Little confused- couple of 1.3 issues

Hey,
Today I was tidying the bay on my 1.3. hiding wires and hoses, fixing naff connections, getting rid of old wires etc.

Started her up and the revs were all over the place, going up and down. I disconnected the clear hose going from the bottom of the carb (weber) to the diaphragm on the dizzy, and the engine ran fine, prehaps a little lean? Plugged the hose off and it ran slightly better.
Just wondered what is going on here? This hose was plugged in here before and the motor ran perfectly?!?

Also, what sort of temperature should the coolant be when warm? After about 10 mins, I couldnt hold my finger in the cooland (I expenct this is pretty normal, most cars run at around 90* correct?) However, the temperature gauge was below the little line. Where is it meant to sit when the car is up to temperature?

Cheers
Rob

Spoke to someone who used to work for a vw garage today. They reccon my cam belt is out a tooth, and therefore as soon as the ignition advance is plugged in, the timing is advanced too much and the engine dies. I am going to check this.

The hose you unplugged makes a vacuum from the distributor - it's possible that the cam/crank is 1 tooth out, but that would make the revs 'go all over the place' it would more likely make the car overheat, and be sluggish.

You might have a knackered rotor arm/distributor cap - and the lack of vacuum would 'bodge' them into working properly.

Start cheap, work up

you're not having much luck with your car are you?

Ah damn car. Now won't start. Got it to start once, then let off the revs and it refused to start again.
I drove the car for about 4 miles around my dad's farm before all this happened (practicing ) . It started acting strange towards the end though.

Could be the dizzy cap or rotor arm, but they looked Ok to me, the old vw mechanic and some other guy who is pretty good with cars.
Gunna check the t belt first, will get back to you after.
Oh and x, I can't figure out where the other hose that comes off the air filter housing. One goes to the trumpet, what about the other? Sorry, first car!!!

If theres doubt regards the timing, id get that looked at before awt else.
On mine ive only got one pipe coming off the bottom of the airbox to the hot/cold air damper, the other doesnt have anything on it, the pipe from the vacuum advance on the dizzy goes to the bottom of my carb. Maybe the dizzy pipe went to the airbox too when it had the original Solex carb on it  Saying that i shouldnt think these would cause the issues your currently having dude. Youll get there. I had my car for 2 months before i finally got it running spot on with one thing after another Chris

Ok,  that is how mine is set up currently. I have a weber too. 

Ok, turns out I bought a suicidal car!
Today I went down and checked the cam timing. No issues there. Going to get a timing light and check the ignition timing too.

Was cranking her over, and the starter suddenly started acting as if there was low battery. Wooh-wooh-wooh… you all know that noise. Except the battery had over 12 volts. The starter would then work fine again. Then act up. Anyway, eventually got her started (running like sh..), but she would die if the revs dropped below halfway on the gauge (3k or something) and after about 30 seconds she would cut out.

Looked under the bonnet. Holy cow, wheres that smoke coming from…
The white and lilac wire from the coil was trying to ruin my day…

Damage wasnt too bad, a few wires in the loom could benefit from a bit of tape. Definently going to get a small fire extinguisher.

Looking through my haynes manual with some guy who could read the wiring diagrams, it appears thatif there was a bad connection to the starter motor, it could pull all the cranking juice through this tiny wire. Would make sense.

It appears that there is meant to be a 'balast resistor' in this wire somewhere. Dunno if anyone could answer these questions?
1. Should my 1.3 (electronic ignition) have one?
2. If so, where, and where can I find a replacement?

Going to replace this wire with one of equal or greater thickness tomorrow if I get the chance. I will also check the starter motor wires. Also plan on checking the coils resistance.

Come on little car! You look great, but that aint much use! Haha, its all fun, I would much rather this, than a reliable car with an ecu and efi etc, which screams with dash lights when I lift the bonnet. What can I learn from that!!