Kuhltek Motorwerks Distributor

Call the builder.

@Panhandle Bob: I’ve reached out via e-mail and am awaiting a response. I’m obviously looking for a practical solution(s), but am also just trying to learn as much as I can, gain as much mechanical understanding as I can about my car. That’s why I also posted here soliciting input, wisdom, observations, and guidance. I’ve got a lot to learn and I know it.

Do you have a timing light? If not, this is a pretty good first tool to have.

I do Stan, and will hopefully be able to check the max advance later this afternoon. Have already checked the static timing, which seems fine.

One of the challenges I had is that the ‘stock’ pulley has only two marks, 180 degrees opposed to each other. Both are a grease pen or paint mark. Neither appear to have a corresponding machined groove or other physical marking on the pulley.

I believe that I’ve determined which of the two is TDC, #1 cylinder (Mr. Merklin’s past posts where great guidance), and have done the math to measure and mark on the pulley where 28-30 degrees BTDC would be. 

Hopefully I can get the gun on it and check the advance later today -

I've been on here for 7 years and I still have a lot to learn. Good luck, it'll get fixed!

I wasn't trying to be flippant in my initial response. In a small community like this the good guys among the builders (VS is one of them) want to do right by their customers and normally do a good job of followup and providing remedies.

30West posted:

I do Stan, and will hopefully be able to check the max advance later this afternoon. Have already checked the static timing, which seems fine.

One of the challenges I had is that the ‘stock’ pulley has only two marks, 180 degrees opposed to each other. Both are a grease pen or paint mark. Neither appear to have a corresponding machined groove or other physical marking on the pulley.

I believe that I’ve determined which of the two is TDC, #1 cylinder (Mr. Merklin’s past posts where great guidance), and have done the math to measure and mark on the pulley where 28-30 degrees BTDC would be. 

Hopefully I can get the gun on it and check the advance later today -

Yeah, that's rough. Perhaps a good first purchase would be a nice AL pulley with degree marks.

90% of all carburetion problems are ignition, and the great majority of 009 copies (even if they sound German, like Kuhltek Motorwerks) are East Asian, and of questionable quality. If I were guessing, I'd guess that your problem is ignition, and that the advance mechanism is failing.

A degree pulley will allow you to watch the timing as you increase revs-- the advance should be steady, and you should be able to read it clearly all the way up. What the 009 copies are notorious for is "scatter"-- where one timing cycle advance will be 15* BTC, the next 22* (as a hypothetical example). If you can't read the numbers clearly as you increase the revs from idle to 3000 or so, you've got "scatter".

Fixing it means a new distributor. Fortunately, CBs "Magna-Spark" is back in stock. Perhaps you can get an AL pulley when you get one, and save on the shipping.

Good luck.

Just got the timing light on it, and what I saw is almost exactly what you described. 

‘Scatter’ it is, wow!! New dizzy for me!! And a degreed pulley is simply WAY too logical . . . . . . . . looks like I’m going shopping!!! Thanks for the input!

30West posted:

Just got the timing light on it, and what I saw is almost exactly what you described. 

‘Scatter’ it is, wow!! New dizzy for me!! And a degreed pulley is simply WAY too logical . . . . . . . . looks like I’m going shopping!!! Thanks for the input!

Glad it worked out. Welcome to the pointy end of the wedge. Before you know what happened, you'll be a pro.

I guess the electronic module could be on the way out already- holy cow! You could paint 3 or 4 marks on the pulley between the idle and full advance marks and watch what happens as you rev the engine in a controlled manner from idle to 3,000-3500 rpm. I admit I've never tried this, but I think it would make it easier to see what Stan is alluding to. As Stan also mentioned, the quality of the Kuhltek (and just about all replacement 009's these days) is not to be trusted- you can't build stuff to a price point to undercut the competition and not expect quality to suffer.

 Kuhltek distributors are very unreliable, we only use CB performance Magna Spark distributors more then double the cost but as they all say ... "you get what you pay for"

Greg

www.Vintagemotorcarsinc.com

VSpyder posted:

 Kuhltek distributors are very unreliable, we only use CB performance Magna Spark distributors more then double the cost but as they all say ... "you get what you pay for"

 

Greg

www.Vintagemotorcarsinc.com

And there you have it.

VSpyder posted:

 Kuhltek distributors are very unreliable, we only use CB performance Magna Spark distributors more then double the cost but as they all say ... "you get what you pay for"

 

Greg

www.Vintagemotorcarsinc.com

If only the VW world understood this! Most VW people expect things that cost $49.95 20 and 30 years ago to still be close to the same price; as a result, the retailers cater to these cheap a**ed fools. And people don't learn- they buy 1 junk part, throw it away and buy another of the same thing, expecting a different result.  We're getting what we deserve.

Thanks for the input, and I totally agree: I rather pay more upfront and do it right. Sounds as though the Magna Spark is the way to go.

Admittedly though, I was fairly ‘hands off’ during what was generally a ‘stock build’ (for a variety of reasons).  But I also completely understand and expect - and accept - that there will be a few hiccups during the process of getting things all sorted out. I fully expect to soon be checking in as other little issues or rough edges make themselves known!

In the meantime, sure appreciate everyone’s input!

I run a Mallory Unilite Dist and have had nothing but outstanding service from it   Rock solid readings when set, with no scatter at all.  It also has a Mallory solid state module replacing points.  I know these are pretty pricey but I wonder why they aren't more popular with the SOC folks?

Thanks, Jack -

I’ve talked to three other guys who have installed the Mallory’s and echo what you have expressed almost word for word! 

I made the decision when I got my car that I wasn’t going to “cheap out” and haven’t. When I wanted a better distributor I went straight to the Magna Spark. When I wanted a new ignition switch bought the Bosch ignition the restoration guys use. When I wanted a new motor it was Pat D all the way. Added an Eyeball Engineering mid-mount and now I want a kafer bar so I’m buying the Coolrydes Stiffy. Spend once, cry once. Just because the cars are fiberglass reproductions doesn’t means we need to settle for cheap parts. 

Robert---you are a man after my own heart.  I think of myself as mostly thrifty guy and don't spend money in wasteful way, but when it comes to my Speedster it is first class for parts and supplies all the way.  CSP German stuff instead of Chinese , Dells instead of Empi knock offs, Top quality from Sierra Madre , Espar for heat, 4 wheel discs instead of drums and so forth.  Did the same for my airplanes too.  There are plenty of places to shave bucks, but not a conveyance as serious as something that spends time on the interstate or in the air carrying family members.  I know many or even most SOCers feel the same way when it comes to quality---their cars themselves sceam quality all the way---just look at the rides that show up at any Speedsder/Spyder/MG gathering--off the chart impressive.

Jack Crosby posted:

I run a Mallory Unilite Dist and have had nothing but outstanding service from it   Rock solid readings when set, with no scatter at all.  It also has a Mallory solid state module replacing points.  I know these are pretty pricey but I wonder why they aren't more popular with the SOC folks?

5 or 7 years ago Mallory distributors started having problems with timing scatter; Jake R wouldn't use them any more. I believe the drop in quality about coincided with Mallory's moving their production down to Mexico. Then MSD bought them and they disappeared. The MSD stuff works well but it tends to be geared toward the racer, and their distributors are known to rust inside.

I'm still kicking myself, Jack, for not buying a Mallory when they were the quality standard- they were built right! If I could find a good 1 today I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Robert M posted:

I made the decision when I got my car that I wasn’t going to “cheap out” and haven’t. When I wanted a better distributor I went straight to the Magna Spark. When I ...

Just because the cars are fiberglass reproductions doesn’t means we need to settle for cheap parts. 

Too many people have tried to get into VW's and then promptly left because it was too hard to discern good parts from junk. If more people thought like you, Robert, there would be quality replacement parts everywhere and we wouldn't be faced with this difficulty. All the absolute crap out there is killing the hobby.

I'll get off my soapbox now (I'm short, the air is thin up here and I may fall and hurt myself!)

Not to speak for Jake but I have always thought he could start a separate division selling remanufactured Mallory distributors.  For mine he did some mods to make it work like it does.  It's been a while now but I seem to remember that one mod was to replace some springs and other internal work as well. He wasn't happy with current production (I don't know the reasons) and rebuilt the new unit to his specs. so he kept the unilight feature and fixed the rest.   I guess I answered my own question as to the popularity---I had forgotten this info over the years.  I wonder what dist he is using these days.

I never meant to be a cautionary tale, but I guess somebody has to make all the mistakes so everybody else can learn what not to do.

I was raised by thrifty people. Dad was a plumber who died last year with two farms and enough in investments for Mom to buy another. She lives pretty well on Social Security and drives a Hyundai. For a long time, the apple didn't fall very far from the tree.

I started out with a speedster I bought on ebay for $10,500, which was the extreme outside of what I wanted to pay. I kept it for a year, then had a JPS built, which was at the time, and remains to this day, the single most disappointing transaction of my life. It was during trying to make a silk purse out of my JPS sow's ear that I began to embrace the fact that in this hobby at least-- I might not always get what I paid for, but I would always pay for what I got.

I ordered an IM "coach" (a car less running gear) in 2005 because I thought I could do better than what Henry was offering regarding running gear. My first "value" 2110 was ridiculous, and it took $1000 and swallowing my pride to finally throw myself on the mercy of Art Thraen and get out of the AJ Sims "Super Kadrons" and into some decent Dellorto 40s.

That was many, many experiments ago, both with engines and transaxles. Who can forget the time I was rolling across the country with a 2332 (tuned to within an inch of explosion) which split a cylinder and vomited a quart of oil every 400 miles all over the western US? I was like my own silver and black reality show-- the Exxon Valdez of Brad Penn 20W50. There are places in Nevada that may never recover from my one-man Superfund Special.

... but that was three motors and 2 transaxles ago, and is water under the proverbial dam. I'm currently running a 2275, twin-plugged and dry-sumped, only slightly less complicated than the Lunar Landing Module, but nearly as expensive. Meanwhile, I watched the guys who had been spending "too much" up front just happily motoring from place to place, without a lot of drama.

If I were to ever get something tattooed on my chest, it would be "Buy Once, Cry Once". I'll need to tattoo it, because it's the only way I won't revert to my Midwestern farm-kid tendency to try to get 10 lbs in a 5 lb sack.

Don't be like Stupid-Stan. Just buy the good stuff first. It only hurts the one time.

When Pat spec'd my motor for me initially he spec'd it like a lot of the standard motors built by CB, which are very good motors.  Standard fuel lines and hose clamps, standard oil lines and hose clamps, tins, pulleys, etc. I didn't ask too many questions, I trusted Pat to build me something that would run and run well for a long time. During different phases of the build though he'd call me with a question, for instance, he'd call and say something like, "I'm getting ready to do the fuel lines. I initially spec'd it with standard hoses and fittings, but you drive a lot so I think it'd be better to build it with better hoses and AN fittings. It costs a little more, what do you want to do?". Without fail and without asking the price I'd say, "Put in the AN fittings. I want it to be the best.". We did this a few times. We did it with the fuel lines, oil lines, OEM fan versus a new fan, a set of OEM bottom tins, the Russian made (I think) OT brand fan pulley (not cheap but perfectly balanced), and other parts. I always went with whatever was best. Invariably, it was never the lesser priced option. Cheap isn't good and good isn't cheap.

I was going to comment on the Unilite quality but that's been covered. IF you have a type1 and a 911 fan the only distributor that fits is an 009/VW type. Even a vacuum can is a maybe/probably not. That's why I went Megajolt crankfire, it's the only solution for what I've got to work with. Plus, it's the best solution as well. Works for me.

009, what a cheap POS. Spark scatter over the next 3 states it's so bad LOL>

Without a doubt or hesitation I say that my approach to ‘Speedster’ ownership has always been to view it not as an ‘event’ (just another day where I happened to acquire another car), but as a journey! Not rational, reasonable, or even justifiable. The damn thing just makes me smile. My car evokes (provokes?) an emotional reaction, and one that I enjoy - sort of like a ‘runner’s high’. Of course, Stan’s post is gentle reminder that there may be days where, well, a variety of other emotions might be in play as well. But that’s all part of the package.

But I look it this as though I’ve been lucky enough to acquire a gem, and my role is to now cut and polish it.  My goal was not to try to make sure it was absolutely perfect out of the box.  Delivery day wasn’t just an event, signing a few papers and driving the thing off of the lot - I knew that this was just the beginning. That means, crafting, honing, fine tuning - a process that as you all have so eloquently and emphatically observed, involves using the best quality parts and components available - and where applicable, original parts from restoration houses like Stoddard or Sierra Madre.

It also means seeking quality advice from knowledgeable and experienced mentors, and that’s where you all step in, and I (and plentry other of folks, I’m sure) am very grateful!! Let’s go for a drive!!