any VW bug guys out there
 

got a friend with a 74 SB.
stock dist with vac retard and vac advance.

he bought one of those $60 009 dist but is now thinking of going to an electronic one.
one guy told me the $80 was good one but he found the pertronix for 180.

any suggestions as to which one to get

I had the Pertronix on my 72 SB. Never a problem, easy to install.

I know the oe points style distributors have #3 ( I think ) retarded on the point cam lobe. They did it because that cyl ran hot as it was next to the oil cooler. So an electronic aftermarket unit does not have this feature.

I put a 123 distributor in my 2.4 liter flat six in my 914 race car. I don't know if they make one for the 74 SB but worth a look. Gives you the ability to manage the distributor from your phone and get data like RPM, engine temp at distributor, lockout and more. So far so good but my use has been limited so far. Quite a few 914 guys have installed them.

Neither one. That $60 009 is just Chinese junk. The Pertronix is the same Chinese junk with one of their hall-effect sensors installed in place of the points.

Those 'electronic' modules can fail and strand you on the side of the road. No real advantage performance-wise, just the fact that they never need adjustment.

For a stock air-cooled VW motor, the original Bosch distributor w/points that came with the car will work best. If the distributor needs to be rebuilt, contact this guy: https://www.vwnos.com/distributor. He'll restore it to as-new condition.

WAY overkill for a stock VW 1600cc motor...

That feature was no longer needed by the time the Super Beetle arrived.

I have a Baja bug with a 1600 and the 009 dist with points, it works just fine.

Installed a Pertronix in a friends 240Z and ran like crap. Turned out it was a faulty unit.

My bus still has the points in it, works great and I can adjust/fix them if needed.

Agreed. Type one or two. Just run stock.
Type 3 or 4. Spend the money..

My brother has a 1954 Bug as his daily driver. He has been driving it daily since 1978. He does an oil change, valve adjustment, and points check and carb tweak as a routine. He has of course gone to disk brakes up front, dual master cylinder, 12 volts and 70 HP engine long ago.

When I had my 74 914 2.0 I always checked the valve adjustment on each oil change. Mostly it was run the gauges and only on occasion adjust anything. I was autocrossing a LOT back then. I sold it in 1995 and just stayed with points and never tried the electronic stuff.

My brother said he has a hard time finding quality points now days. Mostly Chinese crap and the block that rubs on the cam lobes of the distributor is very soft, and the points close up in short order.

I have to admit, I love my 911 crank sensor timing. I only take the distributor cap off on rare occasions now.

My brother-in-law is a huge VW guy. Has even had a VW resto he and his dad did on the cover of VW magazine. Has a side business restoring old VWs for people.

If you really need something and want me to try to connect you, PM me.

If you had a bug, you had to be in a club.
DKP - Der Kinzer Panzer (The Little Tiger)
OCIR dragstrip was our hang out
My fiend was named OLE, his car was number 370, that is his name upside down.

i loved points in my 77s. reliability.
they did not wear out because there is no real voltage through them like on the bug.
not sure i ever changed them the 10yrs i owned it.
yes i would set them but thats it.

One of our local PCA members has a 67 912. His mechanic pushed him to install a electronic ignition, and he said OK, as long as it can me removed and go back to stock points. He said the electronic system never ran as well as the points, so he went back to points.

During my time in DKP we raced Renn Kafer in Sac, Vegas, PHX, LA county, Pomona, Long Beach and an old DKP favorite Carlsbad.
I raced at OCIR, Famoso and Qualcomm 1/8 mile but that was before my DKP days.
Troy in white me in red at PHX.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1650646750.jpg

Like said before the 009 is junk, do the original setup right and it will be fine.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e2421bb847.jpg


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put in the pertronix with one vac advance.
it sounds better but it still has a very slight miss at idle and when you hold the RPM up.

the engine moves a little and you get a slight "bump" or miss.
everything is new except coil.

going to check valves and compression next.

any ideas on the miss.
its done this since i started working on it

Very timely thread, my buddy picked up a '74 Beetle and we need a stock distributor for it. The link above is excellent, anyone know which distributor is the correct one for a '74? TIA.

Petronix and keep spare condenser and points, in the car, just in case. Keep them with the spare clutch cable and fan belt.

Back in 1974, VW distributors were designed to work best when paired with a specific carburetor. There should be a number stamped on the base flange of the carb (left side as you're looking at it). If this motor still has it's original carb (not always the case after all these years), that number would be either 427-1 or 428-1.
If the car was originally sold in CA, that number could be 429-1 or 430-1.

For a 427-1 (the most common carb), the original distributor would've been VW P/N 043905205. A 428-1 or a 430-1 (not very common) would pair with a 043905205A. A 429-1 carb used an 043905205C distributor.

Be aware that distributors and carburetors on air-cooled VW motors are easily swapped around and many no longer have the same components that were originally supplied with the car. Plus, there are now a ton of aftermarket carbs out there with no numbers on the base flange at all. If that's the case here, you just have to do the best you can to find a suitable match...different combos can be made to work. If you can get the model number of the carb (on the left side of the float bowl as you're looking at it), that would be helpful in picking a suitable distributor.

I've been running Pertronix's for years now; I have one in my Unimog, 56 VW single cab, and 356A.

Thank you!! This is amazingly good info, the PPOT abides once again.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/wat6.gif

it has the original 34-pict.
i have not looked for the other numbers.

from what i have read is the "009" that everyone puts in has a flat spot off idle due to lack of enough advance, thus the need for the vac pot.

it is running better but he told me it seems to have a flat spot around 1800-2k. not sure if he is just hitting the "power band" of that 50hp or what.

my concern is the slight miss/engine shake at idle and holding RPM at 2k.
only thing not replaced in ignition is coil, but new one on the way.

funny, when we first started it with the new dist the miss was gone but timing was way advanced at idle.

Ah the easy old days of carb, points and plugs.

One of the girls I dated back in the 70s had a bug that was running like crap. She came over to my place, a dumpy apartment to visit. It was my first apartment and price was my only reason for renting there. Her car would not start when she was ready to leave. I suggested she just spend the night. I loved that car.

In the morning I went out in the daylight and pulled the points, cleaned them by pulling a piece of paper through the contacts. I then put them back in, and used a matchbook cover to set them. I sprayed some WD-40 in the cap as it looked a bit damp in there.

It fired up and ran better than it had in a year. She was very happy and so was I.

Yes, this is true. The '009' distributor doesn't pair well with the 34PICT carb for the reason you mention. Your best choice for a distributor would be VW P/N 043 905 205, which is a single vacuum, dual advance (SVDA) unit like this: https://www.vwnos.com/043-905-205-2

This is right about the point where the carb transitions from running mostly on the idle circuit to running on the primary circuit controlled by the main jet. 34PICT carbs can be a bit finicky and hard to adjust. A good cleaning in an ultrasonic tank and a careful setup and adjustment should go a long way toward improving its performance. Here's how to properly adjust a 34PICT carb: SOLEX 34 PICT/3 Carburetor Adjustment Procedures

There's another factor that'll cause difficulty in setting the proper idle speed, and it's due to the way the ignition timing is set at idle (either before TDC or after TDC, depending on which distributor is being used). 34PICT carbs all have a small hole in the throttle plate. Carbs that were originally paired with dual vacuum, dual advance (DVDA) distributors (timing set after TDC) have a 5/32" hole, while carbs paired with single vacuum, dual advance (SVDA) distributors (timing set before TDC) have a 1/8" hole.
If the carb has the larger 5/32" hole, it'll be more difficult to set the idle correctly when using an SVDA distributor, like the 043 905 205. This can also be the case when using the '009' distributor. A common fix for this is to install a pop-rivet in the hole and punch out its mandrel, resulting in a smaller hole in the plate.

I know, probably way more info than you need, but that's the full story on 34PICT carbs and distributors.

oh no, great info .
i have read up on the 34pict.
i know these carbs are very sensitive to idle rpm.
i have it set to just below 900.
i did tweak the mixture. in until it dipped and out until it dipped then to fastest idle.
i will check it again.

he did say the cold idle is no good and the warm idle is now good.

the miss is what bothers me.
could mixture cause the miss.

oh, i do have a "color tune" it didnt change any when i was adjusting mixture. it stayed blue.
even above idle.


he DID have the dist with vac retard and vac advance. timing was originally set to 7.5 ATDC.
its now set to 30 BTDC full advance, maybe 32. idle is now 6 BTDC.

Well, it could...but it's not the most likely culprit. Is the miss constant or intermittent? Try to determine which cylinder is missing by pulling the plug wires off one at a time and noting any changes in the way the motor runs. If the miss is confined to only one cylinder, it's probably a bad plug, plug wire, or connector. If it's random, then something's up with the distributor. Double check the points gap and make sure all plug wire connections are tight at each plug and at the distributor cap. If using standard Bosch plug wires, make sure the plastic connectors at the plug ends are secure...they just 'screw' onto the ends of the wires.

Full advance set to 30° BTDC is good for both the '009' (or any non-vacuum distributor) or an SVDA distributor (set with vacuum like plugged). If the motor's original distributor had both vac advance & retard, then the carb's throttle plate would have the larger hole. Reducing the size of that hole can help get the motor to idle properly (see my other post).