European Small Block Distributor

[Dr.Frag]

So I recently picked up a 77' 4 door Euro Golf, and it's got a European small block in it. Either 1.1 or a 1.3, I've yet to figure it out. Anyways It needs a new distributor, completely different from the distributor used in the big block used in the N/A market. Anyone know where I can source one?

[superslowGTI86]

now dont quote me.... but that looks an awful lot like a 16v dist.... if you have one of those handy or know someone who might, id try that out. good luck though

[VWinston]

There is plenty of those dizzys in the uk. Whats wrong with your dizzy? you can buy most the service items for them on ebay.co,uk or ebay.de

Ive got a spare but it needs servicing. points, condenser, cap and arm etc

[Dr.Frag]

The shaft has a lot of play on it, I'm guessing it's throwing off the timing. Also on of the points is pretty much worn through.

[antichristonwheels]

I have a brand new one. REALLY Are you in USA?

[Iroczgirl]

Off topic but I'd love to see more pictures of the car.

I notice the manual brakes...

[rabbitnothopper]

only 77 and 78 were panama braun


sorry cant help with your distributor, you might need to contact the euro vendors & forums
maybe canada got some 1.1, 1.3 engines

USA only got 1.5 and up

points are not at all hard to install
just make sure you "adjust" them correctly according to the manual

you turn the crank/cam/distributor to the set point, insert a feeler gauge to set the gap, hold its position and lock it down
then rotate a few times and measure the gap...and its set

[Shawn B]

maybe canada got some 1.1, 1.3 engines

Nope

PM a guy here in Canada, he's located up near Ottawa, pretty sure he was playing around with a few of these motors a while back - maybe he'll have a spare distributor. His username is B4S

[Dr.Frag]

The car is a "76", so at first I thought it was a faded down Chrome Yellow. I ran the vin on www.mk1vw.info and not much information came out other than the car was a 77, european golf, so I wouldn't doubt it got titled as a 76 when they originally imported it. The previous owner of the car was an older gentleman in Alabama who ran a dealer, he din't know much about the car so the previous history is unknown to me, trying to piece together as much as I can.

I can tell you this much though, the car is as base as they come. No cigarette lighter, single cluster, no dimmer switch, rubber carpet, no knee bar, and a cubby rather than a glovebox. The interior is a mint as they come with the exception of the drivers door card. Trying to find one at the moment. Headliner is great just needs some cleaning, both front seats need to be redone. As far as paint goes, front fenders are held on with bondo, so is the front apron, there is patina everywhere and the only "rust" I can find so far is under the gas pedal, a hole about the size of a quarter. So everything is pretty much straight and true. Trying to get it running before I start tackling paint, interior, and trim. Also need to find out which motor it really is, as I can't find any markings other than part numbers, and they don't seem to reveal much.

Here's some pics of the car.

[01]

Wow nice score.

I would love to get my hands and an early true euro car.

[s-rocc]

nice find!

[Iroczgirl]

Great car. I love the absolute basic ones.

[Vr6DubNY]

I find the back stories interesting...i get that there isn't much info on how it got here...but where and how did you find it?

[Dr.Frag]

Guy ran a small time dealer in his front yard on the boonies of northern Alabama, posted the car on craigslist, and some one found it and put it on the classifieds. I called within a couple of minutes of the post and set everything for the day after. He knew absolutely nothing about the car other than it was VW and it was German and what some one had told him could have been directly imported from Europe. Seeing the ad, the euro bumpers and third party fender markers gave it away, he confirmed the gauges were in kph. He claimed the car had some carb issues and needed some body work. What he didn't mention was the excessive bondo/filler used on the front end. When I got there he was set on the price we had agreed on over the phone as apparently someone had already offered him his original asking price. When I got there he started the car, he drove it out into the road, down the hill 300 feet and it died. I've yet to drive it.

I rented a trailer and drove up 14 hours and 14 hours back in one shot with my old man. We kept switching and slept maybe 3 hours or so on a rest stop on the way back. About 200 miles from home (Miami), the idler on the tensioner of the truck went out. We made a makeshift rope belt and drove 4 miles to a rest stop where we waited for my uncle to bring us a new tensioner. When he got there we swapped the idler in maybe 5 minutes, tops. All in all, we left Friday night at about 11:30 and got back Sunday around 4pm. A total just shy of 1600 miles.

Looking back now, I should have just gotten her shipped. The drive was a great experience, but it took a toll on us, the truck, and our weekend. Not to mention 11mpg didn't help much. Great bonding experience though.

[Vr6DubNY]

Nice, glad it all worked out...sometimes shipping seems like the best idea after the fact, but the stories of going to find vw's are some of the best...never seems to go exactly as planned

[Minty_Fresh]

that is so sick. i want a small block so bad.

[Dr.Frag]

I've made some progress on the car. Fitted a new Brosol H30/31 Pict, to replace the old Solex, tossed in a new ignition coil, and changed the points on the original distributor, ended up not having to change it. Still waiting on some parts from across the pond, gaskets, filters, belts and the like. Currently awaiting to buy a new fuel tank as the old tank and sender are very crusty. I have sourced more than enough tanks, but I've run into some problems getting a new fuel sender, all of the ones I find online show no fuel lines going in.

Like this:

As opposed to this:


The last one is from an ad on the samba, which I just contacted, let's hope I can get ahold of it. It just intrigues me how the other sender might work.

[rabbitnothopper]

carb'd engines have a mechanical fuel pump

so...although i dont know for sure

it looks like your second picture has sending line and return line on it
with a sealed tank

look at your fuel tank
if you dont have hose fittings from the rear passenger wheel then it is definately different

[NedRager]

Why is the fuel pump not connected? Mine:

[fmartin_gila]

If you haven't got the loose shaft in the Dist fixed yet, most machine shops can fit new bronze bushings to make things right again. My son owned a 76 rabbit in 1980 and I had a machine shop in Phoenix install a upper and lower bushing in the dist for it.

Fred

[gtiboy66]

very cool car.

Hows the rubber matt flooring?

I have one of those but never seen another.

Frank

[Dr.Frag]

carb'd engines have a mechanical fuel pump

so...although i dont know for sure

it looks like your second picture has sending line and return line on it
with a sealed tank

look at your fuel tank
if you dont have hose fittings from the rear passenger wheel then it is definately different

I actually sourced the sender with both lines on the top. The other senders had no lines going in. I got lucky this time, because someone on the Samba was selling the same sender I already had on the car.

Why is the fuel pump not connected?

The car is currently running an electric fuel pump under the car, in front of the tank. Waiting to swap out to a mechanical pump sometime soon.

If you haven't got the loose shaft in the Dist fixed yet, most machine shops can fit new bronze bushings to make things right again. My son owned a 76 rabbit in 1980 and I had a machine shop in Phoenix install a upper and lower bushing in the dist for it.

Fred

That was the plan, but it turned out the bolt on the distributor was loose. Easy fix. No play yet, but if it ever comes to it, getting a bushing made is usually the easiest option. Some research actually led me to the answer I was originally looking for, the distributor in european small blocks can be swapped with a distributor off an early 80's saab 900.

very cool car.

Hows the rubber matt flooring?

I have one of those but never seen another.

Frank

It's got some small tears along the seat rails and one under the gas pedal, but nothing crazy. It's probably a 9/10 for it's age.

I've made some progress on the car, should be posting up soon. Been keeping busy.

[akabigmike2]

There's a full 1.3 swap w 4speed sitting in a derby at my local yard in Virginia lol any parts off it ya need?

[Dr.Frag]

This is how the car currently sits,



Sorry for the cell phone picture. I haven't had time to get proper pictures. I'm rocking US bumpers for the mean time until I either refinish the OG Euro bumpers or find a nice set.

There's a full 1.3 swap w 4speed sitting in a derby at my local yard in Virginia lol any parts off it ya need?

I might take you up on the offer. My ignition coil harness went up in smoke yesterday, and I'm still trying to figure out what to do. Thanks again.

[Iroczgirl]

Great wheel choice.

[synthetik77]

A mi la Pinga! Que cojones acere? eso es un VW fula ...Jk my brother when you coming back out again?

[Dr.Frag]

Considering the slight setback yesterday, not until I get a new harness done. I'm going to try and get my hands on some color coded wire tomorrow, and get to work in the afternoon.