THE FROG MOVES!  I bit the bullet and bought some new injectors, $40 each with a warranty... The tips are shorter, but they do work!  Any way, have driven the green machine around the yard, the brakes are working, the passengers caliper is dragging, (not bad probably just rust), and I am going to check on the brakes tommorow.  They actually work quite well, I was plesantly surprised.

The engine really does just purr and is soooo much quieter than the beetle's.

I have never been that happy to see a brown cloud come out, you know, a rusty crusty cloud from the muffler.

Van goes into all positions on the Auto trannie easily.  The Trannie is covered in a nice baked on mess and the Repair bill where they installed the engine back in 1989, stated that the torqe converter seal was leaking.  I believe that most of the gunk is fron the joint where the dipstick goes into the pan and the pan on the bottom of the trannie.  The fluid smelled great, was red, and was full.  I will look into a trannie pan gasket, and the filler tube looks like it has some kind of seal in it as well.

Any way, it was plesant to move it under it's own power!!!

I am going to see if I can get insurance on it tommorow, and get it registered under this pristine RED 1976 Ga plate that I own.

Next idea is to bleed and adjust the brakes, fix some rotten vaccume hoses and get a tail pipe made and installed on the good looking muffler that I have.
Happy, happy, joy, joy...

KC

K.C. , While you are messing around with the tranny , be sure to check the 80-90 in the diff. to make sure there is no ATF mixing in with the ring gear lube. Those automatic tranny are very good as long as they don't start swapping fluids.

I always take the Carl Childers approach to troubleshooting . . . look at the simple stuff first.  If you don't know what I mean, watch the movie Slingblade and listen for the line "It ain't go no gas in it."   :lol:

If I remember correctly, there is power going to the speedometer/gages/dash lights/idiot lights, etc. and they are all switched from the ground side of the circuit.  It could be something as simple as a bad connection due to corrosion on a fuse.  If all the fuses are good, spin them around in their holders a few times.  That will break loose the built up corrosion and restore a connection . . . that fixed 95% of the electrical problems on the 79 Dasher I bought from Rick a couple of years ago.

The horn is probably a separate issue from the lights/gages  The horn is kind'a out in the open and after 30 years of being exposed the elements, the boots that are supposed to seal the connections are most likely shot.   First, I'd check to make sure you have good tight connections at the horn.  If you do, test the horn its self and make sure that isn't the problem.  There's a web site out there somewhere titled "Horn Wiring Hell - How to survive it."  I'll see if I can find it.  It'll really help you understand how the horn circuit is supposed to work.

I took the Frog out for a spin last evening, just before dark.  Nothing major, just a two mile spin out and back.  The Frog sputtered heavilly at 1/2 pedal.  so I was easy on it.  (still havent changed the plugs...)  Any way about a mile away from the house I heard a "poof" sound and a small tingging sound and the engine got LOUD.  As in chevy 350 loud.  I thinks to myself, "self, you have just blown somehting MAJOR on the engine...Great."
I turn it around and head home and notice that I am now cruising along in the 40's at 1/2 pedal.
Get it home, now dark, and check out the engine at idle.  I do the old gas line in the ear trick to listen for slapping rods, etc.  The tingging is comming from inside the muffler at the 1&2 inlet.  It seems that I have blown a baffle(s) in the muffler and one ofthem is banging around inside.  
I pulled the injector pigtails off each of the cylinders, and each affected the idle.  I appartantly am still running good, just loud.  I was on my way out to get some more gas.  The brakes are dragging on both sides and I really have to bleed and adjust/clean them up.  
The trannie shifted well in all gears and seems to have some power.
I was sputtering though.  On the way back, I was going faster and it seemed to run better, probably just the blown baffle and less back pressure.   I will take another stab at a drive when I have bleed the brakes and cleaned them Up.  

Any ideas about the sputtering, the filter is one of those white clear ones that you can shine light through and see setiment, It seems not to have the pile of rust I would attribute to the sputtering and blocking the fuel pump.  I am wondering if it is the pump, although it was showing 40+ PSI on my guage....
OK, so
13) What would cause it to be all sputtery in gear at 30+ mph and in D?
-The timming is 2* at idle, and 32* at 2K RPM.
-I cleaned the points and re gapped at like .043"  the range was .040 - .050 on the web.  
-I can rev and hold the bus at high RPM and no sputter or skipping.
-I appear to have good FP...?
and
14) Where does the little vacumme line that is t'ed off the brake booster line and then comes back into the engine compartment go to?
-I have the choices of the back of the dual can on my distributor advance or the canister that is at the heat tube that comes off the #3 cyl. area...
-It is cut shor of either of them and is plugged with a small bolt there.

I checked the lights in the dash, the bulbs seem good, the wiring seems good, and I am wondering if the jumper from the light switch is working, that is a pain to get to....

Any way, I appreciate all the help.
KC

Russ, I checked the "t" and it was fine.
The little line that I am refering to is a small 1/4"'ish vaccume line that tees off the main vaccume line to the booster just past the check valve in the main line, then it reroutes back through a grommet in the firewall and goes to one of the 2 places that I have mentioned.  
I replaced most all the vaccume lines except the LARGE one from the oil vapor can.  It appears to be OK and I couldn't find a hose at the house that would fit it.
I did all this to find the vaccume leak that was causing my engine to die after a few seconds of starting, after replacing all but the main booster line, I figgured out that I didn't put the pigtail back on the MAF sensor....
Run off the excess pressure in the rails and then would go dead....Classic.
Any way I unplugged the pig tail when I was installing the NEW engine seal...
Any way, if you still have no idea which hose I am talking about, let me know.  It is a small, tiny vaccume hose, like the one that drives your vaccume advance on the bus.

14) Has any one attempted to mount one of those tractor fuel strainers before the fuel filter?  i am thinking that I would rather use this to keep the water and garbage out of the filter if we determine that is the cause of my sputtering problem.

I am scared to run carb / Injector cleane through it at this point because of the reaction of Zen's S-10 to doing this... :shock:

Thanks for all the help,
KC

I appear to have an early L-Jettronic system with the exception of this small vaccume tube.
"The early EGR valve has a vacuum hose for activation and an electrical connection which means the early FI system has a special harness in addition to it having a 6-pin AFM plug instead of 7-pin. The electrical connection leads to a microswitch on the throttle body which closes the valve at idle and WOT. " -RATWELL'S site.
My EGR isnt vaccumed at all, I am wondering if this is causing my sputtering....(does WOT mean Wide open throttle?)

I am going to install an X in the current line, it appears that there should have been a T that was running the retard on the manifold to air cleaner hose, currently it is just a straight hose.

I am believing that the small hose that comes off the t just past the brake check valve went to the EGR at one time...  I am planning on installing an X in the manifold to breather line and wireing it us as shown in the RATWELL site and seeing if this cures my sputtering under load problem.
Does this sound like a likely culprit?
Thanks...
KC