engine and drivetrain new guy with '73 tii

[73tiijeff]

I have just purchased a tii in fair/poor condition - been sitting twenty years. The body is fairly straight and has no apparent rust, interior is trashed, rusty trunk lid and hood, clean wheelwells, rockers, and doors. Original color of "golf" with poor respray etc... The engine is complete and intact - fuel injection system etc. I assume it all requires a complete rebuild. I owned a '68 1600 over twenty years ago and have always missed it! I am not familiar with the mechanical aspects of these cars, and will have many questions! My first question is: The shifter moves up and down several inches when attempting to shift - this isn't right I assume. What could be the cause of this bouncy shifter? Broken gearbox and engine mounts? Another question that I am sure will be rather touchy - Is it possible to fit a carb intake manifold to the injected head? I will keep the kugelfischer system for a future rebuild and refit. I appreciate any help with these questions! Best regards, Jeff

[ray_]

Hi Jeff, and welcome!

Read everything here: http://tiiregister.com/

Your shifter issue is most probably loose bolts from the shifter bracket to the um... back of the gearbox I think. Get under there and you will see what I mean.

Cheers,

Ray

[aa/fd]

Yes a carb and manifold can be used but the Tii fuel pump at the tank puts out just short of 30 psi so a change is needed there to, different pump or regulator bypass up front.

Known Tii system re-builder Wes Ingram is close in Arlington www.wesingram.com and may be able to get your Kfish up to speed easier than converting

[jgerock]

Welcome aboard Jeff -

Glad you are working on your golf tii. What is your VIN number? Care to share any pictures of it? I'd recommend keeping the fuel injection system. The price to sort out the components will only go up.

It really makes a difference at higher speeds.

[73tiijeff]

Thanks for the tips guys! I will look into the pump rebuild with the noted Arlington rebuilder.

The VIN is 2763064 - December '72 production?

The car is currently sitting on four flat tires, and looks sad and neglected. I will post pictures once I give the poor thing a wash and get some roller tires under it. I just bought it on 2/28, so very little progress!

If anyone has an intake and carb for reasonable, let me know - budget repairs for now...

Best Regards and thanks for the input!

Jeff

[Adamha]

Do you know if the Kfish is bad? Does the motor turn over by hand? You might want to try and see if you can get it running before deciding on a course of action and spending money. There are lot's of threads on getting a motor that has sat running for evaluation of repairs.

[jgerry2002]

I'd bet you could get the injection going without a ton of work. Being all mechanical unless the fuel system turned to sludge, it'll probably go with a bit of troubleshooting..... read up on the injection system at the tiiregistry before you tack on a carb.

[jerry]

.

The VIN is 2763064 - December '72 production?

The car is currently sitting on four flat tires, and looks sad and neglected. I

Jeff

hey, i've got VIN 2763062 - built 11/15/72

our cars rolled on the assembly line together.

mine's a malaga, currently non-op, purchased a couple years ago after PO crashed it. needs a new nose, but the engine was a fresh rebuild at the time.

i recall that VIN 2763059 sold on ebay about 3 years ago from Minnesota and was shipped to LA.

VIN 2763062 currently resides in the bay area.

welcome aboard.

[Delia]

Do you know if the Kfish is bad? Does the motor turn over by hand? You might want to try and see if you can get it running before deciding on a course of action and spending money. There are lot's of threads on getting a motor that has sat running for evaluation of repairs.

Adamha is giving good advice.

If the car was "parked" a number of years ago, there could be a myriad of reasons/causes. After bleeding the brakes and flushing/filling the radiator, changing the oil and filter, new battery, plugs, points, new plug wires condenser etc. -- Rather than assume the k-fish pump is the source of the problem, drain the fuel, clean out the tank, backflush the fuel line, replace the fuel filter, then crank it to see if it is getting fuel. Check the fuel pump (under the right rear wheel) and see if it's getting power. If it's got power and still no fuel, you may have a bad fuel pump. Replace with an early five series electric pump (LaJolla Independent has them) and then give it a try.

You may find these steps a far more practical alternative than pulling off all the FI equipment. Far too often these bits get removed, things get lost and they never seem to get put back together again.

D

[BarryA]

My first question is: The shifter moves up and down several inches when attempting to shift - this isn't right I assume. What could be the cause of this bouncy shifter?

Three likely culprits, two common (a & , one less likely ©:

a) the shift platform attaches to the back of the trans with a pair of "metalastic" mounts - a large allen cap screw goes through the mount horizontally and into the trans, and a smaller bolt goes through the mount vertically to attach the shift platform. The rubber vibration isolater bushings in the mounts rot from exposure to oil, and the horizontal allen bolts sometimes work loose - replacing the mounts with new ones (which by default means tightening all the hardware) will usually get rid of a lot of the movement (this is a dirty, nasty job due to all the oily, greasy, dirty grunge that usually collects on the trans, but not terribly difficult once you get the area cleaned up)

the shift platform's third mounting point is a diagonal brace, which also has a rubber bushing in one end, which also commonly rots out from exposure to oil - the diagonal brace can be unbolted and the rubber replaced with nylon/delrin bushings made from spacers available at a good hardware store.

c) there's a swivel joint on the end of the shift rod that exits the rear of the trans that wears and gets sloppy with higher milage, and sometimes the linkage rod between the swivel joint and shift lever will get loose in its bushings - not usually enough to cause serious looseness, but worth checking.

BTW- Good idea to replace the driveshaft flex joint while you're doing whatever repairs are needed to the shifter - if the car's been laid up that long, the old one's probably either dried out and cracked or rotted into a gooey mess by oil exposure, and you DON'T want to drive the car until it's been replaced!

Another question that I am sure will be rather touchy - Is it possible to fit a carb intake manifold to the injected head?

If you can locate a stock 2 bbl intake manifold from a later '02, it should be a direct bolt-on to the head, and will accept a commonly available Weber 32/36 carb - with a bit of luck you should be able to find both used for under $150. As posted elsewhere, you'll need to run a different fuel pump, but if you just want to get the car up and running and the K-fish is non-functional, this isn't a bad way to go, at least temporarily.

[Anschauer]

See you need a new nose - fyg I will have a 99% rust-free nose coming off the '72, it will be in primer - email me at nychart (at) hotmail dot com if you're interested.

[73tiijeff]

Once again thanks for all of the valuable input. I will proceed with attempting to resurrect the current system. I will also look for the threads on getting an old engine/fuel system cleaned out and tuned - stand by for progress! The weather here is finally getting nice for car projects. I hope to have the car washed and looking a little better by the end of the coming weekend.

Best Regards,

Jeff

[thehackmechanic]

Jeff, I'd add my voice to those recommending that you give the FI a try before ripping it off. I recently had a '72tii that had sat for quite a while. Initially it ran like shit and I thought that the kfish pump might need serious attention, but what it seemed to need more than anything else was just to be run.

The cause of the shifter being loose up and down can probably be determined by jacking up the car and looking at it. It could be loose bolts on the back of the trani cover as one poster said, or it could be that the angle bracket that supports the back of the shift platform is loose. If it's the later, nothing could be more trivial.