Power loss

OK car need new dizzy. Fitted and it wouldnt start. Car sat on teh drive for a week whilst I tried to get it going. A 'mate' suggested it was the metering head so we swapped this. didnt do anything so we swapped back for teh old one. still didnt work. Messed about loads with the mixture screw in the process. Eventually found all toiming marks to be wrong so went by the flywheel marks and eventually got it going. Staright away I noticed it wasnt running right. We tweak the dizzy to get it running better but it still want right,  no where near the power i had before. Couldnt tweak mixture as valve seals were in a bad way so i had them changed along with the cam belt. Mixture is now set to 1% and timing is ok but the car still isnt anywhere near as fast. Also now when starting form cold I have to keep the key in the ignition position for a while before the engine will stay running on its own. Any ideas?

Sorry for rushed typing.

Sounds like you still have a timing issue to me.
If it was running ok-ish before and now its not then you need to start at the bottom and work your way up.
Basics to start with.
Plug leads correct?
Dizzy cap has carbon button in place?
Plug gaps ok?
Timing ok?

Do the ignition side first then after its running half decent do the co%, get a repair manual to help you set it all up prpoerly.

Im pretty sure I have the timing set ok now. I have used a timing light and set it to 0 - ran even worse so advanced it untill it ran better buts till not right. I have double and triple checked everything lines up now and the plus are in the correct order.

When you changed the distributor, did you note where the rotor arm was pointing and replace the new one in the same position? If not that'll be the origin of your timing being out.

Spark timing should be 6?btdc. If you're down on power it's probably because the timing is still out. Once you've got the timing accurate, you should adjust the mixture until you're happy with that too. Here's how to do it by ear (i.e. without a CO meter).

HTH

Rich

Right I had to swap the dizzy twice. First time I got hold of an old known working one  - i lined everything up be extra cautious, put it in and it fired up straight away. I then got hold of a brand new (not Bosch dunno what make it is) dizzy and thought I would put that in and have the old one as a spare. In a rush I didnt lined everything up and thats where the problems began, i tried putting the old back in but the by this point the lines had all been moved. I have since had it running only with the non bosch dizzy - could this be the problem? Should I put the old (known working and working good) dizzy back in? Think I will try this tonight.

Also where are the marks to get the timing to 6 degrees BTDC? Do I have to make a disc with measured degrees on it and do it via the cam pulley?

Thanks for your help guys.

Thing to do first is to make a mark with a permanent marker on the body of the dizzy and the cap that corresponds to number 1 plug.

Then line the zero mark up on the front pulley ( theres usually a little arrow on the belt cover) then check the dimple on the rear of the campulley is level with the flat of the head and ensure its at the front of the car ( the repair manual shows you all of this). If it dosent line up rotate the engine over 1 revolution until it does line up.
Then youll need to line up the auxiliary shaft that drives the dizzy and oil pump.
This bit can be a pita as theres a mark on the pulley that lines up iirc  with the tdc mark on the crank front pulley.
*If* you have all these lined up then youll need to take a look at the oil pump drive and line that up with a screwdriver otherwise the dizzy wont go in, but try and line the dizzy up first as itll show you where the pump drive needs to be.
Ok, so everythings hunky dory so far, the cam is correct, the front pulley is on its tdc mark, the intermediate/aux shaft sprocket is lined up with the front pulley/tdc mark also.
Next line up the rotor with the body mark you made earlier and offer it into position roughly where it should go ( look for any marks/stains oil marks etc  that may assist you) then attempt to fit the dizzy. If the pump drive is in the right place itll slot in fine and the rotor arm will turn out of position as the drive gear meshes.
If its all gone to plan so far, then simply rotate the dizzy body until the pen mark and the rotor tip lines up then pinch the fixing bolt and reassemble.
The engine should be timed at zero degrees at this point and should start, although the idle will be low, then time it as normal with a strobe light….simple eh?  :wink:    finger burn out……

for more information - this is how NOT to set the timing

check the pics at the bottom. LOL

http://www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=212219#212219

AT LAST!!!!! She runs and runs well! After work me and a mate were feeling ambitious so we got the tools out and had a play. Firstly she was a git to start - same problem - had to leave the key 'on' to keep her going. Eventually she got goin and we fidled around again not having much luck, sometimes she would cut out too. (I have actually written a thread about the car cutting during the warm up phase). We ended up running the battery dead and by this time my mate had to go somewhere (apparently). Couldnt get in touch with any one else so I got greenflag out. This guy was awesome he solved ALL my running problems in about 30 minutes.

Ignition barrel was fudged. he hot wired it and it has just ran perfect for the 30 mile trip home. Turns out there a several feeds to the barrel one being related to the fuel pump. the barrel was sometimes feeding the fuel pump and sometimes not. Getting a new barrel tomorrow - GSF seem to list it as an ignition switch? I reckon another good tune up after and everything should be all good. Thanks for all your help guys really appreciated (helped me keep up the lingo with the greenflag dude)

Great stuff! Ignition barrel eh? …..i was just gonna say it was that…. no reallly…

Glad to hear its all as it should be.

Yeh funny thing is about 2 months ago when it randomly stalled I took it to Matt at Dubunit and he said then "ah that's probably the switch at the bottom on the ignition barrel, it happened to my my mates mk2"

I was like nar it cant be something that simple, surely! How silly of me. Could have avoided 2 months of buying new bits. Oh well lesson learnt.

thing is, more often than not, it is something cheap and simple. finding it is always the fun bit.