According to the shop, the driver side rear is toed out .09 and the passenger side is toed in -.26. Both wheel pointing left. I assume i need to slide the driver side fslightly forward in the spring plate and rearward for the passenger side. Does that sound right?
Bobby, you don’t have an alignment set up, so anything you do is just guessing. It’s possible (and probably advisable, if you’re committed to doing this yourself) to buy a good set up, but it’s $350.
Really, you’re running out of summer, Carey can fix both the alignment and the high rpm miss.
Your best bet for proper alignment is to find an old hot rod shop. Most modern shops can't figure out anything that isn't in their computer. Anyway, it sounds like you might be on the upswing, so keep plugging away at it. 
Sounds like the left rear needs to slide forward a tiny bit, the right rear needs to slide back a bit. You CAN do toe-in yourself, but it's a bit of a PIA. The car has to be dropped to the floor and driven forward back into the garage for the rear suspension to settle and spread to its driving-down-the-road position. Do NOT SKIP THIS STEP WITH A SWING AXLE.
All you need is 4 jack stands, some string, and a tape measure. And patience and time. But it beats getting ripped-off, and you'll know it's done right.
You want a bit of toe-in in the rear, 1/16" to 1/8" per side, so 1/8" to 1/4" total toe-in.
I know everyone here is going to tell me "4 wheel alignment can't be done at home" and such but they do this every day at the track with strings.
Make sure your strings are a) parallel, b) same distance from front grease caps(thrust angle or dog-tracking as it were), and c) the strings should be the same height as the wheel centers. I usually make the strings touch the front or rear tires(whichever is wider). And measure everything 3 times, and write it down as you go.
Yes, you can spend a bunch of money (I have the electronic tools to do alignment) but you really can do it with string, tape measure, and jack stands. You can also set camber with a 2 foot L-square flat on the floor touching the tire. ALWAYS set camber first, then toe-in rear(and thrust angle), then toe-in front(wheel centered).
Cheers.
Stan is right about the shop, if they are telling you it cannot be adjusted, then they are not the right shop for the job.
Danny is right about the strings, as long as your set up is correct then you can do it properly.
I may be reading their chart wrong, but it looks like they've set positive camber in the front? If this is the case I would change that as well. You really want a touch of negative camber both front and rear.
Their specifications for front caster are wrong for your suspension, however your results are correct, so even though those numbers are in red, it's where I like to see it.
I assume a positive toe number on their chart indicates toe out. If so, then yes you'll need to move the left rear forward slightly and the right rear backwards slightly. This will also correct your wheel base difference.
This kind of info and direction is like gold!
Carey, you da man! I forgot about measuring wheelbase and comparing side to side. That is a great tip and I've done it. I must be getting old.....
I set my toe in with two flat sticks. Camber with a piece of 2x4 and a level. Danny’s right that it’s fiddly and time-consuming but it works ok.
Bobby D posted: 8/15/2018Oh, just got the car back.
Not very happy. . . the car was popping through the exhaust at Idle and stalled a few times while sitting at a light on my why home. Also, when I give it full throttle it is still sputtering at high RPM.
I am going to do a value adjustment tomorrow and see if that helps.
Hummm, please let us know if adjusting the values helps.
I've a similar sputtering problem going on with my engine; therefore, could it be that one of the carburetors needs to be cleaned?
I'm going to spray some carb cleaner in both carburetors to see if that might help, but suspect I may end up having to pull the jets out to check for dirt.
Getting back to the Hi-Speed problem..... When building my Speedster, I chased a problem defined as " Idles fine, fair mid range, stumbling upper mid range, and almost die after a brief burst at high speed."..... Return to original conditions..... The car mumbled and backfired thru the exhaust until it started to miss at "hi-speed"Then it might burp the carbs.... Chased it for a week.... Checked the pressure regulator gauge, A-OK.....( guage in engine compartment.) New Mopar fuel filter installed during vehicle assembly....
Finally pulled the fuel line at the carbs and connected a hose to a mason jar (don't tell OSHA).... Turned on the switch (new electric pump) for thirty secs. while monitoring the fill..... Problem became immediately obvious...weak fuel flow.....
First things first, I pulled the fuel line from the filter (carb side) and found almost NO gravity flow...... Connected that hose and removed the tank to filter hose...BINGO...Replaced the filter with a NAPA unit......
Hope this helps....
Leon may have it, I had a degrading mechanical fuel pump that gave me only one symptom, starvation at high speed. I do not remember if it sputtered at 4500 but essentially it would kind of go limp or die... moved to a rotary pump and I got way more high end speed and no hesitation all the way to the red line.... so fuel supply was my issue on my 2100cc
"Special Ed" wrote: "I set my toe in with two flat sticks. Camber with a piece of 2x4 and a level."
Oh, yeah? Well I set my carb float levels using a re-purposed L. L. Bean weather stick, and then adjusted my rear ride height using two woodchucks I caught in my Have-A-Heart trap.
One of those woodchucks had a funny smell, tho...... No wonder the other one went nuts.
Always fun at the Granja de Vegetales de Nichols........
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I am going to check the fuel follow in the lines as Leon suggested. I agree with him. The demand for fuel a max throttle may not be being met.
Just complete fuel flow test. 250 ml in 10 seconds. Seems to flow fine. Took driver side carb off and cleaned it. Going to the passenger side next.
When it comes to alignment, check out smart strings webpage, I'll link it below. The "typical set up" images should give you a better picture of what we're talking about. They use fancy brackets and machined aluminum bars to hold everything, but it can be replicated with 4 jack stands and string.
And Im serious when I say you;d be shocked by the amount of race teams that use this at the track. I'm talking high dollar factory race teams running 200+MPH. It works, and it works well, but it is all dependent on your accurate set up and ability to read a tape measure...
Th only other "tip" I can give with respect to the home alignment is DO NOT measure your set up numbers to a hubcap, a dust cap, a spinner, etc... Pull those out of the way and measure to the ends of the axles and the ends of the spindles. True hard points not add on covers that can have a variance...
http://www.smartracingproducts.com/smartstrings.html
As for your carburetors/running issue, these are one of the hardest things to diagnose via e-mail/forum, but these guys will help you walk through as many possibilities as possible. I personally am leaning towards your top end issue being a bad connection in the cap, bad electronic pick up in the dizzy, or something else electrical... but again thats just a guess. For the carburetor end of things, start from the beginning, disconnect the linkage, run the idle stop screws open and make sure the throttle plates are closed, and know your baseline on the air mixtures. I'd say over 1/2 the cars I service after a local shop has played with carburetors wind up having a clogged passage somewhere and the shop by passed that issue by speeding up the idle screws (opening throttle plates more) and then trying to compensate a bit with air mixture adjustments.
Look on Webers website for "lean best idle" instructions or have @DannyP e0-mail you his version.
Carey's set up (at Carlisle):
I have a similar shot (that I can't find) in the TRG Motorsports garage at Daytona when they were re-setting a Porsche GT3 front end after a "track adjustment" when it got hit. As Carey says, very big buck race car groups use these all the time.
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The sputtering turned out to be broken coil wire inside the connector...crimped too tightly and broke the wire.
Paul
Found the above in another thread. See:
ok, carbs are back both cleaned and back on. I set the idle speed screw to 1/2 turn in and began the individual carb adjusting. Most of them seem to like about 2 to 2.5 turns out from seat. The #4 idle mixture screw did not seem to have much affect on that cylinder. May have a bad idle jet. When working on #2 I noticed when I turn the screw in at some point the exhaust would start popping. turn out a little and the popping immediately went away. Strange how only that cylinder acted that way. Balance the right and left side out with the snail meter. All the cylinders are pulling about the same air just under 5 except for #3, it is slightly lower. I can't take the car for test drive as it is raining cats and dogs here today.
I recognize that car in the Smart String photo!!! That's mine back in '07 when Carey diagnosed my alignment issue. Waaaaay before I went the red wheels route.
Thou shalt listen to Stan The Man from Stanistan, and beseech all he says. Whatever beseech means. great pics. All likely shown in a Haynes VW manual, or any of the other bibles about Vee-dubs. I suppose its possible that the spring plates were built in-house or under a palm tree, and they just drilled some holes and called it done. If its a real spring plate, it will have the elongated holes, I'm betting. Folks say the slots can be extended if needed, but do not say how. Grinder? sawzall, rat tail file?
Thou shalt also listen to Danny Pip, as he knows all and well. And i don't use ground hogs, just a tape measure.
Trailing arms are made from some pretty hard steel. If you're in prison, and you've got time, use a file. Otherwise, elongate them with a rotary coarse stone on a grinder.I'd use a big-boy Dremel AKA Roto-Zip.
Thanks El Frazoo
Sputtering issue resolved. Cleaned carbs out on Friday and readjusted settings. I couldn't drive the car due to poor weather. We got back from our weekend up in Michigan and was able to take the car out for a spin. Seems the sputtering is gone. It must of been some dirt in the carbs. Now I just have to resolve the alignment issues.
dirt in the carbs. pretty much always. very hard to prevent, but Mr. Pip put up some good ideas for minimizing. And not all fuel filters are created equal. The better ones will have specs for particle size, and the paper ones will deteriorate after a while. The clear plastic ones you can buy for $1 I'd stay away from. They make SS media ones. More $$ of course.
Bobby D posted:Sputtering issue resolved. Cleaned carbs out on Friday and readjusted settings. I couldn't drive the car due to poor weather. We got back from our weekend up in Michigan and was able to take the car out for a spin. Seems the sputtering is gone. It must of been some dirt in the carbs. Now I just have to resolve the alignment issues.
Glad to know you were able to resolve the problem.
Personally, I've learned a lot following this thread and sincerely appreciate your keeping us informed.
One question: Did you take the carbs completely apart while cleaning them?
I elongated the slots on mine with a rat-tailed file. took a while, but got the job done.
Danny's right - they're some tough steel......
Gordon Nichols posted:I elongated the slots on mine with a rat-tailed file. took a while, but got the job done.
Danny's right - they're some tough steel......
You're a patient man in this power tool day and age!
@Bobby D I hope you demanded some money back from that POS shop!
FYI - I was able to push the driver's side well forward in the spring plate slot. The wheel is definitely toe-in now. I just have to try to dial both tires in the right amount. I think I am done using automotive mechanic shops.
Someone slap me if I'm wrong, but isn't the rear swingaxle suspension supposed to be toe'd out?
Al
I was just testing if I could change the toe position by sliding the wheel within the swing plate slots.
Per Carey at Beck:
Rear: set rear tow to "zero" (straight ahead), or a maximum 1/64"-1/32" tow IN per side, total tow in 1/32"-1/16" max.
set rear camber to approx -0.5 degrees via ride height adjusters
ALB, you are correct t, the old stock VW spec is a slight amount of tow OUT in the rear, but we've always set both our track and street cars to a minimum straight ahead (0 toe) to 1/8" toe IN. I personally prefer the feel and performance at this spec...
Ditto what Carey said. Toe out is for autocross, when you want to flick the car aggressively. Basically, the car always wants to turn, you have to hold it straight.
We don't want that. I use 1/16" rear toe-in and have for 40,000 miles. It's a proven setting. The car feels good and stable there.
I thought the toe-out on the Bug was only with a camber compensator?
Bobby D keep at it, you'll get there. See, we told you that shop was WRONG!