Jason: M1009 CUCV, Broomfield

[Squshiee1]

To be honest im not sure, these were all purchased and installed by my dad. I I cant give you specifics, I know the carbs are duals, one carb on each side of the engine (empi) not sure what model, bosh 009 distributor, stock coil, new bosh copper 6mm i believe plug wires, NGK iridium plugs. When I get a little time I will run outside and get more specifics on everything. We were looking into doing electronic ignition, or distributerless ignition? Do you have knowledge on how to properly set one up?

[spectre6000]

If by "blowing plugs" you mean fouling them, I'd put dollars to donuts on those carbs then. I could give you my full opinion on EMPI if you like, but the forum censors keep turning everything to stars... It really doesn't matter which carbs they are, everything they sell comes pig rich out of the box at sea level unless the throttle shaft "bushings" are worn or just aren't machined right, then they run "EMPI lean" (aka vacuum leaks like crazy).

As for electronic ignition, I helped Pertronix develop their SVDA clone for dual carb VW applications. So I can probably get you sorted there too. Distributorless... Never done it myself. Entertaining it for my current build (on perma-hold right now because of the truck).

[Squshiee1]

Im sure you views and mine don't differ much on empi. It makes the car run. I would like to see some dual webbers in it eventually. Ill take a look into the jetting. It seems like a logical start.

It does seem to run good with the empi carbs though. I cant knock them yet.

[spectre6000]

I've had a set fail on me personally at least once (chalk it up to a learning experience). Certain models weren't gifted with the .0003 cents it would have cost for throttle shaft bushings or less-soft aluminum, and that's a guaranteed vacuum leak in a short amount of time. If you want help, I've got a wideband setup. We can use it as clinic fodder. Depending on what kind of carbs they are, you might be able to get jets. If they're not readily available, just get the smallest size you can and I've got reams.

[spectre6000]

I feel like I almost need a reintroduction... At least in vehicular terms.

CUCV is still down. That's an expensive engine, and I want to do some other things while I'm not relying on it to drive around daily. Feature creep at its finest. I had picked up a little sport car (RX7) because every car guy has to own a Wankel at least once, and I already had a truck. To top it off, I went early (because that's how I roll). The nice thing about an RX7 is that they are a freaking blast to drive. Unlike anything else I've ever driven. A complete riot every time. The un-nice thing, is that it's pretty seriously exotic and gifted with way more electrical nonsense than makes sense for any use case in the interest of chasing halo-car status. I was out there nearly every weekend chasing something down, fixing something stupid, and not working on the truck at all. Between requiring more attention than any car I've ever owned despite being a few decades newer than most, and the resulting inability to even pretend to make progress on the vehicle I actually want to be working on, I had to swap it out.

The goal was to get another truck. Yeah, I already have one, but if it's not usable it doesn't count. It had to be reliable, easily maintainable, and have readily available parts. Preferably 4X4 for resale, winter, and fun purposes. And I really wanted it to be a GM that had some parts I could swap over to upgrade something on the truck if possible. To make it interesting (and because I try to keep my automotive hobby expenses to a budget), I wanted to trade straight across or with cash my way. I think it would make for an interesting Top Gear Challenge premise: Go buy a car for $2500 (or whatever), do some thing that demonstrates how much of a car it is, then first challenge card out of the box is to go and trade it even or with cash your way for something else on the theme of (something).

Digression aside, after a few weeks of sifting through and checking out all sorts of stuff (only some of which fit any of the criteria), I managed to score an '81 K10 short bed! Trade up all around if you ask me! The best part, is that I can swap parts around and upgrade a few things on the CUCV before selling it down the road; however, the more I get into it, the less seems like it may make it through that eventuality in tact... More on this below.

According to the seller (trader), the engine was rebuilt 10K ago. As a rule, I put 0% trust in any statement regarding rebuilt engines. I've seen people slap some Krylon on a tired old boat anchor and call it rebuilt, I've personally bought, from a reputable shop, for real dollars an engine that was "rebuilt" and before installing it I found schmooze (congealed oil and dirt) under paint still on the engine where it had never even been cleaned (it was taken back and refunded, and I went to another builder). I've also seen complete blueprinted, balanced, no expense spared builds called simply "rebuilt". According to the oil pressure gauge (which I'm pretty sure is not very accurate), it has all the oil pressure available (needle lives above 60 psi), and I did a compression test prior to doing the deal, and it was 140psi +/-5 on all 8. It passed emissions with flying colors, so I call it good!












I spent yesterday cleaning it out (PO had smoked and had cats that seem to have spent a good deal of time in the cab, and I'm allergic to the latter), and crawling around to see exactly what I have, and what it needs.

For starters, the bed is pretty rough. It's been heavily welded on, and looks to be mostly donor below the body line. The rockers have some rust as well, but that seems to be about the extent of the cancer. Not terrible all said. Nothing affects operation or occupant comfort, and the mechanical parts seem to be mostly unaffected.

Mechanically it's been messed with somewhat as well. It has a 12-bolt rear, which may have been an option in '81, but I was pretty sure it came with a 10-bolt. Good score regardless. Potentially an upgrade from the CUCV's 10-bolt. NP208 is the same as in my CUCV, so it can be a spare down the road. Tranny is a TH350, which is not really useful for anything other than transmitting the power from the engine to the transfer case in its current application. The real party piece is the engine though! It came with a 305, which is a fine engine perfectly suited for the application, but not something worth getting excited over. As I was digging around though, I came to realize that it's a four main, short deck, 350... If it's has four bolt mains, I'm pretty sure that's about the best base for a real muscle build you can get! I'm doing the rear main seal today, so I'll know one way or the other, but that might cause me to want to move things around a bit for an eventual muscle car build! Sweet!

Anyway, today I'm doing the rear main seal, oil and filter by association, transmission oil and filter, front and rear diffs (see if I was gifted with any sort of limited slip to boot), and if I can figure out how to remove the damn security lug nuts I'll swap on my practically unused 33" BFGs! Then it's just a coolant/thermostat/hose job and brake flush and I'm ready for anything! Hopefully I can finally join you guys out wheeling in the next week or so!

[ILuvtheMountains]

Woo hoo! Good to have ya! I missed your intro the first time around and just got caught up. I'm a bit jealous of your skills and know-how, but glad you joined us here, as I can learn from your posts (as I do from so many people on this forum).

[Goofy]

Welcome bud I cruse the Broomfield area as well I might have seen you in the CUCV a time or too but since we are also talking about old VWS I guess I better let my little the secret out. This was my little investment I had last year it was a 1969 VW Type 111 Fastback it had a 1600cc with 2 weber carbs (it sat for 15 years so we couldn't get the old EFI working on it) still have the parts though it was restored back sometime in the late 80s to mid 90s (due to the way I found bondo and chicken wire on it) but other then that it ran great drove smoothly and overall just a fun little car but I had to pay for my wedding that we just had on 7/11 (sorry I didn't let anyone know) so she had to go. But one day I will have one again if I don't get granddads 1965 Wagoneer and M715 next year lol but all in all hope to meet you soon and see ya on the trails

[spectre6000]

Thanks! Mayhap I'll do some write ups at some point. It's kind of hard to figure out what's worth writing up sometimes, and more so on a mixed venue like this.

I think I remember when that one was for sale actually... Were those (or at least some of them) the photos you had in the ad? That's one of the only air cooled VWs I haven't owned... My wife really likes them, but I've wanted a squareback for years. Haven't been able to find a good one in line with when I had funds/space for another project.

Meanwhile, yesterday was a good news/bad news day. Good news: I got the rear main seal, oil pan seal, oil and filter replaced. Bad news: that's all I got done. Good news: FOUR BOLT MAINS!!! WOOO!!! Bad news (for the truck): It's looking more and more like this guy will be getting completely cannibalized for other cars and projects...

Those wheels are going to be a problem... Not only are the lug nuts some super proprietary security thing for some shitty Chinese aftermarket wheel company (I can't even find a logo to figure out who made them), but they have some sort of shoulder on them such that I can't use them with regular lug nuts even just to put them on the other truck to keep it rolling! I'm going to have to completely put the other truck up on blocks, pull the wheels and lug nuts off the other truck, go to a tire shop who MIGHT have a way to get them off, then try to trade or sell them on CL so I can get some plain something or others so I can just move the damn thing around! What a PITA!

[Mr6dwg]

Welcome to the group.