Which carb is supposed to fit my engine

Hey Keith welcome to the Forum! 

Thanks for the welcome. I was sorry to not have made it to the first meet of the month but hopefully next month we can come along and see the faces to the names....

Anyway, the carb fitted is a 31 pict 4 and the engine number stamped is B 5556 AB 492228. I've found a site that lists the codes but I can't seem to make it show as a 1300cc engine! Therefore how do I make sure its the right carb thats fitted...

Good point about the ice even though the car is in a comfy garage. I did notice that during the nice sunny days we have had that there is moisture present on the inlet manifold pipes which does start to clear as more heat is produced. So not ice then? Nice idea about the heater. I'll look into that as I haven't noticed this product on any site as yet therefore no curiosity was made.

A 34 carb is for a 1600. Your 31 pict 4 sounds correct for your engine. (A 34 will not fit your manifold.) I would not worry about condensation on the outside of the manifold and certainly I would not be wasting my cash on a heater (IMDU) Also personally I dislike 009`s especially on stock motors. Yours should have a "205" distributor.

yeah 205 is a vacuum type. as you look into the engine bay on the left of the carb half way up is the port [near mixture screw(s)]. 

Can a mod sort that image link ta.

At long last the tbayed distributor arrived and after buying a nice piece of rubber pipe for the vacuum hose, I'm itching to install to see the miracle difference I'm expecting......

So here we are today and out comes the old 009 distributor. Marked all the parts and lined up the TDC on number 1. Check the book and the rotor arm should be pointing towards me.

So WTF with the new distributor! I try first all to lay both the old and new beside each other and the new rotor arm is 90 degrees out.... So lets go down the route of making the cylinders match up to the new position. Every HT lead needs to be moved anti-clockwise by one to make everything match up.

So start the car and it runs like a dog. Messing about the the timing and and I don't think I can get it to advance enough because the vacuum part is fowling on the heat pipes! This can't be right...

The distributor number is 231 170 034. I google it and it says its suitable. Even JK has a picture shot of the 205 Bosch which starts with the number 231 (just visible).

Have I been duped into buying a vacuum distributor that is 'allegedly' suitable but I should have just bitten the bullet and bought one from a dealer? Doh!

Keith

Thanks Stevemeister.

Some very good articles now bookmarked for future reference. What was the 034 for? Doesn't make sense as various websites are advertising it as being suitable for a type 1 including my 73 model..

Every picture that I see shows the vacuum part of the distributor facing you and mine isn't. I nipped out to the car and the notch to show number 1 is where the rotor points when tdc for number 1, is in the correct place. But the distributor is not correctly positioned.

I need to set the points better as I put down my feeler gauges and was relying on visual and previous owner having them set okay. Once I've done this it will prove that it the wrong distributor.

Its kinda what I was thinking when I didn't see the 205 number.

Cheers, Keith

Hey just looked up a 034. I thing that is a reproduction model of a late dizzy. You should get away with that on your car. If you need some help with setting it up  give me a shout. I will be up north all week but will be back for the weekend

I've taken the dizzy out and there's very little spring between the bottom and the rotor arm. I've also checked where the oil is supposed to enter the dizzy and it doesn't line up with the hole in the casting's hole if you know what I mean. This doesn't look good and it might be best to bite the bullet and look for a spare 'cash to spend' on a credit card to get this resolved.......

PM sent

I thought I'd better update this thread seeing as how I've got to the end and a good ending it is!

After chatting with Stevemeister who's been a great help, I stuck with the 034 vacuum distributor. I went back to basics and set everything up including the carb and the beetle is very very nearly the way I want it.

The only issue with the 034 was with the oil hole being offset. So after being happy with the distributor, I drilled a hole where it should be and even managed the groove as well.

I'm still tweaking the carb though as I don't feel it's giving the right mix when you put the car under load. Any suggestions always welcome.........

Cheers

Keith