01923 247300 gowerandlee.co.uk

Those jets are diabolical Dave, look like they were made by untrained children plucked straight from a rice paddy and to say they have already been back to the supplier once. I know where I won't be buying any carb related items from !!!!

Dont really know what to say, dont be despondent though, there are several others out there,
try googling Weber as a company...

It shouldnt be this way and is yet another thing someone has to deal with. Those jets arnt new
they have been attacked someone in a shed somewhere far away I spect, the countersinking on the outside is off centre
and the holes on the right side have been deburred by hand, you can tell that by the wound out and misaligned chamfer's
on the edge of the hole.

Does Weber exist anymore... I think it does and there maybe some sensible people in this listing...

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=weber%20carb%20company

I hope you get some answers as this is all becoming epidemic now and soon there wont be anyone left who's honest and can actually do something

Peter

I`m still undecided about the colour of these headlight bezels.

Thanks for the kind comments about how good the lights look, and most of the replies seem to think I should stick with the Chrome, however, with some black tape around the lens, they really take on a different appearance and I am still not sure

Chrome for me, the black just doesn't look right (IMHO) and you ought to know by now you cant have too much shiny

Out with the ultra sharp drills today, as I have to tackle a job I really have been trying to put off doing.

I need to drill the holes for the roof studs. Thankfully, I can still locate the original locations by looking underneath, but to say I am nervous about drilling holes in my shell is an understatement. I am using the conventional "Lift The Dot" fasteners, but this time I am not going to the conventional self tapping ones, as I have had two of those ripped out over the years, leaving a big hole behind. I am instead using extra long threaded stainless ones as used in the Marine Industry.





I have also fitted a thin washer underneath each stud, so that the paintwork is not damaged when they are periodically tightened. You can just about see the clear protective film I have also applied in this area to stop the roof from rubbing on the paintwork too.





Everything lined up, and the roof fits perfectly.

Phew !!  And breath out

It will be interesting to see how the film works under the hood with abrasion, I have seen it on cars for stone chip protection.

When I needed some bits for an ICT34 I rebuilt that nobody seemed to have anywhere (even empi who knew the bits I was after but wouldn't supply them), these guys below came up trumps..

http://webcon.co.uk/

Basically after about a month from my initial enquiry to them about some plugs I got an email out of the blue saying that had located some.. I went over to see them and was very impressed with their set up..that said I have also received excellent counter service from Eurocarb and am surprised at the state of those jets given all their claims about the dangers of buying substandard copy parts from elsewhere.

I wanted a set of lights for the front of the car to match the ones over the engine, and had a play with some Ultra Bright 5050 Green SMD LEDS that I made into a light bar. The tie wraps are there to hold them in place whilst the epoxy cures.





Fitted under the bonnet, now illuminates the front





Need to do some sides now 

I think you have caught some sort of viral bling infection off somebody.

 

Over the last few months, I have messed about with lost of things in an attempt to cure this rough running engine, and I have decided to back to absolute basics and work through it methodically. So, the first place to start I guess is the engine block itself, or more importantly, the valve train. Its possible that if the vales are not adjusted correctly, then popping and banging could indeed occur. My problem here is that I am bloody hopeless at adjusting valves and have never yet managed to get it right.

Earlier this year, following everyones advice at the N.E.C. I bought myself one of the Gunson Tappet adjusters, which is supposed to make valve adjustment quick and easy.





The theory behind it is sound for sure. You adjust one tappet as normal, and then rotate the outer part of this tool to calibrate it, and then by a series of clicks on a ratchet, the rest of the tappets are easily and quickly adjusted to be exactly the same.





It was certainly quicker and easier to go through them all with this tool, and my conclusion at the end of it all is that I still cannot adjust tappets, but at least this tool only took ten minutes to work that out compared with the usual hour swearing at the engine. Would I recommend this tool if you were a competent mechanic? Most definitely !! Did it work for me?  No, I`m still crap at adjusting tappets.




OK then . . .  Plan B:
Some of the T25 engines had self adjusting hydraulic tappets fitted, and there is much debate over which is best - Hydraulic or solid lifters. The biggest disadvantage for us with Buggys, is that the tappets can drain their oil if left parked up for a while, making the engines quite noisy and rattly when they are first started, but they do quickly quieten down as oil pressure comes in to play. I know that my engine originally had hydraulics, but were changed to solids for increased performance when Farmer Rob owned it. I have also learned that not all Type4/25 engines  can run hydraulics either, as there was a 1700 variant fitted to the Bay Window that did not have the correct oil galleries for the tappets to operate.

Seeing as I still cannot adjust Tappets, I have decided "sod it" and to revert back to hydraulics, because at the end of the day, its one less thing I have to worry about. VW Heritage supplied a set of tappets and pushrod seals, and Farmer Rob sent over a set of longer 262mm pushrods that were also need for the conversion.

It is very easy to replace them. The rocker arms are removed, along with the pushrods, and this allows you to pop the pushrod tubes out through the front of the cylinder head. With the lifters now exposed, they withdraw very easy with a magnet. In fact it was all so easy to do, I didn`t have time to grab the camera.

Before you install the new tappets though, they do need to be bled with oil to remove all of the air, and this can make the initial start up much easier. Looking round on the net, I found many different approaches to this, most of which look horrifically messy. I did find a very easy and unconventional way to do it though, and that was by taking them apart, and its not as daunting as you might think.

A side view of a Hydraulic tappet showing the small oil hole that is used to pressurize them in situ.





And this is the end that the pushrod sits in. I dismantled these on a little tray with a bit of rag in, as we will be playing with oil in a bit.
The first thing to do is remove the small circlip at the end, it comes out fairly easily.





Once that is out, remove the two plungers - they should also slide out very easily.





Before we add any oil, have a quick look inside at the big spring and make sure it is sitting centrally in its recess.





Then add a few drops of clean engine oil until the spring is completely covered.





Next, refit the larger of the two plungers. It probably won`t go any further in than the picture shows, and this is due to the oil that we have just added in the chamber behind it. If you look in the middle of the plunger, you will spot the top of a small ball bearing in a hole.





The next stage requires a bit of delicate brute force as we now need to expel all the air from the chamber. You need to depress the ball bearing downwards with enough force that the plunger starts to move downwards but not so hard that you dislodge the ball bearing. I can guarantee that at least one of these will go "TWANG" and the ball bearing along with its holder will push through. Do not panic if it does, the ball bearing sits on a little spring inside a cup, which is clipped to the underside of the plunger. If you have got this far, then it really is not rocket science to work out how to put it back together again.





When the top of the plunger passes that little oil hole on the side, you need to insert something to hold the plunger in place. Here I used a spike tool, although a nail will probably work just as well.





Very important not to pick the tappet up, nor move it, as whilst the excess oil is now running down the sides we do not want any escaping from the chamber. Drop in the top plunger and refit the circlip.





Once the circlip is in place, you can pull out the spike - and thats it, they are now bled and ready for use.





Once they are refitted back in the holes, (not forgetting a splodge of cam-lube on the ends if they are new) the tubes and pushrods can be put back in place. Always use new O-Rings on the tubes, because this is a VW after all, and they are known to leak from here. The valve settings could not be easier. With the engine rotated in the correct position for adjustment, turn the valve adjusters so that they just touch the face of the tappet, and then wind them in by 2 full turns. Lock the nut, and thats it - never touch them again.


As a result of fitting these, and getting the adjustments correct, my engine block now sounds very different and feels a lot smoother.


The downside is that I can now rule out incorrect valve adjustment as the cause of my problems, as the popping and banging is still there.

Dave,

What cam is in there as you shouldn't mix the two?

So if it's a hydraulic why did it have manual tappets?

Or if it's manual you shouldn't be fitting hydraulic tappets?

As far as I am aware it was a standard cam in there, and Farmer Rob converted to solids when he had the engine.

The hydraulic cams have shallower rear cam lobes apparently to let oil fill the follower also the push rods are 9mm shorter and solid ally with steel ends.

There is a difference in rocker shafts no spring clips but thick spacer washers. Never played with vw aircooled hydraulic lifters in all the years I have been messing.

Found a good bit of info on the this morning but I have never swapped followers onto a used cam.

The hydraulic cams have shallower rear cam lobes apparently to let oil fill the follower also the push rods are 9mm shorter and solid ally with steel ends.

There is a difference in rocker shafts no spring clips but thick spacer washers. Never played with vw aircooled hydraulic lifters in all the years I have been messing.

Found a good bit of info on the this morning but I have never swapped followers onto a used cam.

The 262mm Hydraulic pushrods are are single piece, its the longer 271mm ones for solid lifters that are 2 piece with steel ends   

Agreed its not ideal putting new lifters on a worn cam, but valve adjustment is such an issue for me, that it was just an easier road to go down.