carb distributor question

[badufay]

Just want to double check...
The motor is a 1600 Dual port with a PICT 30-1 carb jetted with a 130main/ 55 idle. I am wondering if this distributor will work well with that combo?

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/ ... 98%2C17451

I already have a pertronix and bosch cap and rotor for this style, thats why Im looking at this one instead of the 67 style.

Thanks,

Ben

[Stray Catalyst]

That's a link to all of Autozone - it's not specific to any particular part. For a fairly stock application (which it sounds like yours is) you're best off with the SVDA distributor that was stock for your year. Avoid anything to do with the 009, it performs poorly with stock carburetors.

Stray

[Marc]

The "SVDA" was the stock distributor on only 1974 49-state 4-speed Type Is, and is designed to work with the vacuum signal that's provided by a 34PICT-3 carburetor. If you have a 30PICT-1 (intended for a `66/`67 singleport engine) grafted onto your dualport there's no guarantee that an SVDA will work any better for you than the "009".
Let's take a moment to emphasize that you cannot accurately describe a distributor model by just the last three digits of the Bosch number. The much-maligned centrifugal-advance-only distributor that is often fitted as a replacement is a 0 231 178 009.
The STOCK distributor that is factory-matched to the 30PICT-1 carburetor is a vacuum-advance-only unit, 0 231 137 009. The two have almost nothing in common besides the last three digits of their model number.

If you must run the 30PICT-1 distributor, be aware that you're giving up around three horsepower from ~3000RPM up compared to a proper dualport carb. It'll work just fine with a 0 231 178 009 distributor (and the jetting you have should be very close) provided the distributor isn't a P.O.S. ...unfortunately, the last good (German-built) ones date from ~25 years back, the Brazilian-built and the Chinese clones have huge quality-control issues. The stock 0 231 137 009 was OK in its day, but unfortunately as these age they tend to develop excessive advance at idle which raises hell with your pistons & rings...odds of you finding a good one of those are slim to none also.

Your best choice (with a single carb) is to use the 34PICT-3 that belongs on a dualport, with either an SVDA or DVDA (stock from `71-`73) distributor intended to coexist with it. `75-`79 SVDAs from L-Jetronic Beetles are very similar and will also work well enough.

The expedient/pragmatic choice with the 30PICT-1 on a dualport is a good 0 231 178 009. Hard part's finding one.

[badufay]

Thanks for the info marc...stray here is the full link: http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/ ... 98%2C17451

Ben

[Marc]

That looks like a `69/`70 distributor (0 231 137 035). Like the `66/`67, it's vacuum-only but it has an advance curve about 7° wider - the initial timing spec is 0° rather than 7.5°BTDC. It would actually stand a good chance of working acceptably with the 30PICT-1, just be sure to check that there's no significant advance at ~875 RPM idle and that the total timing doesn't exceed around 35°.
Personally I'd rather run the centrifugal-advance type, but I have a drawer full of them to choose from...since there's almost no such thing as a good new one you'd probably be better off with the Cardone rebuilt. But if you ever do get a proper carburetor on there, the vacuum signal will be wrong for that distributor and you'll be in the market for an SVDA or DVDA.

[badufay]

Marc, appreciate all the insight... Thanks for taking the time to explain all this stuff to me. Im somewhat new to aircooled, spent the last 16 years of my life working on H2O VW's.....not sure why I ventured down the aircooled path

Ben