Hi All,
I'm looking for some advice.
I bought my first buggy a couple of weeks ago and out of pure excitement I probably didn't look at it as well as I should have.
I had it delivered due to the distance and on the first journey ( literally a couple of minutes) I broke down. Turned out to be just the + feed to the coil so no big deal I thought. Then I realised it wasn't charging, got that sorted (more wiring problems).
Now I can't get it to idle sensibly. I can see that it has a Solex 34 carb on it, from a bit of Googling, I have found that the 1300 twin port should have a Solex 31 and the 34 will cause problems. Is this right or am I looking at the wrong thing?
I was over the moon to get a buggy and now I already regret buying it and feel I've been shafted. Can't undo the rear drum nuts either but that's another story 
Can anyone advise on the carb and restore my enthusiasm 
Thanks

Mark someone with the tech corr3ect answers will surely be along shortly. However, buggy ownership comes with issues - 90% minor/quick/cheap solutions - and on this forum you will get every bit of practical support and inpractical laughter.

Can you post some snaps of your new toy/frustration for us to oggle ? (click the 'Add image to post' below)

Welcome to the forum Mark

When I bought mine it had a week old mot and a light not wired in, multiple loose bolts and a missing caliper bolt so I suggest you givenit a good going over, and an oil change, before doing too much driving.

Don't get too hung up on what goes with what, although others will advise on dizzy/carb combos, as we've all radically altered them.

Posting some pictures helps, and gets you brownie points.

Why do you want to take the rear hubs off? Whereabouts do you live?

Dave

First up... Rear hub nut. This is torqued to a very high figure. (in excess of 200 ft pounds). 36mm 3/4" drive socket and 3/4" breaker bar and long piece of scaffold pole will do the removal job. (Alternately a "torque converter will make the job simple but these are expensive).

2nd thing. Engine running and idling. There is no single thing to go to. You must start by ensuring that the engine cylinder compressions are fine. Then the valve rockers, (tappets), must be adjusted correctly. Next the ignition timing must be set correctly with a half decent distributor . Once all this is in order turn your attention to the carb. (If vacuum advance distributor fitted ensure it operates and that the vac` pipe to carb is sound and does not pull in air). The choke cam and it`s screwed adjuster need setting correctly. (This is not for adjusting idle speed). On the side of the carb there are two adjusting screws. One large for "air bypass" adjustment. One small for "idle speed" adjustment. With the engine hot ensure both screws are approx 2 turns out from bottoming. adjust the air bypass until the engine idles. Tweak the idle screw to get idle speed of 850 to 900 rpm. Adjust again until all is well.

Note well....... This is a very brief description. Take a look on line for videos of each procedure.

Air leakage. A spray can of WD40 is ideal to check for them. Squirt near rubber joints on manifold. On the carb to cylinder head joints. On the carb to manifold joints. If the engine speeds up you have air leaking in.

The beetle Type 1 engine and it`s various carbs are a brilliant design and when set up correctly will idle a smoothly as silk... well almost 

Also suggest adding a location to your profile as you may find someone with a bit of tweaking knowledge may be closer than you think to have a closer look

Don't forget plugs, points, dizzy cap and rotor arm before even starting to blame the carbs

Air leaks on the inlet manifold rubbers are also a favourite to fail if running a single carb

As it has a PICT 34 carb you have a 1600 manifold unless there is a size adaptor under it, so it may be a 1300 converted to 1600 using the 1600 barrels, pistons, heads and inlet manifold.

Hi
Thanks everyone for your replies.
I've attached a picture of the Buggy, hope you like it?
I believe that this has the 009 dizzy with the Solex34 carb.
I can only find 1 notch on the pulley which I'm guessing is TDC but I'll confirm later by taking plug 1 out. I have a digital timing light due for delivery today so I'll have a play with that later and see where it's at.
I've noticed a couple of screws in the vacuum pipes on the carb which I guess will need checking for leaks? I'll try the WD40 as advised by Paul1953.
Is there an easy way to tell if it's been converted to 1600? It doesn't appear to have an adapter between the carb and manifold.

Also, I'm wanting to get the rear drums off to adjust the brakes, the handbrake has full travel and is barely holding on my drive. Foot pedal is soft too and there are no adjustment holes in the backplates.
I've tried standing on a 2M extension on the 36mm nut and with my 80kg it doesn't budge so I'll probably need to buy the torque multiplier tool 

I really lost enthusiasm for this over the last 2 weeks due to lots of small things being wrong right from the start and not being able to use it while the sun is out but I'm starting to get my head straight and hoping to get things sorted.

Cheers All 

Where abouts are you ?

Really surprised there's no holes in the backplate. You can't adjust by taking the drums off as you'll never get them off or on again with the shoes adjusted.
Normally you'd back them right off to be able to get the drums off.

Can you put a picture of the backplate up. Holes normally at the bottom in 2 pairs pone to inspect fir wear and one to adjust each shoe

Hugh, I'm in Chard, Somerset
Doon, here's a picture of the backplate. I've dug around and there doesn't appear to be any holes with covers. 

 Looks like a swing axle so different to mine.

Not clear in the pic but what are they either side of where the pipe enters at the top, that's where I'd expect adjusters to be.

Sure someone who knows for sure will be along soon

pre 67 beetles  you adjust the brakes through the drum not the back plate so wheel off time and the early handbrake lever does not have a balance bar across the top so cables need adjusting to balance the brakes when applied.
if no adaptor on the carb it is a 1600 manifold so probably a 1600 conversion on the engine

Jason bear bartley is in Bridgwater he has had a few buggies and beetles and is a mechanic so can sort them out.

Told you an expert would pop up

Quote from: snoopy on July 15, 2025, 09:16:34 PMJason bear bartley is in Bridgwater he has had a few buggies and beetles and is a mechanic so can sort them out.

Top bloke and will certainly put you back on the right track   

At the end of the day, Its a 60 year old car that has probably had a few minor things overlooked - It can be a real bummer when you have just picked it up, but believe me, we have all been there - nothing sounds drastic though and all you have described are easily fixed - thats where this forum comes in.

 

Worth persevering,  we've all been there scratching our heads but at the end of the day they're pretty simple machines and anything can be fixed.

Goid luck with it