I recently had a plastic one way valve on a PCV system for q 15 year old car that was located in place by insulating tape. The new part, an assembly, is unobtanium, but I found the key bit available from China, so ordered a pair. They arrived & were pretty much no way valves, one better than the other. Complaint into the seller, said they would source replacements. New ones arrived, different manufacturer, and they were better. After some fettling with prodding screwdrivers and the airline I now have functional parts for ambient air. For now, the original part still remains in place, the standard quick release system being replaced by a quick release tie wrap

Sounds like the gearchange can be sorted, any news on the oil leaks ?

[Rhysos]

Good to know your brakes are back in action. It's a shame that the quality of replacement parts is seemingly getting worse. The last place you want to discover inferior components is within your braking system.

[broady_6]

The increased use of chinesium as a key raw material is making maintaining older cars much harder than it should be

I recently had a plastic one way valve on a PCV system for q 15 year old car that was located in place by insulating tape. The new part, an assembly, is unobtanium, but I found the key bit available from China, so ordered a pair. They arrived & were pretty much no way valves, one better than the other. Complaint into the seller, said they would source replacements. New ones arrived, different manufacturer, and they were better. After some fettling with prodding screwdrivers and the airline I now have functional parts for ambient air. For now, the original part still remains in place, the standard quick release system being replaced by a quick release tie wrap

Sounds like the gearchange can be sorted, any news on the oil leaks ?

One thing at a time David. This morning I adjsuted the brakes and when for a road test. The engine was fucking terrible. Backfireing, not idling, hardly reving. bogging down. The brakes were decent enough though. Except one of those cylinders is weeping. But thats at least proved the theroy, so iver orded a pair of FTE ones.

The engine issue was down to the timing moving. I dunno why. But I had the dissy out for a look, one of the screws id used to hold the vac can on was a tad too long and would touch the points when the vacuum advance would kick in. Causing all sorts of issues. With this resolved and the timing reset, I went for another drive. Much smoother. I now runs like a car thats at base settings and just needs a light tune up.

Good to know your brakes are back in action. It's a shame that the quality of replacement parts is seemingly getting worse. The last place you want to discover inferior components is within your braking system.

Yeah, so ive got for the best brand I can find in stock now. Lets hope its good enough! Stanford hall seems possible.

[broady_6]

Frustration relief time. Oil leaks are reduced. I think a few heat cycles has helped seat a few gaskets. The oil cooler nuts took a nip as well which helped. The dipstick filler tube will have to come off at my first service and be resealled. That should just leave 1 leak to resolve. which has reducded in flow at the very least. But its from a push rod tube. A job I will get too in good time.





In an attempt to get 2nd gear more reliably I replace the shift plate. You can see there is wear in the old one. I thought this would be the silver bullet. Its not, its an improvement. But still not perfect.



A more pressing issue was the poor running. I decided it was time I fully understood the Solex 32. Systems ive never played with, acc pumps, idle cams and Auto enrichment. All ive ever done is fiddle with the stop screw and mixture screw. I noticed that the Acc pump wasnt working on the RH carb again. A problem I fixed years ago, and the diaphrage was fine when I removed it. I also noticed that when raised off idle, there was more fuel from the main circuit down the LH carb than the RH. Time for some education.

I found these youtube videos, which do miss somethings, but explore the 32 is good detail, even if they are suited to the type 4 engine rather than 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spsjav4FlCY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thbJUZOL764

But he doesnt give much detail on that rod with the two nuts on it. What does it do and how does it do it?

I had a good read on the samba and it gave me an idea. Its to do with setting you idle speed on choke. These both need to be syncronised in order to sync the air flow through your carbs. I also found this on the samba. It is the more wounderful understanding of this carbs. Again for a Type 4 system, but you can skip over those sections.

https://www.itinerant-air-cooled.com/vi ... php?t=7767

I have taken a PDF copy of the page, so if the website ever leaves us. I have a copy that I can share around. I then set my fast idle cams correctly, 4 turns on the top nut is where mine needs to be. Then set the top screw. and gave it 2 turn on the mixture screw. Pressed the pedal to set the chokes and cams. Turn the key and it burst into life, quite a high idle, after a few seconds it started to drop down. Aand settled at a fast idle, after a couple of minutes I blipped the throttle, and it came off the cams completely and dropped to hot idle. It ticks over fairly well, it need some fine tuning. And ive yet to drive it. But so much more likely to work than it ever was. Ok so it wasnt that easy, I initially got the cams in the wrong place and the idle was far too fast. But a quick reread and I soon figured it out. This sorted out the uneven fuel delivery between the carbs.

Skipping back a few steps, I went through my stash of carbs and removed a good looking RH body. Stripped it and sent it through the ultra sonic cleaner.



I then built my parts into this body and checked the acc pump. Which squirted nicely when primed. I also went though all my main and correction jets to try and find the recommended parts. Interestingly LH carbs run bigger jets than RH.



I was unable to fit a bigger air correction and I dont have one. But for now I will plough on and see if I can get the engine to run happily. Im much more confident I fully understand how its supposed to work now.

[937carrera]

Carbs are the devils work.. , so unusual to find a reference to type 4 rather than type 3 stuff to help out. Great that you have a permanent record.

That shift plate looks like it is capable of reconditioning with your MIG, should you feel so inclined. I assume they are NLA.

Good news on the oil leak front, it looks like you have things under control & of course Peter's suspicicions were correct. At some point I expect it'll be a quick head off to sort the sealing out. Just FYI, the T25 engines have an aftermarket option to replace OEM with telescopic push rod tubes. I have no idea if they are compatible

[broady_6]

Carbs are the devils work.. , so unusual to find a reference to type 4 rather than type 3 stuff to help out. Great that you have a permanent record.

That shift plate looks like it is capable of reconditioning with your MIG, should you feel so inclined. I assume they are NLA.

Good news on the oil leak front, it looks like you have things under control & of course Peter's suspicicions were correct. At some point I expect it'll be a quick head off to sort the sealing out. Just FYI, the T25 engines have an aftermarket option to replace OEM with telescopic push rod tubes. I have no idea if they are compatible

Luckily the plates are readily available, the darker one is a brand new item. Its the same as a beetle thankfully.

There are similar items for the type 1 engine, but theyre know to leak just as badly. I had a set years ago and sold them as I figure the money I made was better spent on brand new stock items. Its a job ill get to, and ill monitor the oil level closely until then. Id like to get 1000 miles on it all and then revisit things.

[Rhysos]

Happy to read of your progress! Braking efficiency back, oil leaking reduced and gear selection somewhat better than it was. You are on it!

As chance would have it, I have now found myself in a similar position of needing to understand the particulars of PDSIT carbs more deeply. We will have to be sure to compare notes as we enrich our knowledge! Thanks for the links above to other PDSIT resources. This one, I am sure, is already very well known, but I have been finding it a useful document to refer to: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/ma ... arbtuning/

[broady_6]

This is indeed well known, it's what I've used for years. It's very broad brush and is why I've never had mine quite right. It assumes the basics are already ok. But never tells you what they are.

[broady_6]

Whats happened in the last week then?

With my new found carb data I decided to do a fundamental set up. Out for a test drive and something still wasn’t quite right, and it felt like timing to my highly trained behind. I gave the points a check to find the gap had closed up, then when adjusting it I found the base plate was loose. And I don’t mean able to rotate, it was also rocking. Which meant the points gap could be between 0.2 and 0.4mm. This explains why the timing was wandering all over the place.





Much like the carbs, I dug a space out of my stash, cleaned and checked it and fitted a new base plate. Once installed I had a sold 0.4mm and a working vacuum advance. I set the timing to about 7.5 BTDC and ran the engine, the idle was very low. I guess this was down to me setting everything up with the timing out last time.

I went though a carb set up and even checked for balance a time or two. They were very close. I went with two turns out on the mixture screws and then went for a run. And its like a different car, no need to bring extra revs in to get rolling. No hesitation between off and on throttle. If im too lazy to shift from 3rd to 2nd on a slow corner the car will accelerate from about 30mph quite happily, where as in the past it would have bogged, coughed and farted. And best of all, when traveling behind another car that’s dawdling along, I can sit at mid to high revs at light throttle and the engine isn’t surging and banging. So very smooth and compliant.

The idle sits nicely around 800rpm. I only have one small snag, the spring isn’t strong enough to return it to idle from light throttle. If I blip it, then the spring snaps it shut. Something is dragging on the RH carb, but ive yet to have a look into that. It’s a minor issue.

I followed up this test with some brake work, I installed the two new wheel cylinders. A decent brand, and shock horror, the were about 5mm longer piston groove to piston groove than the delphi items I took off.



Bled up and with some drum adjustments. I have a nice firm pedal at about half travel. With now drag on my nicely trued up drums. And I have had to learn I don’t need to pump the pedal to stop any more, another worryingly good thing.

Just some oil leaks to tend too, one is quite nasty, but ill sort it. Though I suspect ive some how over filled the sump.

So Sunday as it was drive it day, we nipped out for an ice cream at a local farm, the car performed perfectly. But as you can see, it’s a touch grotty.



In the afternoon I gave it wash and a polish, so you can really see how naff the paint work is, but it will do the trick for stanny hall on Sunday.



And finally after work last night while waiting to meet some mates at the pub, I polished up the hub caps. Theyre also starting to look tired, but theyre still solid, so they might get a visit to the chromers when the wallet recovers.

[937carrera]

Looks like some very worthwhile & satisfying fettling

The car looks very tidy, don't be too critical about it, especially now she's pulling like a train. I noticed the lovely ODF inner wheel arch.

Good brakes too. I'm a bit concerned that the duff ones were branded Delphi. I've been buying that stuff as pretty much OE equivalent for Vauxhall/Opel/Saab

[broady_6]

It's been quite pleasurable. I'm over 100 miles in already. Stanford hall is about 180 mile round trip for me as well.

Much the same, I bought delphi because they're a decent brand. They happened to be cheaper than some others I could find of unknown names too. So I went for them. First time I've had a miss with them. At least no harm came of it.

When you see the paint for real, you can see all the micro blisters, and the ones that have burst leaving grey spots. But from 20ft, or behind a camera lens she looks great.

[Rhysos]

Marvellous! That was a satisfying review of the week, you have made some proper headway and it is good to see you getting out and enjoying the car.

Our cars must be twinned in a parallel universe; first the carb adjustment issues, then timing problems caused by worn distributor parts and now (would you believe) my brakes have started dragging!

Sounds like your all set for Stanford; a marked improvement to where things were at a couple of weeks ago. Looking forward to seeing some pics of the Type 3 line-up

[purplepeter]

Good luck for Tomorrow & have a lovely time!
Presumably You're taking your Young Lady, so warn her in advance about the middle aged woman who's likely to chat you up!- (previous owner of your car)

[broady_6]

Thank you, hopefully it will be smooth sailing. Ill be going in the garage shortly to give the old banger a quick wipe over. I seem to have sorted the slow returning throttle too.

Miss Broady wont be joining us. Forecast is far to cold for a full day for her. I shall be in attendance with a few friends though. I assume you mean Terresa or Tessa? I cant remember exactly, I have emailed her a few times but shes never replied. Itll be nice to cross paths with her.

[broady_6]

Stanford Hall star wars day 2025. It was a touch on the cold side. I had my thermals on all day. Save for about an hour of sunshine dished out in 3 minute segments, im glad I did.

The day before the show I gave the cars a wipe over and a check. One small job id been meaning to do was change the breather hose as it looked tatty. When I removed it I also found it was split, so that was a serendipitous find.



I had some E10 proof hose on the shelf, not a requirement. But its what I used as it was cotton braided.



The day of the show then. 60 years of the VW fastback. Up at 6am, the car struk right up. A friend followed along and we arrived about 9am. Half a dozen cars were already on the stand. It was great to see so many type 3s all in one place. It may have been the most ive seen together ever.





Mine ran very well, happily sitting at 65-70mph. Though it has go through rather a lot of oil, it was down to about 1/3 once we arrived, I filled it back up to nearly full. When I got home it was down to 1/4. A large amount of this has leaked rather than burnt, and the oil cool area is wet again. So now that ive made it to the show, I will have to take things apart and get this sorted. There was quite a bit of smoke when I pulled up at junctions, so I need to avoid this fire thats looming!

[937carrera]

Thanks for the photo's, I see a 412 sneaked in, I really need to get the old girl out. Just the one all day?

Delighted you had a good run, even if the oil consumption was on the high side. The engine bay looks very tidy

I can't remember what you did on the rebuild. Any thoughts as to whether it's valve guides or rings

[broady_6]

Guides felt fine to me and the rings are new. 300 miles down, so theyre just bedding in. Im hoping that the reports are wrong, and what they actually saw was hot oil burning off the exhaust.

There were of Type 4s around the site, but that was the only one on the Club stand. We really should get a banner.

[937carrera]

I have a 6N2 Polo Gti engine to rebuild. HG failure, which was straightforward, 100,000 miles so I thought I would give the bores a little in situ hone to clear the ridge at the top. Big mistake. Sweet as a nut, but after about 10 seconds the unit is completely filled with smoke, even at idle. When I get round to it I'm hoping that a set of rings is all I need

Sounds like you need someone else to drive the car while you follow

Yeah, I know, that's a rubbish idea, because who would drive the type 3

[purplepeter]

We've got Banners Broady, I have one in the front of Fasty, Danny has one, Larry collins I think has one & I'm sure Dave still has one
When you say thermals, tell me you don't mean thermal underwear?- I thought I was bad, but in May??
When you get to the oil cooler, measure the depth of the ports in the block & compare to the cooler to work out which seal/spacer combination you need- in the light of modern cooler seals, I've had to do away with the spacers Grandma sucking eggs I know..

[broady_6]

I have a 6N2 Polo Gti engine to rebuild. HG failure, which was straightforward, 100,000 miles so I thought I would give the bores a little in situ hone to clear the ridge at the top. Big mistake. Sweet as a nut, but after about 10 seconds the unit is completely filled with smoke, even at idle. When I get round to it I'm hoping that a set of rings is all I need

Sounds like you need someone else to drive the car while you follow

Yeah, I know, that's a rubbish idea, because who would drive the type 3

I will fix the known problems first. Get this oil cooler leak sorted. I may be that its whats dripping on the pushrod tube and making it look like a leaky tube. I can always stick a gopro on the back and film the exhaust if needed.

Sod about the polo, but atleast there wont be any stuck fasteners.

We've got Banners Broady, I have one in the front of Fasty, Danny has one, Larry collins I think has one & I'm sure Dave still has one
When you say thermals, tell me you don't mean thermal underwear?- I thought I was bad, but in May??
When you get to the oil cooler, measure the depth of the ports in the block & compare to the cooler to work out which seal/spacer combination you need- in the light of modern cooler seals, I've had to do away with the spacers Grandma sucking eggs I know..

Ah ok, good to know.

I mean thermal leggins, time of year is irrellevent, if its cold its cold. Yesterday was 12c, and felt like 7c with wind chill. If it feels below 10c then its too cold for me. I like it hot. Last week was pefect for md, mid to high 20s every day here.

Always good to remind me. I recall putting in the same spec seal as I removed and it never used too leak. So im hoping its an organic issue. And thus an easy fix. I wont be rushing to do it. Ive some non car related jobs to be doing now. But ill spend an evening a week on it and see what were dealing with.

[Rhysos]

Now that is a fine assemblage of automobiles! Great to see so many Type 3's and a 4 made it and displayed on the club stand.

Oil leaks aside, I am really pleased you worked out the kinks in time for the show and that the car did you proud on the day

[broady_6]

It was quite likely the most ive ever seen in one place.

Im also very pleased. Just about 200 mile round trip, and no damage done. Lots of people tell me how good it looks. I feel like it needs a respray, maybe it doesnt!