I have the timing set I think.  motor starts and runs.  idles crappy,  engine just kind of slows down a little bit each second untill it croaks

I went around the block 2 times and out to a secondary road today.  I have no power in 3rd and 4th gear,  all I get is lug lugs like when you go 5 mph in 4th gear in a parking lot.

I sprayed the manifolds and carbs stuff real good with carb cleaner to see if I had a Vacuum leak and I found none.

Should the motor run with the little  mixture /volume screw all the way to the stop?   My motor just runs fine like it did not matter were the screw is set.   Whats up with that?   S/C

Bugtech, calling what I have engineered a "fuel system" implies that the fuel is conveyed dependably and safely from a frontal located fixed storage unit to a fuel/air mixture device above the engine. That is not exactly what i have.  The Smelly Cat Fuel system  begins with a  Red 5 gallon plastic gas container with a clear piece of fish tank tubing slid in the small hole opposite of the spout.   What a minute!...  Hold the phone...lets put this to music...

(This can be sung to the song the  "Foot bone connected to ankle bone".

The red plastic gas can connects to the clear fish tank hose
Fish tank hose connects to 1/4 inch rubber hose
1/4  hose  connects the  metal line that runs long passenger side of car
Metal line connects to 1/4 inch rubber hose that swags under tranny
1/4 rubber line connects  to the fuel filter
The fuel filter connects to the Standard VW clothed rubber fuel line
Standard VW fuel line connects to metal pipe through fan shroud
Metal pipe connects to Standard VW fuel line
Standard VW fuel line connects to 1/4 rubber line
1/4 rubber line  connects  electric fuel pump (bolted to the backfire thingy)
Electric fuel pump connects  to 1/4 rubber line ( and the coil for 12 volts)
1/4 fuel line to standard VW fuel line
The standard VW fuel line   to carb.
These are the ways of the Smelly Cat

Bugtech,  thats the fuel system. Impressed?   I was going put the metal tank back in but this is working out so well i figured,  why bother?

Did you know that the input and output ends of 99 cent fuel filters can be sawed off so you can connect different size fuel hoses together?  
Should I put that in Tech Tips?

Maybe I should  clean the Carb again or buy a fire extinquisher .  
So.. back to my question..  Should the engine run with the the mixture screw turned all the way in?  Whats up with that?
Decisions.. Decisions.   S/C

BugTech

The backfire thingy is the tech term for the golf ball size vacumm thing on the left side of the engine compartment,  one hose goes to the carb the other to the intake manifold.   I ran the bolt that holds it to the car thru my fuel pump bracket to hold it from vibrating around when it pumps petro.

by the way,  does the backfire thingy do any good of should i remove it to save weight and  throw it into my neighbors swimming pool?  SC

Thanks Bugtech, I'll disconnect the thottle backfire thing.  Maybe its messing up my carb balance?  Last night got my wheel barrow ( Its very hard to loose a part in a wheel barrow) , lined it with newspaper,  and disasembled my new second hand carburator.  Using the handy little red straw, carb cleaner was blasted though all the orfices and channels and jet things.  This carb was not dirty at all and had no gum varnish etc to worry about, unlike my original carb which had a miniture  "La Brea Tar Pit in side it.   The engine restarted fine,  idle still did not work any better.   I'll take a Sunday drive today an see if it helped unleash the monsterous power locked within this engine.    SC

Cables are among the cheapest parts there are. Haven't bought one lately but the last one I got at Advance Auto was about $4. There are several different cables . . . two or three different shaped hooks on the pedal end and at least two or three different lengths. When you factor in the quality control issues in China and Brazil, there is no telling what length cable you'll get even if you get the "right" cable.

On the not idling thing . . . do you have power to the idle cut off solenoid on the lower left side of the carb? If it's working correctly, it will cut off the idle circuit when you turn off the switch (helps prevent dieseling). If the plunger on the end of it is stuck in the off position, or if you don't have power going to it when you turn on the switch, it won't idle. It gets it power off the + side of the coil . . . that way it works with the ignition switch.

Thanks Zen,  I'll check that idle cutoff.  

I had an idea about the long throttle cable.  I'm going to tie a knot in it so that it  is shorter.

This may have some bearing on the idle.  when the choke is fully warmed up, the butterfly does not press hard against the stop.  If I use a finger and hold the choke full open against the stop it seems to idle better but when i let it got ..it sputters and goes to sleep.  S/C

Try putting two gaskets under it. Your intake may be warped.

IF the intake or bottom of the carb is warped, the best thing to do is level it up.  Here's a trick I learned from a Swiss engineer when I was working on Swiss made Sulzer Weaving Machines to level up metal flanges:

Get a new sharpening stone . . . Unclaimed Baggage on North Main St. just passed Joe's recycling usually has 'em for two or three bucks (For those of you outside of the "triangle," that's in LaFayette.  They are about an inch thick by 2 or 3 inches wide and about 8 inches long.

Remove the carb and stuff an oily rag in the intake to keep metal dust out of it . . . you may want to get creative with magnets, or just not worry about it at all.  It probably won't be enough to hurt anything, but I try not to let anything but clean air and fuel get down the manifold.  That seems to help the engine last longer for some reason.  :wink:

Start with the course side of the rock.  With a little pressure, rub it on the intake manifold flange.  Use sort of an oval pattern trying to keep the whole flange covered.  After a few seconds look at it . . . is the entire surface shiny now?  If so, it's pretty flat.  Polish it up a little with fine side of the rock.  If it's just shiny on the edges near the bolt holes, it's warped.  Keep rubbing with the course side until the whole flange is shiny and then polish it up with the fine side.  If you do this right, you'll end up with a surface that is 100% flat.

Pull the studs out of the carb.  Put the stone on a workbench with the course side up and hold it in place.  Rub the carb around on the course side of the rock.  The carb is much softer than the intake, so be careful.  When you have the surface flat, flip the rock over and polish it a little with the course side.  Put the correct gasket with no sealer of any kind.  If you have two perfectly flat surfaces, it doesn't take much to seal them up.