[T3] '68-9 FI VW Type 3s!

[Jim Adney]

If you have a '68 or '69 Type 3 that is still FI, you really should 
read this.

My '69 square had been in storage for 14 years when I decided to get 
it out and get it ready for the ~5000 mile round trip to last June's 
Invasion in Prescott, AZ. A lot of things went really well in that 
process, but a few things didn't. Among the few things that didn't 
were a couple of things I learned about those first years of FI 
production that I had not previously known. If you have one of these 
cars, you should take advantage of what I learned and fix these 
problems before they cause you the same problems they caused me.

Or, perhaps they are already causing you problems, and you haven't 
figured out the cause yet

The biggest problem is the fact that the ground for the fuel pump 
current (not the fuel pump relay current or ground) goes thru a long 
daisy chain of connections all the way from the left side of the dash 
to the right. It's a long torturous path that should ground lots of 
places along the way, but time, shrinking plastic, and corrosion make 
a successful ground less and less likely.

I now have a kit to fix this problem. It's less than $10 and comes in 
2 versions because VW changed the structure under the dash (who 
knew?) in early '69 (~after VIN 3x9 112 000.) Every '68 & should 
install this fix.

Back at the engine, the grounds for the injectors are attached to 
screws that go into the head. Heat cycling loosens those screws and 
causes loss of the ground connection on one side of the engine or the 
other (or both.) I sell conical spring washers (Belleville washers) 
to add a spring to this connection, so it can give and take with the 
temperature cycling, but on the way to AZ I discovered that these 
only work if the ground lug under the screw is large enough that the 
full 14 mm OD of the Belleville washer rests on the ground lug. If 
your ground lugs have a base that's pretty much square, a pair of 
these Belleville washers is cheap, $1/pr.   

If you have one or more of the ground lugs that have a more 
rectangular base, where the Belleville washers will hang over the 
edge on 2 sides, I can make extension wire harnesses for $8 that will 
bring those grounds back to the center of the case, like VW did 
starting in '70, to avoid the excessive heat cycling.

The extension harness wires come with piggyback connectors, so you 
can use along them with the Belleville washers for a neater, belt and 
suspenders approach, all for less than $10.

Shipping is extra, but if you have one of these cars, you can buy all 
of these and get it to your door for under $25. That's trivial, 
compared to getting stranded like happened to me a couple times last 
spring.

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