Kilroy is finally back on the road. After a full year of resting despondently under the carport, he's zooming around town, chirping away like a good beetle, and spreading joy wherever he goes.
Born in 1962 and with heavens knows how many miles on his odometer, he's no doubt seen and been through a lot. At least two previous owners have tinkered away under his decklid, in his interior, with his wiring harness, and with his paint (he was originally brick red, not daffodil yellow). I'm sure they had the best of intentions and did the best job they knew how to do with the tools they had at the time, but they screwed up a few things.
Removing the plunger on the bypass cutoff valve (for whatever reason) was not good for Kilroy. Poor little guy had no way of blocking the fuel flow, not even for a moment. No wonder he was hard to start when parked on an uphill slope. And no wonder he got crappy gas mileage (for a beetle, anyway).
Messing up the firing order was not good either. One might think that incorrect firing order would prohibit an engine from running, but despite the fact that the number 1 plug wire was actually connected to the number 3 plug, and vice versa, Kilroy did a damn good job of firing up and running. And he did so for at least 5 months after I bought him. What a trooper.
Now that Kilroy has a shiny new carburetor, his engine is wired correctly, and he's had a nice long rest, he's running like a champ and is much peppier than before. We're having a ball driving to and from work, around town, and down the freeway where we can keep up with traffic now.
The next big job will be replacing his wiring harness. I wonder what issues that process will raise.
