Need advice

The plugs only have a very thin coating of carbon that easily comes off with your finger.  Ed's point it well made and an easy test to do, though.

"But you know what?  Obviously, after 12 friggin pages, you're not getting anywhere and have replaced Danny's ignition system with your old one anyway, so button everything up, get it flat-bedded to someone who can properly diagnose the problem(s) and get it back on the road, and stop tormenting yourself."

Agreed, but the hassle factor involved in that is what keeps me going back to the garage.  Sisyphus indeed.

HEY!!!  13 PAGES!!!  

OK, OK, Ok.....   This things gone to the DARK side....   Time to bite the bullet and flat bed it to the nearest known Guru....     Just stock pile enough Sammies to get through these trying times....

That's just it, there are no known gurus within an hour.  My friend up in Summerville (about an hour away) may or may not be still in business as he's in his late 70s and the last time I spoke to him he was cutting back.  Other folks are farther away, less knowledgeable, or both.  That's why I've been punishing myself by sticking with this for so long, but no more.  I'm over it.  Common sense has prevailed - maybe.

Jim Keck is very knowledgeable on air-cooled VW's.  I used him to work on some issues for Sarah's '63 VW and his work was good, thorough and reasonable.  In his shop he has parts for what were once Type V racers so I know he's an enthusiast.  The bad news, of course, is that he would be a long haul for you.  

Have you asked around local shows, especially among the VW guys, if they know of a guru in your area?  I imagine you have but if not that may be a good resource.  You seem to have exhausted all the options that any normal shade tree mechanic would try but there has to be an answer to this dilemma.  Half serious here, but what would Carey charge to retrofit a Suby into your drop dead gorgeous Speedster?   Just a thought.

Hoss 

BTW, it's 26 degrees here this morning and supposed to go down to 22 tonight.  This is only 35 - 40 degrees below normal.  Darn that polar vortex!

With my tongue firmly between my teeth.......   Ask a local Porsche owner about his mechanic / garage....  Believe it or not, I've been led to two good shops via this method....

"Have you asked around local shows, especially among the VW guys, if they know of a guru in your area? "  That's how I met my friend I was speaking about above in the first place.  There is supposedly another shop up in Summerville, but I have heard mixed reviews about it.

I do have some friends from Cars and Coffee that might be able to help, but the one with a shop is still at least 45 minutes a way.  He usually works on British cars, particularly Lotuses, but has offered to help.  He's pretty expensive, though.

Lane,

Hoss and Leon both have good suggestions for finding a knowledgeable 'wrencher'.

    Just after taking delivery of the VS from Oregon I was picking up some oil and a filter from the largest auto parts store in the area...three busy guys behind the counter.

    I casually asked if they could recommend a VW four banger mechanic in the area. They just looked blankly at each other...Duh? One did mention a name. Another clerk  countered that he was retired and living somewhere in Florida!

    On the way out I was stopped by a customer that overhead the exchange. He told me there was a very active VW owners/enthusiasts club in Connecticut...They would surely know.

I haven't had an occasion (so far) to follow up that lead.

But if I can't get this 2110 running smoothly over its hibernating winter, then that's the source I'm contacting!!! 

Would it not be cheaper to pull the motor and send it back to your builder?

X2 what Carl just said.  In another thread about balancing wide 5 wheels, it was mentioned that most shops do not have the required adapter for balancing.  I sent a message to our local VW list owner and had the name of a local shop with the required adapter in just a few minutes.

Lane;

Here's a VW club in your area:

http://lcvwc.webs.com/

I am actually a member of that club, Art, but most of their events, as well as most of them, seem to be clustered quite a way from me.  Those are the folks that introduced me to the one VW mechanic I trust locally.  I just spoke to him and verified that he is still in business.  In fact he is so busy that it will be several weeks before he can get to me.  Lovely.  I may have to look at other alternatives.

Bill, there is no indication that there is anything so serious that it would require pulling the engine and sending it 2500 or more miles from Charleston to LA.  I imagine the two-way shipping costs alone would be over $1000.

Lane:

I emailed you the name of someone who builds race VW's as a hobby who might be interested in helping (professionally, he builds high-end homes), but here is someone else who IS a mechanic, who also used to race VW's with his son, runs an auto service business (he used to work on my F150 for me) AND has a flatbed car-hauler to come and get it.  The downside is that he's two hours away, but I trusted him with my vehicle and for his advice, he's a straight shooter and he knows his stuff on air-cooled VW's.

Tell him I sent you and remind him of Pearl (it's been a while since I was there last).  He's reasonable and WILL fix it.

Tommy O'Brien

http://obriensprofessionalauto.com

I still have the name you gave me, Gordon, I just haven't called them due to the distance.  I'd rather get it done locally if possible, but I will certainly keep these guys in mind as an alternative.  Thanks for the intel.

I've a couple of friends who used to ferry another friend to MUSC on a regular basis - any of them could help you solve this problem but I haven't talked with them in ages.  I'll try contacting them today and see if they're still running to the "Holy city" on a regular basis and could drop by - they're all true car guys from the Beaufort club and all engine builders so they know they're stuff.  Might cost you a case of Yuengling for their trouble, that's all.  (They're a cheap date, that's for sure!)

You're going to spend it one way or another Lane. I hope you figure it out...

I now have another friend with a shop - does high end restorations - that said he'd be happy to help me, but he's going out of town until after Thanksgiving.  Ah well...

Lane, count your blessings.

You've got only two Webers to worry about. Here's what happens when you've got six:

http://tinyurl.com/oq9h8br

It must be nice to simply walk away, smiling and joking, from an exotic collectable that's on the verge of perhaps blowing up, knowing that it will be picked-up and transported to the very best diagnostic/mechanics available... that will give you a call when it's ready to roar again!

It must be even nicer, Carl, knowing it's someone else's car.

Short update: Got home tonight and the cold front is still a few hours away, so I took advantage of the last warm air for a few days and did a quick spark test.  Cylinder #4, the one that appears not to be firing, does have a strong looking spark.  Maybe in a few days when the highs are out of the 40s I'll do a check on the rockers to make sure that the valves are opening properly.  That would mean that it is certainly air/fuel related.  Lots of folks are still saying intake leak, even though I've got new gaskets and the mating surfaces seem to be flat.

Talking about rockers, Lane...do you have the bolt type stoppers on the ends of your rocker shafts ? I didn't on my 1915 a couple of years ago..just had those little steel wire clip things and one broke, allowing one rocker to get displaced down the shaft and not do it's job to open the valve.

I don't recall, David, but when I check clearance I looked at everything and all looked good.  I would think that a displaced rocker would be fairly easy to see, but I could be wrong.

I've been pouring through my Weber info and may be doing another teardown with the book as a guide as to which port to stick the air compressor.

I am reminded of the Einstein quote about repeating the same experiment over and over and expecting a different result each time.  Supposed to be the definition of insanity.  Well, I'm, gonna say that The Madness is indeed a form of insanity, and if he was not already, Lane has every right to have been driven insane by this "issue".  Lately he sounds very calm -- admirably so.  During my very similar-sounding troubles this summer, there were times I considered driving the car into the lake.  I believe it was Truman that said nothing succeeds like perseverance.  An Lane has this trait in spades.  I am SO hoping for a happy conclusion here some day, AND a careful explanation about what it was that went wrong.  We need to know, so can add this experience to our collective understanding.

Well thanks, Kelly, but I'm not sure I deserve that.  I am now calm because I have pretty much given up on fixing it myself.  I am still tinkering because:

1. I have a couple of weeks until any of my mechanic friends can get to it, and
2. I am a stubborn SOB.

And yes, I have had many thought of the use of incendiary devices, pushing into the salt marsh, etc.  Just not lately.

Oh look!  The nice men in white coats are bringing me one of those lovely jackets with the long sleeves again! 

I will come and visit you Lane in the asylum, it's my Christian duty.    But seriously, folks, I really hope after Lane's arduous journey is finally completed successfully, that he will drive that sucker to Carlisle next May.  This will be, for The Madness, like a victory dance.  I hope we can catch that one on video!

"stubborn SOB" = perseverance.  It's what gets things done.

Kelly---so true---you nailed the great lesson of life.  Seriously!

If one can get this one lesson down pat, the rest is easy!

Hoss---well said.  I am  betting on Lane.  When you look up "persistance" in the dictionary, there is a picture of our Lane.

Lane, if you drive your fine Speedster to Carlisle I will see to it that you recieve a perseverance  award during the awards presentations. Hell, if you even fly there I'll still do it!

So---I'll ask the group here--help me out by excersizing your creative talents out, what should Lane's persistance award look like??  

Jack, I'll bet that Cory will come up with something special, especially if he is bribed by a picture of a 1925 Ahrens-Fox model NS4 fire truck, framed, and autographed by the original driver (by proxy, of course).  

Some figure of a tall, slim Southern dood with a wrench (or hammer ) in one hand, a bottle of Tullemore Dew on a bench next to him and lightning bolts, question marks and a few )*&%%$  coming out of his cranium area....I'll make a $$ contribution.

David, your creative side is amazing---goes along with your mechanical genious!

Hoss--I love it when you talk dirty!

Any other suggestions out there?

Oh you guys are too much.  I certainly plan to drive to Carlisle, although it may not be in the Speedster.

This book needs chapters now, screw the pages.

Checked valve train on 3-4 side this evening before the light failed me.  Everything looks good with the rockers lined up on the valves, pushrods looking normal and spinning properly between my fingers.  No indication that they are bent.  All rockers appear to move the same amount.  I can still close off the throat on #4 carb without affecting the way the engine runs - which is still lousy.

Since I verified spark to #4 last week, it all points to intake leak, screwed up carb, or both.  I tried the carb cleaner spray test with no affect and gaskets are new all around.  That is circumstantial evidence against an intake leak.  After a bit the car puts out copious amounts of white-ish smoke, leaving a black spot on the pavement under the exhaust pipe.  This spot can be easily wiped up.  Any idea what the smoke may indicate other than I have yet to properly adjust the carbs?

They used to say "White smoke is "oil" and black smoke is "fuel"....  

The "Black Spot" feel greasy ???  You ran a compression test successfully on that cylinder did you not ???  

When you choke off #4s carb throat, do you feel it pulling a vacuum on your hand???

If vaccum is present and the compression test was successful, I would vote on the "Carb"....

Couldn't feel much vacuum.  The black spot feels dry, not greasy.

I ask the dumbest questions so here is another,  doesnt white mean lean and black non greasy would be carbon or soot of some sort which means rich?  Is it possible for a car to run lean and rich?  If so what would cause that?

A bad carb...

White smoke could just be condensation inside the exhaust boiling off. That steam would carry soot with it. Sooty water dripping out of the tailpipe leaves the black spot. That's assuming this white smoke doesn't start immediately after engine start and eventually goes away after running a while.