It Runs!

With the engine back on the chassis, it was time to see if it would run.  But first, there were some connections to be dealt with.

Fuel filter behind the engine.

Fuel line through the tin.

First I worked on the fuel system, attaching the hoses with clamps and routing the steel elbow line through the back tin.  I fixed the fuel filter in the line behind the engine tin, which is recommended but not what you see when you open up most VW engine compartments, because most folks are not concerned about the fire risk.

Fuel lines to the pump.

Fuel line at the front.

Thinking about how this car was essentially grounded because of an engine fire, I decided that this was an opportunity to make the change.  With the hoses hooked up to the fuel pump and carburetor on the engine side and the fuel line to the front of the car on the other side, that part was ready to go.

Wires ready to be hooked up.

A new battery.

Finally, in order to test the engine, I had to hook up the electrics.  Not all the wiring was needed, of course, but just enough to complete the circuit and get the engine to run.  This was one of the hardest tasks of all, mostly because I have trouble understanding the electrical diagrams, and partly because I don't have any wires to work with because they were all burned up.  So, I consulted The Samba and eventually figured out how to wire it up.

Starter is wired up.

Ready to start.

Weeks ago, I had already cleaned, painted and re-installed the starter, so now it was just a matter of hooking up wires between the starter, alternator, coil, distributor and battery.  I studied the diagrams, collected the wires and hooked them all up.  I bought a small gas can, put $1.00 worth of fuel in it and inserted a hose from the front end of the fuel line into the 'tank'.

Then I attempted to start the car.

Sputter and stop.

Wires are working.

First, some Good News.  What it did not do:  It did not scream, or grind, or howl or make any sort of mechanical noise that would make me think it was assembled incorrectly, or that some part was somehow loose inside the engine.  What it didn't do is as or even more important than what it did.

Oil is in the engine.

Now, I knew some of this already.  For example, I already knew that the engine would 'turn over'--that is, that it would go through the cycles without binding or crunching--because when I filled it with oil and turned it over by hand (with a big socket and breaker bar) to set the timing, nothing noticeable had happened.  I rightly took this to be a good sign at the time.  However, whether or not the engine would actually function without screaming or crunching under pressure was another matter.  This I could only determine once I was able to get it running on it's own.

But it sure didn't run.

More Good News.  What it did:  It 'fired', which means that I could see that the spark system was working.  I knew this because once I hit the starter 'switch' (actually me just touching the starter wire to the terminal) the engine would cough and sputter like it 'wanted' to run but somehow it just couldn't get going.

Now the Bad News.  This sputtering, it turns out, was only because I put a small amount of fuel into the carburetor to 'prime' it.  When I looked at the clear fuel filter between the tank and the pump, I could see that no fuel was passing through it.  This meant that the fuel pump wasn't working properly.

Or, I had hooked it up wrong.

Both readers know that the more likely scenario is that I have attempted to assemble it in the 'Phillip Way' and that something has been installed backwards, upside down or otherwise reversed from how it ought to be.  Indeed, this was the case.  I had installed the fuel lines in and out of the pump backwards, so of course no fuel was being pumped to the carburetor.

A quick switch of the lines proved this to true, and in a moment, I had fuel all the way up into the carburetor. By this time I had moved the 'tank' up to just behind the engine so I didn't have extra fuel sitting in the main line for months after I conduct this test and the engine is waiting for me to finish the body work.

Now the fuel lines are fixed.

With fuel now getting to the carburetor and a spark getting to the cylinders, it seemed more and more likely that I could get it running.  The biggest question that remained after 'solving' the fuel mystery was whether or not the carburetor was assembled properly.  I haven't yet described the process, but a few months ago I completely rebuilt the carburetor with a kit that I bought from JBugs.  The carburetor is one very complicated device, and even though I took it apart and re-assembled it, I have only the rudest notion of how the damn thing actually works.  Consequently I had little faith in my ability to get it all back together correctly and this in turn made it the weakest link in the attempt to get the engine running.

The only way to really test whether or not I had got the carb rebuild right was to try and start up the engine again.

So, I hooked up all the wires, double-checked the fuel lines, manually closed the choke on the carburetor (I have not hooked up the electric choke) and touched the starter wire to the battery.

Ready for a second test.

Once again, it coughed and sputtered and died.  But now I could see that it really ought to be working.  I could see all three elements of the internal combustion equation: spark, fuel and air, and I could see that it was really 'trying' to run.  The interesting thing about this engine is how forgiving it will be in getting started.  Now, it might not run right, and it might fail sooner than expected, but if you can just get close enough, the VW engine will run.  Anyone who's seen the clip from Woody Allen's Sleeper (or, amazingly, the whole movie) will know how universal this understanding is, and unlike so many urban legends today, it is actually true.

For proof of this assertion, I offer the following video: