Date:         Sat, 6 Jan 1996 17:17:58 -0600 (CST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Joseph F. Fournier II" <jfourni@comp.uark.edu>
Subject:      Re: Distributor Numbers & Questions (long)

Jim said:

>If your have distributor problems, have you considered a 009?  If you have
>and had a problem with it ie: flat spot the problem may have been carb
>related.  In a past issue of "The Transporter", LiMBO's newsletter our
>resident mechanic Bob Donalds at Boston Engine wrote a nice artical about
>this problem.  In short the problem comes from the 009's primary timing. 
>At 8-10 degrees advance the engine idles to fast. In order to correct this
>problem most people ajust the idle mixture screw, usally turning it so far
>in that when you step on the trottle the transition from idle circut to
>primary circut you have a fuel imbalence. Flat spot.  Now Bob fixed this,
>I've done it myself, by removing the carb and pluging the hole in the
>throttle plate. You can use a screw of rivit, your choice. I used a screw
>and loctited it inplace so it won't fall out. What this does is force the
>air to flow though the idle circut and then you can back out that mixture
>screw so that the transiton is better.  I've done this and it works. You
>can set the 009 to specs and it will idle normaly. I hope this helps if you
>want the complete artical let me know or call Bob Donalds at: (508)
>668-2676.

Well, I do have a 009 and this might be a good solution if I can't get the
vacuum advanced distributor that I have working properly . It's pretty
much a breeze to remove the carb and I'm sure I've got a screw that will
fit that hole in the trottle plate. Thanks for the tip! 

As I understand it, though, the dist. for my year ('71) has something of 
a combination vacuum- and centrifigal-advance mechanism (or maybe more 
appropriately, a dual-advance mechanism). Part of my logic in going back 
to the vacuum advance dist. as opposed to the 009 is that I have heard 
the 009 does not allow you to take advantage of all of the features of 
the 34pict3 carb. I don't know fully what advantages I loose by using the 
009, but these words come from a source I trust completely. Implied is 
better fuel economy and greater power via more efficient operation of the 
34pict3.

It was, in fact, the flat spot with the 009 that caused me to start
investigating alternatives. I think there's a very convincing argument for
the matched carb/dist. that came stock with the '71 bus. And as much time as
I've spent working on my bus' power plant, I want all the advantages I can
get. It may well be, though, that the mod you suggest is the right 
interim solution until I can find the original distributor for the '71. I 
REALLY appreciate the suggestion!

Things That Make Me go "Hmmmmm.."
---------------------------------

As an aside, don't all the posts regarding problems with the 009 as a
replacement for stock distributors make others of you wonder? It's a
situation where we add one component to hopefully improve the powerplant,
but end up introducing other complications which must then be overcome in
some other way. By the time we finish compensating for noticeable
side-effects, our powerplants are no longer within spec for running the
stock components. What this really makes me wonder about are any potential
long-term effects these mods might introduce. I'm not smart enough to
figure them out, but I am just curious enough to wonder. I'll bet that's
the key. The mods are probably okay for the geniuses who are able and
willing to spend the time to discover and compensate for the side-effects,
but probably not such a good idea for those of us who are relative idiots
(in the Muirian sense of the word), since we end up introducing problems
or "quirks" that are pretty tough for us to figure out. 

Even worse, maybe sometimes the mod >seems< to help and before you know
it, you've got a bunch of overconfident idiots (still in the Muirian
sense) stripping the cooling vanes out of their doghouses, pulling
thermostats off of engines, and mix-matching carbs and distributors...and
just for good measure, let's toss in a couple of nifty chrome dohickeys
and forget about those engine compartment seals. (Okay, so maybe I'm
getting carried away here.)

Hmmmmmm.....now that's what I call a future parts vehicle.

Before I get my justly deserve rebukation, I know there are some mods that
are appropriate for special situations--larger pistons can yeild greater
power. And I know that there are many of you on this list who push the
envelop in terms of modifications (V6anagons, fussion-powered splitties,
solar powered showers, etc.) with great success. But I guess what I'm
thinking is that there's always a price to pay; either immediate or
long-term...and I'm just not smart enough--yet--to anticipate those
prices. The frustration that drove this lengthy response eminates from the
fact that my PO <jab, jab> didn't hesitate to move forward with
ignorance-inspired mods, so now I >>>have<<< to figure out the consequences. 

The helpful suggestion for making the 009 work didn't deserved to be
associated with this stream-of-consciousness diatribe...it just started me
thinking. I REALLY ***DO*** appreciate the tip! 

Thanks! 8) Joe

----------------------------------------------------------
Joseph F. Fournier II <jfourni@comp.uark.edu> 501.575.7353
<a href="http://comp.uark.edu/~jfourni/"> Joe Fournier</a>
----------------------------------------------------------
| "You may choose high performance modifications, but as |
|  for me and mine, we'll go stock."  -- me ;)   \/      |
------------------------------------------------\/\/------