[T3] 73 fastback

[Jim Adney]

On 30 Dec 2010 at 20:13, Steve Curtis wrote:

> i am a long time (40 years) beetle guy and last year a person gave me
> a 73 fastback. i am trying to decide what to do with it. it is a
> little rusty, but no dents or apparent damage. i don't have a title,
> but it would not be a problem to get. what is holding me back on
> restoring this car is something that i see talked about quite a bit on
> this forum. this car has been converted to a carburator and it appears
> that all the FI stuff was removed. if i have to purchase, scroung, all
> the FI parts about, ball park, what should i expect to pay. the car
> was last licensed in 89 and has 34000 miles on it. i pulled the valve
> covers and it is about as clean a moter as i have seen. 

That's really low mileage. If it doesn't have rust thru the floor 
(134,000 or  234,000 miles?) then it sounds like it should be well 
worth saving.  

If all the FI stuff is gone, then your best bet, as Dennis suggested, 
would be to find a parts car, or at least a car in a junkyard that 
you could strip all the parts off of. The real bonus there is that 
you get to see where everything came from, which gives you a leg up 
on the reassembly.

The year is less important than MT or AT: It needs to be the same as 
yours.

Getting '73 parts might be ideal, but that really limits your 
options.

If you're just going to try to buy everything, I'd suggest that you 
try to find a consistent set from '68 or '68. I suggest those years, 
because that system is slightly simpler and I think those parts will 
be easier to find.

Here's a list of things you'll need. It's probably incomplete, and 
with luck some of these will still be on the car.

FI fuel pump, filter, hoses & hose clamps; fuel injectors, intake air 
distributor, kickdown switch (AT only), cold start valve, ('70-73 
only), throttle valve switch, brain, pressure sensor, distributor, 
pressure regulator, temp sensor one, temp sensor two, aux air 
regulator, air cleaner, 2 relays, FI wiring harness, temp switch, 
pressure switch (68-9 only), intake air runners (68-9 only), throttle 
return spring & anchor, various hoses and gaskets.

If you have the FI fuel pump and/or the FI distributor, I can rebuild 
them for you. They will almost certainly need it.

You will also probably need to clean out the gas tank and certainly 
repair the gas tank "overflow" hose. (I sell a kit for this.)

Of these parts, the most expensive will be the injectors, if you buy 
new ones. Used ones will leak if they've dryed out for an extended 
period, but I have used ones that have been stored in kerosene. You 
could try these for much less money.

The hardest part will be figuring out where everything goes and how 
it is wired, since you've never seen this system together. A parts 
car really helps here, but there might be a list member nearby who 
could help you and have a car to compare to.

I'd say that if you want new injectors and used '73 parts, you'll 
probably go over your $500 budget. New injectors and a '68-9 system 
would probably run right around your budget, and used parts all 
around would come in well under budget.

Don't even think about trying to find NOS parts for this. That would 
break the bank, and it's pointless.

You'll have lots of questions, but we'll be happy to help with all of 
them.

Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress.

-- 
*******************************
Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
*******************************