1. Me, but I'm not in Brisbane until about May. Most people don't like kadrons and won't attempt tuning them. Some people are weird.
2. I would and always have run premium unleaded.
3. 1.75" is probably a bit small perhaps. If it is a popular headers you could buy a better muffler section for it. Or get an exhaust shop to put something on, and use mandrel bends.
A 1916 with relatively standard heads will die off in power quickly up high. You may remember the 1915 in my baja had 044 heads and 44IDF's and it still died off not much above 5,000rpm.
Power = thirsty, no way to avoid it.
Kadrons run on because there is no idle shut off solenoid like the stock carb. Try a colder grade spark plug, it should help. If you find the plugs start fouling you have gone too cold. Otherwise get used to stoping it in gear.
Are you sure it is a pobjoy? Stan uses the same cam for his base motor as he does for the steriods 1916 a 37/68 cam. This cam will happily rev to 6000 in the base (Kadrons) and 7000 in the steriods. I've owned several pobjoy powered vw and have had good fuel economy ( 30-35MPG)
May have the other cam that stan uses 22/62 which revs to 5500, do you have any receipts etc?
As for the timing ,7 1/2 Deg BTDC on Cyl No1 (static), take off the Dizzy cap so you can see the points, then rotate the motor clockwise untill you see and hear the spark between the points. You need this to happen right when the mark on the pully is level with the split between the case halves.
As for Kadrons, once you set them right you never need return !! Good reliable carbs. The mistake everybody makes is to set the cross linkage bar when the motor is cold ! As a VW motor grows when at operating temp the linkages then are too short slightly opening 1 carb and thus throwing the balance out. If you set when cold and recheck when hot you will see what I mean, prob 3 mm out !!
All the best:thumb
I have one of Stan's "base 1916" engines and used to drive it to work and back each day (over 200km round trip). I used to keep a track of how much fuel I used and milage, and 29 - 31 mpg was the norm. That was running at about 105km/h most of the way and with the old gearbox I had it was doing about 3400 - 3600 rpm (read screaming, IMHO).
I'd say get it tuned to Stan's specs (I think Craig has given them to you above) including tappets etc and you won't have a problem.
VW car, VW engine ...... keepin it "real"
35MPG on 101.3kPa
I very much doubt a 1915 with kadrons and standard heads would make power to 6000rpm no matter what cam you use. It may rev out to 6,000rpm, but it won't keep making good power until then.
My 1916 had a decent size cam, and sure I could rev it out to 7500 if I wanted to try to blow the fan, but there wasn't much point going much above 5000.
you could try smaller main jets. Kadrons use the same main jets as stock carbs, so they are easy to find. I would think 130's would be a good ballpark figure. pull them out and see what size they are, just remember that it is possible they have been drilled.
Me and many other people don't believe in static timing for a number of very good reasons. I would set the timing to a max advance of no more than 32 degrees. Static timing will only tell you the timing at 0rpm. You don't drive very far at 0rpm. max advance timing is where your engine will be most of the time, and therefore it is what matters. You can't guarantee what range of advance is in a 30+ yr old VW distributor without checking the max advance.
You say it is smooth off idle, but does it back fire, pop, fart or cackle(?) ?
I know Wes said "Kadrons run on because there is no idle shut off solenoid like the stock carb" but i would have to differ. IDF's dont have em and they/mine dont run on.
In the begining my Progressive did until i sat down and gave it a bloody good tune. What idle are you running at?
I agree it shouldnt be thirsty. 8.5km/L in the city minimum and up to 12km/L on a run is what i get (1776 and IDF's}
Anywhy keep us informed of yer progress!
But neither does a Weber - so i still dont understand why a Kad would do it.
Does it have a different bowl set up that is prone to leak more into the manifold or something?
Baja Wes, I was disappointed to hear your motor with 044 and webers did not have much power over 5000. Unfortunately when you have your timing set at max 32deg advance it won't. It doesn't matter what engine setup you have , it will die off dramatically after 5000 .
All Stan pobjoy 1916's are fitted (when Built) with a 009 dizzy which has 22 deg advance built in (no need to worry about 32 year old dizzie, who would use one on a performance motor ?). When set at static 7 1/2Deg BTDC this will give you 29 1/2 deg max, exactly where you want it.
Both methods work to set the timing but when you don't have a timing light and 29 1/2 Deg marked on the pulley the best way would be static. Also you need to set the timing when the engine is cold .If you set it at 7 1/2 when it is hot it will actually be at about 10 when cold.(Try the exercise you will see I,m right)
As for jets, if the motor has not been "played" with by anyone , the jets should be 140's, nothing smaller
Bananaman all the other specs for tuning your motor will be on your receipt. Tappets etc
I tried running mine between 28-30 deg advance with little effect. I usually ran it at 28 deg to keep it happy offroading.
It felt like peak HP was 5000, kept revving to 6 but wasn't making anymore HP. A power pulley made a big difference and moved peak HP to a bit over 5500.
It had 044's, but not ported. I think 044's are so good until they're ported a little.
I've done it hot and cold and haven't seen any difference, but my engine never got very hot being in a baja. And never got very cold being in QLD.
I have bought 2 009's over the years, and both had 24deg advance. As they wear this gets bigger though.
I have seen Hot VW's tests on 1915's with stock 044's and they too made peak HP around 5000rpm. The cooling fan is the big killer because of the cubic relationship between fan rpm and fan power.
does anyone know the duration and lift on stans 37/68 cam?
i run kadrons on my 1916 and will pull all the way to 6500rpm using a berg 310 cam ( 304degree duration and 380" lift )
