'71 ghia auto stick with weber 44idf

[MuayThai41]

Hello everybody, I'm new to the forum, and new to vw's and aircooled anything.  I posted this in the technical section, but hadn't had any replies yet, so I'll try it here.

I inherited a '71 Ghia with an auto stick, it has a 44idf weber and stumbles off the line. The fuel filters have been changed and the timing checked. The diaphragm needs to be changed in the weber, but my mechanic doesn't think the auto stick will ever like the weber. Anyone out there running this or a similar set up? The jetting on the weber is stock.

I've been sifting through the mountains of info on here, and am thinking I need to move the vacuum on the carb higher because I do get a large amount of "squat" when putting the car into gear.  I am alsO going to change all the vacuum lines, not sure if they are. Olapsing under vacuum or not, but better safe than sorry.  I've looked into the carb and don't see any build up or garbage, the car sat but wasnt really exposed to the elements too much.

Any ideas or advice?

[MuayThai41]

A few pics to go by

[MuayThai41]

more pics.

I made sure the hoses that are on the vacumm control valve are the right kind, they are hydraulic lines, which i've read should be okay.  If they look wrong, let me know so i can change them out.  I'm not sure about the line going from the vacumm port on the carb to the control valve, it looks like gas line, but can't confirm.  That will be a fix soon.  I've also read the posts about drilling a second hole for vacuum that doesn't have as much pull.  Not sure if that also applies on a weber, if so i'd be glad to do it.  My transmission doesn't "slam" into gear like i've read some users experience, but it does "squat" a bit more than i think it needs to. 

The mechanic i had this to suggsted i go back to a stock carb setup, and for reliability i probably will at some point.  I don't care about any gains the weber may bring, the ghia is just a weekend car.  I would however like to make the weber work if it is possible.

[MuayThai41]

few more

[MuayThai41]

last ones, engine bay with the old intake i made for it.  I was thinking the stumbling might be from too much air flow at low rpms, so i replaced it with the rectangualr one from scat.  Also after i got the car back from the mechanic, it not only now stumbles, but also backfires.  I'm guessing they tuned it to stock settings maybe for a stick instead of autostick, not sure.  The mechanic is quite a little drive away, so i haven't been back yet.

[MuayThai41]

So I've been doing some reading, and now I'm thinking that I deffinetly need to change from the 009 distributor to a SVDA. From the sounds of a few different articles this will take care of the "flat spot" I am experiencing. Now I'm wondering if the vacuum port I have the auto stick control valve hooked up to is intended for this type of distributor, and if I need to drill another for the control valve and where. I can't find anywhere a topic that covers where exactly the vacum control valve would need to be taken from on a weber 44idf.

Anyone with AS and a SVDA distributor advice?

[MuayThai41]

And finally, it sounds like throwing away the weber and going back to the pict-3 is the other correct choice.  I'm hoping to do both, but I think the carb will be the first move.  I was told on samba that I could keep the weber but that I'd need to go with a dual setup, that's a little more than I'm looking for, I'm more interested in making it a reliable driver.  So it's back to the parts stores for me!  As I put on samba, if anyone looking for a weber 44idf that has about 50 miles of use on it let me know!!!!

[MuayThai41]

So I finally replaced the Weber with a 34PICT-3 stock carb that my cousin in Seattle sent to me.  It's nice to have a family member that also has a '71 ghia; albeit a standard; that has a spare parts bin...

I've switched it over, now just awaiting the arrival of my aircooled.net SVDA so i can put it in.  I drove the ghia for a couple hours this weekend with no problems, then, when i was getting ready to pull it back into my garage, reverse decided to slip on me.  Or maybe slip is the wrong term, it was slamming in and out of gear without me touching the gearshift.  I checked the ATF fluid level, everything seems fine, forward gears select and shift correctly. 

I'll let it cool down, and maybe try it again in a couple of days.  Anyone ever had this happen to them on an autostick?  It feels like the clutch is dumping then disengaging, then dumping again...

[68autobug]

YIKES
that is a weird one..
what is happening is the control valve is getting too much vacuum and so the control valve that operates the clutch goes in with a bang or rather a weird noise..
But the clutch is operating very fast and the noise comes from the clutch servo operating way too fast..

But what is making it switch back & forth??
down near the bottom of Your gear shifter under the rubber boot is an electrical point or contact which is closed when the gearshifter is moved forwards or backwards depending on the adjustment of the contact point. It also makes sure the clutch is operated before You actually move it into gear.. [very fast]
If its too close, [the points that is]  it can do what you mentioned.
that means the contact point is electrically switching the control valve On & Off.
I haven't heard of that problem but experienced it recently when fitting another gearshifter with a new contact points.
The easy fix is to unscrew the adjuster slightly on the gear lever. undo lower locking nut & I think You need to loosen the upper nut so You can unscrew/loosen slightly the middle piece to stop the points touching.
I'm now thinking it sounds more like the wire in the bottom maybe shorting out..  touching the metal [chassis]..  Only time I have heard of this, the wire was touching the metal chassis under the mat or under the rear seat..

the TOP piece of the the bottom assembly where the gear lever actually comes out of
[hard to put into words] has to be the way it is now.. and is actually a slot going forwards and backwards.. that is so you can move the gear lever in those directions..
You will also see the wire coming out of the bottom electrical part.. Make sure it hasn't worn thru the insulation and is shorting out on the metal bits.  which could make it slam into gear..

   [sorry this isn't the recent pic as I'm having computer program problems at the moment, as My Son has changed things and I cannot get them to work as yet]

Too much vacuum causes the control valve to give all that vacuum to the clutch servo [vacuum operated] and slams the clutch in or out...
Some one on here recently bought a vacuum adjuster for a fish tank for a $1 and used this to adjust His vacuum on the small hose..
So maybe you could have used the WEBER with that.. but with the 009 distributor You really need the accelerator pump in carbies to work to get the 009 distributor to work..
The SVDA with the solex carburetor works much better.

cheers

LEE in Australia