Buggy's honey-do list

167luckycharm · Post by **167luckycharm** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 11:39 am

A problem that arose just before I purchased an Optima red top battery...difficult starting so I thought the old Everlast battery was about to die. Pulled the starter this afternoon to find that the 12v bushing was split in half. The tap did not want to extract it, but a 12.5 mm drill bit twisted by hand was able to snag the larger piece and pulled it out quite easily. A new one was installed using gentle taps with a small hammer, lubed with wheel bearing grease, and the starter was reunited with the transaxle. Cranked up just fine after that. Yesterday, I took the cap and rotor off the 031 distributor and proceeded to replace the points with the brand new Pertronix #1844 kit that arrived from Pelican Parts. None of the holes matched up. So I McGyvered it by drilling a hole where the old points would have mounted onto. It started right up and I was able to log down the advance curve using my digital timing light. If it's a nice day tomorrow, I'll take it out on a road test and make some adjustments if needed. For now, stay tuned! John

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 5:41 am

I saw this timing indicator on a 356 Porsche webpage. I wish they made the equivalent parts for a VW. I think it would make accurate ignition timing a bit easier.

http://precisionmatters.biz/timing-kit.php

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 5:47 am

They also do this dual plug ignition system. It looks pretty wild.

http://precisionmatters.biz/twin-plug-ignition.php

newmanx59 · Post by **newmanx59** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 12:47 pm

[QUOTE="CairoManx"]They also do this dual plug ignition system. It looks pretty wild.

http://precisionmatters.biz/twin-plug-ignition.php[/QUOTE] I wouldn't want to troubleshoot that out on the trail...too many parts!

167luckycharm · Post by **167luckycharm** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:57 am

Hey all! I took the buggy out for a couple spins through the nearby towns. Even got my wife to video parts of the voyage as I drove around. I need to anchor the camera to the roll bar...holding the camera by hand proves too much bouncing around, it's a way to get seasick just watching the video. The part I wanted to document was when I pulled out of a dead stop in 1st gear. There's absolutely no stumble off idle. The transistion from idle circuit to idle/main circuit all the way to main circuit only is awesome. Of course, the result on the video is; dashboard...autofocus on road ahead...oh-oh blue sky, back down to dashboard...yikes, another view of the sky through the windshield, all the while the camera (dvd) is trying to autofocus on the everchanging images right in front of it. I gotta figure out how to post a vid. This one's way too funny. In my experience with this 031 porsche distributor, I find the conditions are just right with my car/engine combo; Lightweight vehicle, stock gearing, slightly taller rear tires, 7:1 compression ratio, 1776 cc engine, mild Engle 110 cam, 40X35.5 valves in performance heads, stock rockers, and dual 44 IDF Webers. I don't know how this compares to the Porsche 912 this distributor was designed to be an aftermarket for. It's just that the combination seems to work good in this instance. I still want to re-curve an 009 to duplicate this 031. I have to post the advance curve for this 031 too. Just my two cents with a side order cheese! See you later (.)(.) John

newmanx59 · Post by **newmanx59** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 11:28 am

I'm running a recurved Porsche mechanical advance 022 dizzy in my 1914 and it runs fantastic although the buggy surges a little when backing up, because the advance comes in quick.

167luckycharm · Post by **167luckycharm** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 2:38 am

Hi Jerry, I noticed that surge during reverse and in 1st gear when I initially set the static timing at 10* BTDC. It evened out now that I dialed it down to 7*. By the way, I have the roller pedal for my accelerator pedal; It took a while to get accustomed to the roller pedal, as I was about to install the barefoot flat pedal but could not find the later style pedal mount. For now, I just drive barefoot to get a better "feel" of the throttle response. Speaking of roller pedal, I am trying to find a rubber tire that I can fit onto a Cragar lookalike wheel. It came off an old gas-powered toy car, made of aluminum and looks just like a Cragar S/S (Street Star) in 1/10 scale. Did you recurve your own 022 or had someone else set it up for you? How much total advance does yours get? What's the static timing? Thanks in advance! John