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At 11:26 PM 3/17/97 +0100, Richard Visser wrote: >Driving it doesn't seem to give problems apart from the slight >stammering and plopping exhaust which I told you about earlier. >Didn't had time to fix that yet. Maybe its connected. Sounds like the ignition problem I've had with my '71 1300 dp Bug. I first thought it needed a tune-up, so checked valve clearance, ignition timing etc. Didn't help. Replaced suspect items such as spark plug wires, rotor, cap, points, condenser, vacuum advance unit etc. but this was no real solution either. Was getting pretty concerned when my VW mechanic friend muttered something about it being "an old and tired engine" - but I had checked it over and rebuilt the heads 6 months before. As it must have been an ignition problem the only thing left was to pull the distributor and check that out. There was no axial play in the distributor shaft to speak of and the mechanical advance mechanism was complete and working too. But it was not until then that I noticed that the ground strap between the ground plate and the contact points mounting plate (which is moved by the vacuum advance unit) was completely gone. Apparently the contact between the two plates was enough to let the engine run ok when idling, but under load the grounding was not enough and the engine ran rough and spluttered. I replaced the plates with a set complete with ground strap and my engine was purring happily as before! The lesson I learned was to check if everything that is supposed to be there is actually present and working before starting to replace suspect parts. Hanno Spoelstra <H.L.Spoelstra@WbMt.TUDelft.NL> Bloemendaal, The Netherlands