[T3] FI to Carb conversion

[Jim Adney]

On 17 Nov 2013 at 18:43, James Lingenfelter wrote:

> Once  the carbs were installed and jetted, not once in ten years did a
> tool  ever touch them.... not even to sync them. Can anyone say that
> about  the F. I.? 

Sure, I can. Most of my FI cars have never needed any FI repairs, 
other than things like fuel hose, which you should replace on any car 
occasionally. They also get new voltage regulators when the old ones 
go bad, but I don't think you should blame that on the FI.

My cars typically get the dwell, timing, and valves checked once a 
year and the oil changed as necessary. That's all they need.

My last (STUMPED?!!) incident turned out to be a bad rotor, not a FI 
problem. My '71 has driven cross country to 4 different invasions 
with no FI problems. It got a new R head during the first trip, but 
that was a valve seat problem that was pre-existing, not a FI problem 
either. 

I'd like to add one more comment. I have nothing against carbs. I 
happen to think the FI is better, but carbs are fine. The question in 
this case is what Terrie should do since she's not planning to do any 
of this work herself. Should she continue to let mechanics who don't 
understand her FI try to fix it, or should she let someone who 
doesn't understand carbs install and set up a set of dual carbs for 
her. My opinion is that this is a Hobson's Choice: There's no good 
option here. She needs door #3: Either get this car to someone who 
understands either the FI or the carbs, one or the other. My 
preference would be to get the FI fixed, because that would be the 
cheapest way to go.

In the end, the question is which will be easier to find: a D-jet FI 
guy or a good carb guy. Both are hard to find these days. Both will 
be available at the Invasion.

One more thing: if Joy's problem is dirt/rust in the gas tank, this 
will continue to haunt her either way. Her mechanic installed my 
overflow kit, but that doesn't do anything about the rust & dirt 
that's already there. It's a lot of work to get rid of all that, and 
it's likely that her mechanic didn't do it.


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