Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project

[GoMopar440]

I've been trying to get the Ebay carb seller, "smfay", to give me an address so I can send these POS IDF clones back so I can get a refund. I sent detailed descriptions of each problem, with clear pictures attached, for each defect I found.

Their first offer was for me to have a local shop repair them and they said they'd repay me for the work. Sorry, but I'm NOT going to try and polish these turds just to give the seller a chance to renig and say "since they're now modified the warranty is now null and void".

Their next offer was that I could keep both carbs and they would just refund me $100. I'm not going to consider that an option since all these issues were on supposedly ready to run brand new carbs.

In my last Ebay message to the seller I restated very clearly that I wanted an address to send these carbs back to, and full refund for the cost of both carbs and the shipping. This is only fair since the problems were made at the factory and they basically shipped me a couple pieces of useless junk. I haven't heard back from them since that last message so I filed a defective item claim through Ebay today.

This whole scenario is what I was worried might happen when I bought these carbs. I was hoping that since Empi could make a decent IDF clone carb, and has been doing so for a while now, then maybe there was a chance similar carbs coming out of china today might be good enough. I wasn't expecting perfection, just something usable that I could fine tune when I got it. I've reluctantly become accustomed to having to do some tweaking on most of these cheap chinese parts that are flooding the market these days. There's just waaay too much wrong with these carbs right out of the box to make it worth putting any effort in trying to make them work properly.

As soon as I can get this whole return/refund issue sorted out I'll be ordering the Gen-3 40 HPMX's. I'll only initially be able to get one HPMX carb with the refund for both of these junk carbs. The next HPMX will have to wait a while until I can afford another one. At least the CB dual carb manifold, linkage and air filter kit I picked up seems to be fine. I just set all those installation kit parts up on the shelf for now until I have some decent carbs to go with them.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493

[GoMopar440]

After I turned down the sellers next offer (refund of $150 and I keep the carbs), the seller conceded that I wasn't going to accept less than a full refund and finally paid back the entire amount for both carbs plus shipping.

Now with that whole ordeal behind me I can finally start looking around for a Gen3 40 HPMX so I can get this project moving forward again. Does anyone have a preferred source for buying individual HPMX's? Since I'm going to run duals, I want to get carbs that are already setup for that application, even though I'll be buying them separately.

EDIT: After a bit of searching around on the web, I settled on buying from Cip1 for the 40 HPMX 3.0 (setup for duals). They had the best price I could find when the free shipping deal (for orders over $99) was factored in. Only one other vendor had a lower base price, but the shipping cost made them more expensive than Cip1 in the end. Their (Cip1's) website says they're still moving their warehouse and my order won't ship until March 22nd. I can't do anything with just one carb anyway, so until I can afford to buy the other carb to go with it, the wait doesn't bother me at all.

Who knows, maybe they'll ship my order sooner from the Canada store like they did with my last order from them. That would be nice, but I'll still end up waiting in the end until I can get the second carb to go with it. Works for me either way as long as the HPMX's live up to their reputation.

BTW: The Ebay seller didn't want their junk back and said I could keep them. I may eventually tear them all the way down, measure everything and do a side by comparison with the HPMX's. That way I can see exactly what, where and how everything went wrong with the cheap IDF clones. Like someone else mentioned elsewhere (STF IIRC), if nothing else these junk IDF clones may be usable as a set if ITB's if I ever try to go EFI later on. I'm not getting my hopes up though. After all this drama with trying to get a refund, I'm just plain sick of looking at them, so I'm in no hurry to mess with these junkers right now.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493

[daanbc]

I feel ya on the "Chinese" crap. I too am accustomed to tweak everything that is purchased, and not only automobile related. Just finished the kids bathroom! Gonna send ya a pm.

[dustymojave]

I hate to say it, but the"cheap Chinese crap" all comes down to what the American outfit that orders it asks for.

Back in the 80s, I worked for Mattel Toys. The woman in the next cubicle had the job of finding less expensive places to manufacture product. She got Mattel into manufacturing in China. Mattel was the 2nd American firm after Coca Cola to manufacture in China since the communist takeover in 1949. Then a few years ago, a friend asked me to help him get a scale model kit manufactured. It eventually wound up getting made in China. I've dealt with getting product in China.

The Chinese are perfectly capable of making good quality product. But the buyer has to be willing to pay for better quality and then be willing to do Quality Control to ensure the quality being paid for is being received. Of course, that means the price to the end consumer is rather higher than the cheap price we are getting in cases like this. Or the vendor will have to be willing to not make a killing on each and every piece. Since your vendor was willing to try refunding 2/3 of the price of the 2 carbs, he must have been making more than that from the sale of the 2. So how much do you think he's paying for those carbs from the manufacturer in China?

Let's keep the blame on the right shoulders.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[GoMopar440]

I hear you and agree completely. I'm not kidding myself about those HPMX's. They're probably made in the exact same factory as these carbs I just got were made in. The fact that the 3rd gen HPMX carbs aren't using the same castings as the first or second gen units doesn't mean that those older castings got tossed out. More than likely that's where the castings for these carbs possibly came from. EMPI had to have put their foot down with the chinese factory to get their carbs up to par with the quality of the original IDF's. I applaud them (EMPI) for that as I know they have to be cutting into their profit per unit sold to do so.

When I got these Ebay carbs I was hoping that some of that knowledge gained through upgrading the HPMX's might have filtered down to the more generic carbs. Apparently this will most likely not be the case. The fact that the seller didn't want these carbs back does not bode well for future improvements. I documented the defects as well as I could and sent clear pictures of each defect. Partially to prove to the seller there was a problem(s) with what they sold me, but also to give them detailed info so they could see where they could tune up their assembly line to fix these problems. Not wanting the carbs back tells me that this is most likely just wishful thinking on my part.

With all that said, I am not convinced that the Ebay seller isn't just working directly for the factory as an online sales rep. The replies to all my Ebay messages all came in the middle of the night. That would have been closer to the middle of the day over in china. Using the Ebay messaging system doesn't give you the sellers email so it's hard to say for sure. In the end the warranty was fulfilled and I can move on to something better with the HPMX's, so I'm done with this little side trip in this rail rebuild thread.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493

[GoMopar440]

I'm still waiting on the first HPMX carb to come in the mail, but I got an email today stating that it should be arriving here tomorrow. In the mean time I spent some time out in the barn today getting a little more clean up done on the T3 engine. I pulled the other cylinder off (#3) and then removed both pistons from the rods on that side. while I was wiggling the cylinder I found a couple of the head studs on the 3-4 side to be very loose, and the rest were only finger tight. Those studs had a bunch of gunk and rust on them so I just pulled all the studs so I could clean them up. I also cleaned up the old push rod tubes as well as the outside of the cylinders. Both of the rods on that side felt fine and didn't seem to have any excessive axial or radial play. Now the cylinders and pistons were out of the way I cleaned the case near the big holes for the cylinders as well as the case sump. The pistons got a thorough wire wheel cleaning on top and around the rings. I went over the piston tops with a craytex bit to smooth out the small bumps around the stampings. I'll do the piston skirts later with something less abrasive. Lastly I wire wheeled all the head nuts and beveled washers till they were clean.

With all the parts cleaned up I sprayed everything with some carb cleaner to remove any residual traces of oil. Then i taped off all the areas I didn't want painted on the push rod tubes, cylinders and head studs. The cylinders and push rod tubes got a light coat of high temp (2000*) flat aluminum paint and were hung to dry over the wood stove. The head studs, beveled washers and nuts were all painted gloss black.

I know some people say not to paint the cases, heads and cylinders as it retains heat. However, this rail will hopefully be used as a DD year round, so I felt the need to compromise on the cylinders. They need at least some protection so they don't rot away when the road salt gets on them during the winter.

My wife had the camera tied up most of today so I didn't get any pics. I'll try to get some posted tomorrow.

BTW: The thick beveled washers on the head were mixed as far as which direction the bevel was facing when I took it apart. Are the bevels on those head washers supposed to face up or down?
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Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493

[dustymojave]

AFAIC, the bevel on the head stud washers faces the head. The bevel is entirely pointless otherwise.

I've taken VW engines apart that had them all facing the head, all facing out, mixed, and a number of engines with plain hardware store flat washers.

I took apart a 1200 in the 70s that had one extra long stud with inch threads. It had a squarish brass piece with holes in all 6 sides shoved onto that stud for a spacer. It was probably a Corvair stud. Probably needless to tell the experienced VW guys, all the stud holes in that case needed case savers. 1200s, 1300s and early 1500s didn't get case savers (steel thread inserts in the cylinder head stud holes) from the factory.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[GoMopar440]

This case appears to have case savers in it already. It's nice to find a little good news like that every now and then.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493

[dustymojave]

Per Gene Berg: "All VW cases imported into the USA after 1972 come from the factory already equipped with factory inserts ..."

http://www.geneberg.com/cat.php?cPath=22_507_2985

I knew that it was somewhere around that time, but didn't remember for sure, so I googled it. I always trusted and respected Gene's knowledge. That should never be construed as always AGREEING with how the late Gene put that knowledge into application.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[GoMopar440]

This case is a '68 Type 3, 1600 FI engine according to the "U" code on the case. This matches the vehicle that the engine came from ('68 Type 3) so it could be the original engine. However, the pistons in it now are Mahle and the push rod tubes are marked hencho en mexico, so it's been opened at least once since it left the factory. The case saver inserts were probably added during the rebuild.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493

[GoMopar440]

I disassembled the HPMX down to the bare carb body, except for the butterflies and the throttle shaft. I was finding some aluminum and brass dust in the carb as I took it apart, but nowhere near as much as was in the clone carbs. Other than that, there wasn't anything that stood out as being a possible problem. I documented everything with pics as I went along and made notes of the sizes on a few small pieces of paper.

Here's the new carb mounted on the CB offset manifolds with the air cleaner on top.

This pic shows the four top studs are just long enough to fit everything together when using the cast air cleaner base.

The jet stacks are sticking out of the top of the carb at the same height. The clone carb didn't even come close to getting this part right.

I understand about product branding, but there's five EMPI logo's and one HPMX name in this one pic. And there's also the EMPI name spelled out on the other side on the accelerator pump cover.

The carb top has a little casting flash all around the bottom edge of the bores. That will be addressed during the cleanup phase before reassembly.

The float sits a little uneven in this pic. I'll level it out when I set the float height to spec.

Parts all laid out on the table. I wrote the sizes for the jets, squirters and venturies on pieces of paper next to each part.

These are just some overall views of the carb body.

I took a few of the parts out to the shop to clean them up. First I reworked the squirters with a jewelers file and then a craytex bit on the dremel.

Then I chucked the main venturies up in the lathe and smoothed out the edges with some fine sand paper. Next I dressed them up with a 3M scrubby pad to get the sanding marks all blended out. Last I used some Flitz metal polishing compound and a soft rag to bring them to a shine. The insides of the bores now look like the chrome velocity stacks. Then I started getting all the flashing off one of the smaller inner venturies. For this I used a small triangular file to remove the bulk of the material and also clean up the profile of the side blades. I rounded the leading edge and put a knife edge on the trailing edge. Then I moved on to the triangular jewelers file and removed as much of the larger file marks as possible. Lastly I brought the inner venturies to the polishing wheel and used some rouge to put a shine on it. I swapped over to a finger mandrel to polish some of the insides of the bore from the top and bottom as well.

I'm going to try to get the rest of carb done pretty soon. As you may have guessed by the pics, I've kinda taken over the dinner table.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493

[GoMopar440]

I forgot to mention in my previous posts that the fuel inlet seat was marked with the number 200.

I continued the clean up by polishing the parts that are directly in the air flow. Since I was polishing stuff up anyway I also polished all the rest of the brass parts. Then the aluminum castings got the flashing bits and any imperfections removed with a couple of different types of files.

I should have stopped at this stage for pics, but I just kept on going and started prepping the carb body for paint. The file marks were given a little attention with the polishing wheel just to blend them into the surrounding areas. Then all areas on the carb body that I didn't want paint to get on were taped off and the edge of the tape was trimmed with a sharp knife. I also taped the back of the accelerator pump cover and the arm so I could paint it at the same time. The carb body and the pump cover both were painted Gunmetal Grey and hung up to dry.

I was going to paint all the screw heads gloss black like I have been doing with everything else so far. However since they were still in new condition I left them alone for now. I've been using the black paint on the old screws to restore them to presentable condition, but it wasn't really needed in this case.

After the paint dried thoroughly I started putting the parts back on the carb base. This is where I stopped at for now.

I'm taking a break from working on the project for today, so I'll start of the rest of the carb parts tomorrow.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493

[Brian]

Looks like you did exactly what you're supposed to do with those carbs. Nice.
_________________
Wash your hands

'69 Bug
'68 Baja Truck
'71 Bug
'68 Camper

Only losers litter

[GoMopar440]

And I get to do this all over again when I buy the other HPMX carb to go with this one. lol

It's been a learning experience for me too. I've never had one of these IDF style carbs apart until I got those clones, and now this HPMX. It's a lot easier to understand their fuel circuits when you have them apart and in hand. I'm sure this will help with the basic understanding of the carbs when it comes time to tune them up.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493

[Brian]

What linkage are you gonna be running? I highly suggest the SyncLync system.
_________________
Wash your hands

'69 Bug
'68 Baja Truck
'71 Bug
'68 Camper

Only losers litter

[GoMopar440]

I'll be using the CB aluminum hex bar system that came in the dual carb install kit (CB part #3125) to start off with. That should get me by for a while so I can work out any kinks with the dual carb setup. Ultimately I want to design and machine my own cable operated throttle linkage. The Sync-link setup is the closest to what I have in mind, but I'm going to make mine into a Y cable configuration rather than having it daisy chained like the Sync-link. Another reason for wanting to make my own linkage system is that I'll be able to place the linkage wherever I want. That way I can connect the carb ends of the cables to the side of the throttle shaft with the throttle return spring. That way there's no twisting stresses placed on the throttle shaft as it passes through the carb body.

And, while we're on the topic of carburation...
I'm going to need all the help I can get to tune the carb(s) on my rail. On that note I will be using a PLX gen4 system with the DM6 multi gauge and the Bosch LSU 4.9 wide band A/F sensor. Here's a link to the same system I'll be setting up on the rail. http://www.ebay.com/itm/162014549301?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT This will be useful for any carburation (or EFI) setup, so it will be a great help for getting the tuning dialed in. A small turbo may be added later on, so that's another big reason needing to have a good A/F gauge.

The dual cannon exhaust that's on the rail now was originally bought just to get it through the state inspection (mufflers are required). The 4-1 megaphone exhaust that was on the rail when I got it was bent badly (on the stinger part) and didn't have any kind of baffling in it. Since then I have learned that the split style dual exhaust are mostly designed for looks, and aren't really a good match for the ACVW engines as far as performance goes. Also, living at 5K above sea level means I want to get all the HP out of my little 1600 engine that it has to offer up in this thin air. So a while back I got a bare quiet pipe ($17) to replace the bent megaphone for my Empi 4-1 exhaust and had a local shop weld a glass pack to it. The shop also braced the glass pack to the flange as requested so it wouldn't vibrate itself off the header. A chrome tip finished it off nicely.

I'll be putting the 4-1 exhaust, with the new pipe and muffler, back on the rail before I'm try to fire it up again. I was wondering if any one here has had experience with adding an A/F sensor to one of these types of exhausts. If so, where is the best place to weld the bung onto the header? I can figure out the rest with the instructions in the PLX kit, but I'll probably farm out the welding to the exhaust shop that did the glass pack install. Once the exhaust bung is welded up I'll sand blast it all and spray it with some Cerakote. From what I've read, that stuff is a lot tougher and more durable than the ceramic coating that comes on a lot of the cheap exhausts out on the market today.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493

[GoMopar440]

Would just about an inch or two before the collector flange be ok? I'd like to keep it on the header itself, rather than on the QP pipe if possible. That way it wouldn't be as difficult if I were to redo the QP sometime later on. Somewhere around the red circle area like in this pic is where I was thinking. If that's a no-go then how about where the yellow circle is in the QP pipe? That second location would be easier to run the sensor wires away from the hot parts from the looks of it. I'm not sure about the effect of moisture from condensation in that part of the bend in the exhaust though.

This header has the heat risers on it in the factory locations near the #2 and #4 exhaust ports. Since I'm going with dual carbs I was thinking of removing the heat risers and adding weld on bungs in their place. That would give me some places for EGT probes and I could plug them up until needed. I don't like those little stamped steel block off plates as most of the ones I've seen look like a sloppy fit. The plugs would seal those bungs a lot more reliably IMHO. If I want to do this I'll need to do it at the same time that I have the wideband bung welded on. That way I'll have all the welding I need on the header done before I Cerokote it. EGT sensors would also be very useful for the turbo whenever I start on that part of the project.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493

[GoMopar440]

Ok, looking over the PLX instructions again, which are surprisingly a bit vague in this area, they have two key points to meet for proper sensor placement. Link to PDF of the manual -> http://www.plxdevices.com/v/vspfiles/support/user_guides/SM-AFRGen2_user_guide.pdf In the inline exhaust flow (coming or going) of the exhaust pipe the sensor should be pointing straight up vertical. By that rule alone, both the red and yellow locations would not work. For the second requirement, looking at the pipe from the side the sensor should be tilted back about 15* so the open tip does not point into the air flow. Another thing I wanted to try to do with the sensor placement was to place it somewhere that it would be protected by it's surroundings, not exposed. The yellow placement would leave the sensor hanging out to catch anything that might want to snag it if driving off road. If I swapped the yellow sensor location to the inside of the curve it would be more protected, and away from the most likely path of water in the exhaust. Placing it there would still violate rule number one by having the sensor sitting horizontally, which is a full 90* off of the recommended vertical placement. If I just rotate the bung further down in the inside of that curve than the sensor can meet those two installation requirements. I drew the new proposed bung location in blue this time. Since it's still in the curve at that point, I can mount it so the sensor is completely vertical from the front and from the side. It won't be on the header itself like I wanted it to (just for cosmetics really), but it meets the two more important alignment requirements of the sensor, as well as my protected area requirement. What do you guys think?

_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493

[GoMopar440]

I have a spare exhaust Y pipe for my truck hanging up in the barn. I've been saving it for the large oval flange on it that sits right before the catalytic converter. I didn't need any of the rest of the Y pipe, so I cut one of the O2 bungs off of it to use on my 4-1 header. I got most of the weld cut away with the cut off wheel while leaving the outside part round enough for the lathe chuck to hold it true. I cut away the rest of the weld on the lathe to reveal the original 7/8" diameter shoulder underneath. Given that this bung is going to be installed into a bend in the pipe, I had to take that shoulder up a bit further so it would be able to sit deep enough to have no gaps between it and the pipe when installed. I also deburred the threads and all the inner and outer edges with files and sand paper while it was still chucked up in the lathe.

On the pipe itself, I didn't have any way to make the bung hole (snicker) sit perfectly straight up at 90* like the instructions called for. This was due to the bend being in the way of the drill and the uni-bit. So I compromised and tilted the hole towards the front of the vehicle about 10*, which was just far enough to get the clearance needed to drill the hole. The hole was drilled as close as I could get it to where I drew the blue circle in the last pic I posted. I used a file to debur the edge and remove the paint around the hole so it would be clean for welding. A light tap with the hammer and the O2 bung was seated snugly into the hole without any air gaps anywhere. All that is left now is to have the bung welded into the pipe tomorrow.

For now I'll just be using regular high temp header paint on the header after O2 bung is welded and it's all sand blasted. I still to need add two bungs for EGT sensors in place of the intake heat risers on cylinders 2 and 4 later on. Until I can get the other HPMX carb to complete the dual carb setup, I'll just be keeping the single 34 PICT-3 setup in place until then. As a result, those heat risers will be staying on the header for a little while longer. Once the dual carb setup is ready I'll get rid of them and have the EGT bungs welded in their place. Then it will all get sand blasted again to remove the header paint and prep it for the final finish which will be Cerakote.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493

[GoMopar440]

I realigned the O2 bung before bringing it in to get welded today. I moved it around until the O2 sensor would have the needed 15* of layback in relation to the direction of airflow. This should help keep condensation from getting shoved up into it.

It's pretty far from vertical when looking at it from the side though. It's a compromise I'm willing to accept given the limited clearance available inside that tight curve.

I also picked up a few Ford remote mounted TFI ignition modules from the JY today. I'll be wiring one of them in to the rail, and the other two are for spares. The original points will act as the trigger and the TFI unit will act like a switching relay for the coil. When setup this way, the TFI module takes the heavy voltage load off of the points. It should extend the life of the points by quite a lot and allow for a higher voltage coil to be used with it.

I also picked up this four post coil today, but I'm not ready to use it just yet. It will be useful for some different ideas I want to try with the ignition system later on.

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Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493