Electronic ignition and Exhaust

[Sittingonthedockofthe BAY]

Ok round trip of 150 miles today in the sunshine with a massive smile on me face ,but van not running as good as it can,checked points and they are closed tight have a electronic ignition to put in will this run better ie not stalling and 4th gear he was still not happy,carb adjusted recently so putting it down to points.Original exhaust has seen better days might do a straight swap but was just wondering about the 4 tip monza any good,any 1 running on one and before you say it lol no i cant afford a full stainless setup....Rowan.

 

[Loxy]

Electronic ignition should help if your points keep closing up as the gap is consistent giving a consistent dwell angle, dont forget to redo the timing after fitting.
Monza 4 tip is a piece of junk, get something else & either re-paint it straight away or soon, to help it live a bit longer. If on a budget supposedly a stock beetle exhaust is less restrictive than a stock van one, can be difficult (but its not impossible) getting the twin tail pipes to fit well though.

 

[Sittingonthedockofthe BAY]

Is is diff to re do the timming i am a novice but learning fast,a gun would cost me how much ?

 

[Sittingonthedockofthe BAY]

What about this on flebay..150275776445

 

[Tofufi]

Monza 4 tips are the worst exhausts known to man.

I had one on my bus, the stock one is a lot (LOT) nicer. Quieter too, which I'm not so happy about.

As said above, a stock bug one is slightly better flowing if you can get one to fit. I'm happy with my bus one for now though.

Also, if you are running a 009 distributor (No vac advance) with a stock carb, you will do far better with a stock distributor. And a stock air filter will be better than an aftermarket chrome pancake type one on a single carb

 

[Loxy]

Monza 4 tips are the worst exhausts known to man.

I had one on my bus, the stock one is a lot (LOT) nicer. Quieter too, which I'm not so happy about.

As said above, a stock bug one is slightly better flowing if you can get one to fit. I'm happy with my bus one for now though.

Also, if you are running a 009 distributor (No vac advance) with a stock carb, you will do far better with a stock distributor. And a stock air filter will be better than an aftermarket chrome pancake type one on a single carb

Wise words from the man that delivers fire extinguishers :wink:

That exhaust would work though the headers can be a bit of a dog to fit well sometimes & it would last a bit longer if well painted with high temp paint - though they tend to rust from the inside esp. if you do lots of short journeys.

Timing shouldnt be too difficult, get a timing light off ebay - gunsons or draper can be had relatively cheaply but should be reasonably reliable.

 

[Tofufi]

Wise words from the man that delivers fire extinguishers :wink:

That exhaust would work though the headers can be a bit of a dog to fit well sometimes & it would last a bit longer if well painted with high temp paint - though they tend to rust from the inside esp. if you do lots of short journeys.

Timing shouldnt be too difficult, get a timing light off ebay - gunsons or draper can be had relatively cheaply but should be reasonably reliable.

Used my bus to do the 100 miles to get the extinguishers with no problems

Agreed on the timing gun thing. I bought mine for £20 from my local motor factors, then saw them cheaper on eBay IIRC.

I've plastered my stock Leistreitz (better than Ernst if you can find them) backbox with heatproof paint and it shows no sign of change 6 months on.

I'm now pondering if a bug exhaust could have two bus tailpipes fitted to it, twin quietpack stylee but with a free-er flow?

It'd only require the outer bracket connectors welding onto the edges of the bus backbox.
I've a stock bug backbox and an old bus one lying around I could have a play with.

 

[Sittingonthedockofthe BAY]

can you just clear 1 thing for me vacuum advance means what?..centrifugal advance?? just to make sure i have the right electronic ignition,i have the vacum 1....i have a 1600 twin port with origonal air filter and standard coil hope this helps lol....Rowan.

 

[Sittingonthedockofthe BAY]

And thx to your advice i have opted for a complete new original exhaust from just campers with a2 year warranty,do i need to coat it in anything...Rowan.

 

[Tofufi]

I covered my exhaust in heatproof/ 'VHT' paint. It'll just make it last a bit longer and look a bit cleaner.

As for the vacuum advance distributor, if you have a twinport engine your distributor should have a vacuum can on the side, as well as centrifugal advance mechanism. Meaning it'll advance the engine more under light loading and acceleration for better mpg.

The '009' distributor has no vacuum advance, only has the centrifugal advance which alone isn't much good for the 1600tp carb.

 

[Sittingonthedockofthe BAY]

Many thx just checked mine,and its the 009 without the vacum advance should i get this changed ???

 

[Benyon]

My van came with a Monza 4-tip but cannot comment as I have never used anything else. It has started blowing recently tho but won't install another, will replace it with something I can reinstate the heat exchagers with!

I have an 009 dizzy and toyed with the idea of reverting back to an SVDA, but instead opted to go for Pertronix electronic kit to fit in the body of the 009, no idea how this will improve things until it gets installed with my twin webers this week. 8)

 

[Sittingonthedockofthe BAY]

can i ad the vacum part to my original set up j10168 just campers or is there more needed ??

 

[Loxy]

can i ad the vacum part to my original set up j10168 just campers or is there more needed ??

No it wont work, will need a complete new (I havent heard good things about the new brazilian ones though) or secondhand dizzy (ebay bargains can be had but they can be a little worn - of course if you bought £90s worth then you would probably have enough to do 10 engines :lol: )
I gather there is also a place in the states that does a decent SVDA (single vacuum dual advance) distributor replacement - dont know much about them though.
http://www.vw-resource.com/right_dizzy.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have been reading about these new 123 distributors(they have a set of advance curves that you can select from) that seem to be getting a lot of praise on JK forum, but they arent particularly cheap at ~£200-220 - but I guess a new distributor & pertronix is probably going to cost ~£150 plus.
http://www.123ignition.nl/brand/VW.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


So really its a case of how much money you have spare & whether its a long term keeper or if you have plans to upgrade the engine.

 

[Benyon]

If you already have the electronic ignition I would go with that, removes the need to adjust/replace the points and condensor periodically, if you want to remain stock, I think the SVDA dizzy is a different thing to an 009 so no the vacuum unit can't just be attached to the side...

 

[Sittingonthedockofthe BAY]

Many thx alot clearer now,budget is tight just ordered new exhaust so for now just gonna go for electronic ignition fr non vacum advance...Rowan

 

[Loxy]

Many thx alot clearer now,budget is tight just ordered new exhaust so for now just gonna go for electronic ignition fr non vacum advance...Rowan

If you search for 009 distributor information you will find that some people (inc. volksworld mag etc) still recommend them & others believe them to be the spawn of the devil.
If you are happy with how your engine is running at the moment & it is correctly timed for the 009 then fitting an electronic ignition will only improve it & should result in reduced maintenance due to not having to reset/replace points periodically.
Make sure you connect the electronic ignition the right way round otherwise it will be toast & dont ever leave the ignition on for extended periods (when engine isnt running) as that may kill it as well & of course always carry spare points & condenser & feeler gauges just in case the electronic unit fails.

 

[Benyon]

...& of course always carry spare points & condenser & feeler gauges just in case the electronic unit fails.

What is the reliability like of the electronic units? Have many people had experiences of them failing? Or are they too new to have much of a history yet?

 

[Guest]

ive never heard of them fail, but i have heard of people wrecking them due to wiring them incorrectly during installation. I dont think reilability is an issue and ive heard of people running them for 4 years without even having to check them at all. Certainly beats having to constantly adjust the points gap

 

[Loxy]

...& of course always carry spare points & condenser & feeler gauges just in case the electronic unit fails.

What is the reliability like of the electronic units? Have many people had experiences of them failing? Or are they too new to have much of a history yet?

Had one in my old van for years & never had any problems & had this one in since I got it a couple of years ago.
Its just one of those things that could stop you dead if it does go wrong (thats why I also carry spare belts, plugs, leads, coil, cap, rotor, oil, heads, case, barrels & pistons, crank, cam, rods, gearbox, beam, wheels, battery :wink: :wink: )