Ditto Danny's reply....
Roger that. Rebuild kit has been shipped, so I may be doing it this weekend.
Good luck, Lane. I'm sure you'll fix it up.
While you're at it........re-check the valve clearance......just for the hell of it.
Lane, call me, we'll be at the Pumpkin Run. There should be a pretty decent brain trust there to use!! That would be BEFORE beer!
And there will be a test on my instructions: READ them!
Ditto what Gordo said, ice cold valve adjustment, check timing for 28 degrees at 3000, clean, gapped plugs, good cap, rotor, and plugs. THEN go to the carbs.
Did the valves before the trip to the mountains, I am pretty sure they're fine. As for the plugs, I have yet to figure out how to get them out as various screws holding the cooling shroud and intake manifolds on seem to prevent access to the plugs with a socket. Ideas there would be appreciated as I am still running the original plugs.
Lane, I'm tickled pink to perhaps be of help by telling you how I solved the exact problem, i.e. access to #1 & #3 plugs...PITA... couldn't see what I was doing and no wiggle space to even get my hands at them.
Simple solution: Wheelwell PORTHOLES!!!
On jackstands,with the wheel off, I measured and marked the center of a 4" bullseye. Cut through the fibreglass wheelwell with a 4"circular saw opposite those cylinders (plastic bag carbs - lots of abrasive dust) Sealed the cut with clear fingernail polish.
Cut through the neck of a phenolic hard plastic 4"dia. screwed cap doggy treat container (Costco)...Perfect fit!!...Super glued it in place. Not only can I get my entire hand and socket wrench at the plugs, but I can see what I'm doing too!!
Carl, it's a great idea. Some of the guys (gals) on the Samba do the same thing to get at the idle jets on their Webers. As long as you don't mind removing the wheels it's an easy way to get at your plugs, jets. fuel lines and manifolds.
Lane,
I'd love to see a photo showing why you can't get to your plugs. It's tight but definitely doable on Penny. Idle jets are no problem since I switched out the idle jet holders with JayCee hex head holders. You can cut down a hex wrench and unscrew those puppies in a heartbeat.
The Beck engine compartment doesn't have the close side wall that VS and JPS cars do. that's not the problem. There are bolts on the engine itself that are blocking me. I'll see if I can get a camera in there this weekend.
Carl, you do know about these 'inspection port' fittings commonly available from most marine supply stores, no? The link here is from West Marine. Typical sizes available are 4", 5", 6".
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When cutting holes in the side walls of the engine compartment; if you want to leave them open for more air intake (always a good idea), K&N makes some flat filters in the 5x4 to 5x6 or 6x6 range. I'll look up the part #'s a little later (I'm just taking a wee break from doing homework with my 4rth grader).
Who's doing the tutoring?
Not being a boat person I wasn't aware that an off the shelf solution was available...neither was I aware that Samba people had arrived at the same fix. My 'bolt of insight' came as I reached to the bottom of a Milk Bone container to fish out the last treat for my dog!!
And I was thinking of unscrewing the caps while driving on hot days for increase air flow into the engine compartment...that can be done without removing the wheels.
Two enthusiastic thumbs up on using dog treat container lids over anything from West Marine. You're saving about a case of beer on each porthole.
Very funny, Ed! I laughed at that one, so true!
Carl,
Cutting "Weber Doors" in the fender wells is one thing.
Your "Milkbone Jar" fix is unique!
Kudos to you!
I was thinking more about Carl's dog.
You know the old Pavlovian response when you open your dog's treats box.
The first time his dog spots Carl doing a tuneup, Carl won't be able to keep it out of the wheel well. 
Carl, did you put one 4" port on each side or one at each spark plug?
Repair/rebuild kits came today. I will be working on them this weekend. While they're out I'll see if I can get to the spark plugs.
Michael, one per side. Directly opposite the PITA plugs 1 & 3...now I have unobstucted access to them. I can see them, I can feel them. No more cursing. No more angst. I even have access to the carb and manifold bolts!! No need for 2&4 portholes since they're easy to get at as it is.
My 356 coupe had more room to attack those hidden plugs them from the engine compartment by working around the intake manifolds with a shortened ratchet...but this VS is tight, tight, tight.
Carl
Do you have any photos of the access holes? Also any specs as to the optimum location of the holes?
Renfrance
FYI, Carl has camera problems.
Yes, I've got some very good 'show 'n tell' sequential photos from start to finish...and I'll post them as soon as my son finds the time to tutor me in how to import digital stuff into this computer and then attach then to outgoing emails.
As to the porthole locations...measure twice and carefully.
You don't want that hole directly opposite the plug because the plug isn't perpendicular to the wheelwell...On 1&3 they're slightly angled forward. You want to look through that porthole and see the plug staring back at you! I first found a reference point inside the engine compartment that I could relate to a point on the wheelwell, and then transposed measurments.
On the VS there's a steel supporting frame at the level of the plugs. Make sure your hole cutter clears that and you're only digging into pure fibreglass! I drilled a small 1/8" exploritory hole first to make sure I was on target...wiggled in a straw to confirm. Don't transpose your measurments from one side to the other because the cylinder heads are offset from each other.
A lot of abrasive dust is created so bag your carbs...better yet, bag your entire engine. Then sit back and marvel at how easy it all was!
FYI, I didn't mean to shame Carl into his confession :-)
Did a couple of easy things this evening to see if it drives well enough for Cars & Coffee tomorrow. I put in the new inlet valves and adjusted the floats. Danny, you'll be happy to know that I set them to 25mm when dropped as you suggested. I also cleaned out the idle jets while they were easy to reach (carb tops off). One of them had Plymouth rock blocking it while another had the Rock of Gibraltar stuck in it. We'll see how it runs tomorrow. I will still replace the gaskets and O-rings when I have a chance, but it may not be tomorrow as my honey-do list has grown.
I would think you'd get a lot of dirt in the engine compartment if you drive without covers and no filter.
But I don't. I don't know if I introduced the dirt when I was trying to resolve a hard restart issue, but that is about when all this started. I'll see how she runs today. I may still have some work to do.
Well f**k.
It ran perfectly all the way to Cars & Coffee, so I was feeling optimistic. However, when I was leaving I made it all of a few hundred feet before it started doing it again.
So what have I learned?
- It's almost certainly carbs, although where the schmutz is coming from is still a mystery.
- Removing the carbs, taking them apart, and blowing out all of the passageways is a must at this point.
- The new fuel filters installed before the trip to the mountains are suspect as the worst of the (apparently) blockage issues started after they were installed.
- I won't be driving the car for a while, despite the perfect weather.
Just damn. Lane you have solved worse problems and I know this will be no different.
Sorry you are going through this but we'll all be the wiser from this experience. Good luck with it!
Lane-if you have rubber fuel line(s), is it compatible with "today's" blends?
Could be the fuel lines, but I may have found out why it deteriorated so rapidly today. Apparently I neglected (DOH!) to tighten the barrel the the inlet needle valve rides in in one carb. I have removed, disassembled, blown out with compressed air, and reassembled one of the two carbs so far. While doing so I replaced gaskets, O-rings, and the little filter in the inlet that I didn't know existed until yesterday (it was kinda nasty). I'll do the other one in the morning. Since I am not touching the mixture settings, I might not have to do a lot of work to get the carbs in tune (I hope). Oh yeah - I also ran a wire through all of the progression holes before blowing them out with compressed air.
Still, there is definitely some schmutz (love that word) coming from somewhere. Any fix is likely to be temporary until I deal with the source.
WOOHOO!!!!
YEEHAH!!!!!
YIPPIE!!!!!!!!
Yes folks, it appears to be fixed. After finishing what I started yesterday I took it for a nice long test drive in the country. It is running very well so far. I didn't even have to reset the idle, although I will check the balance with the snail.
Well done, sir! Hope you get another half decade out of that rig without having to readjust.
Not so hard was it??? It takes time and patience, several cool ones, and everything works itself out.... Danny is probably pleased also....
Good for you Lane. I knew you would beat it eventually. Sometimes, it can be very frustrating. I am sure the problem is moisture and ethanol for me and most of us. That is the only reason you get white chunks of goo in your idle jets. Stabil is a must these days it appears.
So I had the one jet clog about a week before the Pumpkin Run, fixed that on the side of the road. Then the car ran flawlessly all the way to PA and back. 800 miles worth. I think the jet clogged because the car sat in an unheated garage for a couple of weeks, giving moisture and condensation time to work their evil magic!
Lane, do yourseld a favor and write down how many turns each mixture needle is turned out. And of course always make sure the needles stay in the same barrel. You do realize as the engine wears and valves get adjusted, the mixture requirements for each cylinder may change? And I do set mine a few times during the season, as air density and temp change it affects the idle mixture. So those settings I did are certainly not permanent, not by a long shot! If you know where you started, you can always go back, but don't be afraid to touch them, grasshopper. You will eventually become the master!
Update: The car ran great today to/from Cars & Coffee. I will check and readjust the mixture as needed, but not this weekend. Got other things on my ToDo list, and would like one weekend where I can just drive and enjoy the Speedster.