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Wed May 11, 2016 7:53 am

Hello guys. I need help understanding how the fuel supply will work if I do a car conversion. I know I can use a engine driven pump but will it pull through the fuel pump in the tank? Or do I need to drop the tank?
Also do I have to go with point distributor or can I keep the electronic ignition?

Thu May 12, 2016 6:50 am

Really no experienced people to help me ?

Thu May 12, 2016 6:53 am

Year of Rabbit? if early Rabbit does it have a carb from factory? USA model car?

if your car is CIS(injected) I'd NOT replace injection with a carb..CIS works very well

Pump in tank comment has me wondering which country vehicle produced for as USA Rabbit had fuel pump underneath by left rear tire on CIS models

Thu May 12, 2016 10:31 am

Back in the 90's I did this conversion on a diesel Rabbit pick up,
which I converted to gas 1600 with a Weber carb.
I bolted the stock fuel pump on the engine used the feed line from the tank, and capped the return line.
I had no problems.
I should have converted the car to CIS, but I thought that was above my skill level.

Sat May 14, 2016 7:13 am

well to late I ordered everything to do a carb swap. it will have nice components and ill start a proper thread cis is expensive to repair. i will be done with it once and for all.

Sat May 14, 2016 7:21 pm

Razor1974 wrote: well to late I ordered everything to do a carb swap. it will have nice components and ill start a proper thread cis is expensive to repair. i will be done with it once and for all.
So you think. The most common swap is a weber dgev, I hope your area isn't as prone to extreme shifts in temperature, altitude, or barometric pressure as the weber carbs are quite sensitive to all of the above. But the dgev is much more reliable than the dual dcoe conversions (but not as much fun when the stars align.). Definitely be careful removing the CIS system & keep all components coming off just in case you get tired of constantly screwing with the carb(s).

Sat May 14, 2016 9:17 pm

Would be almost easier to convert to EFI from the CIS and forget all about the carb. Once I got tired of replacing WUR's on my CIS, I converted to MegaSquirt and never looked back, car ran better and had more power and got better MPG's.

Sun May 15, 2016 7:27 pm

I thought about digi and mgasquirt. Both great options. If I do that swap it will be with a newer 2.0 complete swap. Or 16v
I'm old school and very knowledgable on carbs and tuning

Mon May 16, 2016 8:31 am

My 1.8 was at near 2.0 hp levels with minor bolt-ons and the MS according to the last dyno run I had made, 94whp. And that was a low CR (8.5:1) motor, I was getting a hybrid motor together when the car was hit and totaled, a 10:1 CR 1.8L with an ABA head and a ported mkIV intake, I was hoping for 100-105 whp and to better my MPG's, as I was already getting 30+mpg@80mph.

Just saying an ABA swap is not necessarily needed for the HP, the good thing is the Rabbit has plenty of room for the taller ABA block and manifold, you might need the spacer for the exhaust side depending upon what exhaust you use.

Tue Jun 14, 2016 5:37 pm

Some inspiration:

Wed Jun 22, 2016 6:12 am

Did I you do that carb conversion with pints style pick up distributor?

I actually drove the car and it ran perfect lastbsaturday. All the symptoms went away and that morning the car ran perfectly. We drove it all day with no issues. Next morning we started the car and all symptoms were back! This was agrivating I thought it was just clogged injectors!
What in the world can cause such symptoms but run perfect one day compared to the next?

We really like the CIS and I'm thinking it could be the pick up on the distributor? I do have a points distributor and coil and I don't honk I will hook that up and bypass the ignition style on the car. If that works I will keep my CIS and buy a rebuilt electronic dist. This car is a California car and I'm wondering if it has the extra fuel pump in the tank?

Any ideas or help would be appreciated!
Also help on carb conversion on tuning jet size would be a great help as well if we go that route.
Thanks

Wed Jun 22, 2016 10:00 am

Check spark plugs, use just the cheap copper Bosch or NGK plugs, all others seem to be problematic & tend to foul. Check the distributor cap & rotor, use only the Bosch orangish ones, the black or grey ones are crap & tend to melt or ground through to the distributor shaft. Check ignition wires (especially at the coil) there were two different types of connectors & while some wire sets were universal, not all were.

Beyond that, check the ground strap to the cylinder head.

Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:58 am

The symptoms act as a electrical pickup issue or ground. I did see the ground strap not connected to the tear from the firewall. It just got a timing belt so I think they left that off.
I'm shooting fir a bad pickup in the distributor or grounding issue. It has a missing and popping sound through out all rpms. It also has a slight hesitation to rev up.
I'll hook up the ground back To the head and I have a points distributor I'll use to see if that the issue.
Thanks

Thu Jun 23, 2016 7:21 am

None of the Rabbits ever had an intank pump w/ CIS, they were all external.

Fri Jun 24, 2016 5:01 am

That's good to know. I'm almost certain it's the distributor pick up.

Mon Jul 04, 2016 4:30 pm

I wanted to give everyone a update on the carb conversion! To all who oppose this they are crazy. I absolutely love the carb conversion. It was completed in about 7 hours including installing a redline electric fuel pump. This carb bolted right up out of the box and ran perfectly on my 1.8. I was also able to retain the electronic ignition instead of converting to the points distributor which I bought.
Tips on install.
Grind a little off the areas that have already been cleaned up on the intake. It needs a little clearance get so that it won't interfere with exhaust manifold.

When you buy a fuel pump get the electronic fuel pump from redline and install it exactly where the old high pressure pump is. I used 5/16 line and also used factory wires and it runs the pump perfectly. It only runs when the car is running so you might have to jump the fuel pump terminals to prime the line and fuel filter.
I also retained the factory fuel filter in the engine compartment and ran my fuel
Line from there. I removed the fuel filter at the tank and hooked up the pump directly from the tank back to the feed line under the car.
I also bought the fuel regulator from redline and purchased a small 1/8 npt fuel ores gauge so I could confirm pressure. You only need 2.5-3 psi at the carb.
The air filter base has an offset. If you instal
It wrong it will hit the firewall and be a tight fit. Flip it and it works perfect.
Used factory throttl cable and cut the old attachment clip off and the cable will work with the adapter. I had to get some plyers and tweak and bend a little to get a perfect alignment. I also had to enlarge the hole to 5/16" so my cable would slip through. Factory clip held it in place. Works perfect it fired right up. All I had to do is adjust idle for choke and then idle in main circuit. That's all I did. Easy as pie to do this and you get way more HP and the car has a mean throaty sound to it. It's addicting to hear and a blast to drive. That's why people use more fuel with carbs!!!!!

I do have a air fuel ratio gauge I haven't hooked up yet to tune it perfectly. I will keep you posted!

Mon Jul 04, 2016 10:05 pm

Razor1974 wrote: and you get way more HP and the car has a mean throaty sound to it. ]

It may sound like more hp, but I highly doubt it.

Tue Jul 05, 2016 5:49 am

ps2375 wrote: Razor1974 wrote: and you get way more HP and the car has a mean throaty sound to it. ]

It may sound like more hp, but I highly doubt it.

It gained a few I can certainly feel the diferance
regardless of the sound!