I've got a freshly rebuilt dual port 1600 vw, and it starts up just fine. but the problem is when i try to take off.......... the motor is hard to get into high rpm's from an idle...i have to pump the throttle and play with it a little before i can actually control the motor and drive off, if i try to press the throttle slowly the motor will stall....then when i get it moving and shift it into 2nd and then step on it, it will die for a bit and then take off pretty good.

Sounds like fuel starvation. Is your fuel pump good? Fuel filter clean?Did you run this motor with the exact same set up before? If not it could be a jetting issue. This is exactly why I don't miss my VW. The more info you can provide the better.

What are you using for distributor/ignition?.....timing?

What kind of carb(s)?

i was thinking some kind of fuel starvation too. it seems like the pause is from the motor waiting for fuel to get to it.

the fuel filter is brand new....also, i am not running it through the fuel pump, the tank is above the motor so i hooked it straight to the carb. i figured the fuel is gravity drawn to the fuel pump so it could also be gravity drawn straight to the carb...is that a bad idea??

i have never run this buggy before, so i dont know how it was set-up

i have points and a condensor for ignition

the carb is a 34-PICT-3

sounds more like retarded timing to me.

is there a certain way i could tell if the timing is retarted a little

and if so...how would i advance it??

There should be a timing mark on the harmonic balancer / crank pulley, along with some sort of tab, or something stationary on the engine to reference to the crank pulley...at idle, I think you want around 7º before top dead ctr. (check this with a timing light)

if there is no tab, or stationary reference point on the engine, pull plug #1 out & find top dead center (on the combustion stroke) see where the line on the crank pulley is, and make a mark on the engine right inline with that. then, using a timing light (they come w/ instructions, also & thry're pretty cheap) you want to get the line on the crank pulley about 1/4" or so before (timing light fires & you can see the line on the crank pulley) the mark you made. 7º is about 1/4" on a 4" dia. crank pulley, 5/16" or so on a 5" crank pulley.

to "move" the line while the engine is running & you have the timing light shooting on the crank pulley, loosen the distributor hold down and slowly rotate the distributor ( i do not know which direction a VW turns, but I can tell you that you want the timing light to fire, & the line on the crank pulley should be i'm guessing 7-10º before top dead ctr.

there's more to timing as far as when more advance comes in, etc...but this should get you close.

i'm sure there's lots of webpages that could explain better than me.

Is the gas going to the fuel filter and then to the carb by gravity alone then?.....if so run it direct without the filter to see what happens.....I think you should use fuel pump ( stock will be fine) and then fuel filter in line to the carb......

Add a stock fuel pump, don't rely on gravity to feed the engine.

If the distributor is a 009, replace the points/condensor set-up with a pertronix unit. To check the model distributor, the number is stamped on the outisde of the housing below the cap. The last three numbers determine what you have. If it's a 009, the number will end in 009. If the distributor has vacuum advance don' bother checking, it isn't a 009. Check Pertronix web site to see if they have ignition units for other models of distributor.

Do you have the stock crank pulley or an after market? A stock pulley will be stamped steel and have two or three notches cut in the outer edge. Refer to a VW manual for what they relate to in terms of the amount of advance. An aftermarket pulley will have a sticker with degrees all the way around it. Either way use a timing light to adjust the timing.

If money is an issue, make sure the point gap is correct, then check the timing. With points you can static time the engine. A VW manual will explain how to do this. I can't as it's been quite some time since I've done it.

Ummm...you need a fuel pump.

...maybe, but it sounds more like retarded timing to me...and he said that once the engine gets going, it runs good...if it wasn't getting enough fuel, higher rpm running would suffer, not low rpm.?

That makes sense. I would still install a fuel pump and then check the timing. Have you checked to see if the accelerator pump is working? It gives that extra shot of fuel on acceleration and is easy to check.

The fuel needs to get past the needle and seat. Not sure if gravity will feed that enough to get going. To get moving it sounds to me like he is pumping the pedal, using the accelerator pump to squirt in enough fuel.

hmmm, good point!

ill try to find another fuel pump to use because when i ran the fuel through the fuel pump, the bowl in the carb was running out of gas....so i just skipped it. and the fuel directly from the tank was enough to keep the bowl filled.

But, i am not sure that the carb is even set-up correctly...because i rebuilt it with new gaskets and all that jazz...and i could have set a screw at the wrong position?? would there be anything to check in or on the carb??

and i checked the point gap and is seems ok

i also have a stock crank pully...it has 3 marks, 2 really close together and 1 more counterclockwise and i have tdc set between the 2 ticks.

i was reading on aircooled.net and it said that the 009 distributors are know for having a flat spot once leaving idle....click here.....which is what i currently have, so i am going to try to use a different distributor thats laying around to see if that is the problem

it also mentions that you can get rid of the flat spot by running more gas through the carb...does anyone know what is ment by this, because i might just want to do that for a temporary fix.

bigger jets