Merry Christmas everyone....
Seeking some advice:
1.IDLE SPEED Just recently the idle speed on my 71 type 3 has been creeping up . I screwed back the fast idle but to no avail. Prior to this the car would have a faster idle on start up , but after a minute or so just a quick tap on the accelerator pedal would drop it down to around the 6-700 mark.
Car still cruises fine,but at the lights all the boy racers think I'm after a drag as she is idling well over 1000.
I have no experience with carbies, so in simple terms what do I need to do to pull down the idle speed?

2. IGNITION TIMING I have used a strobe light before but with the type 3 I am not so sure - my research is to use the first mark on the left. Are there any tricks to using a strobe to time the car?

3. DISTRIBUTOR Also what type of distributor does the car have - I see frequent comments on here about 009s and other variations -just curious.

Thanks in advanvce for any advice thrown this way.

Could be the dizzy vac plate sticking or something sticking on the carbs. So maybe start with checking the dizzy over and servicing it.

As for the strobe light there's a basic one and an adjustable one. Unless yours cost a whole bunch of money then it's probably a basic one which means the timing of the light coincides with the correct pulley timing mark lining up with the mark on the crankcase. So you need to find the correct timing mark on the pulley and twist the dizzy to align the crankcase and pulley marks. Oh and block off the vac tub to the carb or you'll time the engine wrongly.

Thanks for the replies.
I found this link in Samba regarding the timing - I can identify the appropriate timing mark and vacuum on/off by my engine number. it states I should keep the vacuum attached....?

http://home.clara.net/hallvw/type3ign.htm 

i can also let you know that the idle drops right down when the vacuum line is removed. Does that help you guys in making an assessment about the high idle? (I think its maybe a problem with the carbies -and if so I'll leave to the mechanic. However I still appreciate any of your words of advice as i would like to become a little more self sufficient and knowledgeable in regards to engine maintenance.

And if the dizzy clamp bolt is tight and you can't twist the dizzy then safe to say the timing is okay and poorly adjusted points wouldn't make the engine race from my knowledge.

Do you have a fuel filter in the pumps feed line. I mean it sounds like maybe a blockage in a jet and would be much more likely if you have no filter in the fuel line.

The carbs are pretty simple beasties and can be easily dismantled, cleaned and rebuilt with a carb service kit. Also a good time to check the floats in the float bowl actually float and have no pin holes in them and that the needle valve is working properly as a flooding bowl at idle will can introduce more fuel via the bowls breather tube right at the top of the carbs venturi.