Anybody know anything about dune buggys?

[ShortTemperd]

A buddy of mine has a dune buggy and it was running like crap so I replaced the cap rotor wires and plugs for him and it starts up a little hard but idles fine but when you rev it up it back fires only on the one side? I put everything back on the way it came off and can't figure out what's going on any tips and info would help thanks 

[xjs3667]

Sounds like carb might need tuning, or possible intake leak.......more info would be nice to, like what engine, is it points and condenser or electronic ignition... could be timing is off too

[ShortTemperd]

I don't know nothing about this all i know is its a 78 motor dual carbs  I wanna say points.? I'm not really sure tho and it ran without back firing before so I don't understand why it would now

[ShortTemperd]

Just pulled the plugs again and the number 3 cylinder is not firing for some reason 

[betterbeaters]

mabye you got a bad wire or plug?

[ShortTemperd]

Well just fired it up as let it idle and 3 and 4 arnt firing 1 and 2 pipes are hot and others or not so is that just bad wires or cap?

[ShortTemperd]

Well that didn't take long the guy who had it before had them wires backwards

[xjs3667]

Loll just got back on here looks like you got it all straightened out?

[ShortTemperd]

Yea now i got a new problem runs great but if you drive it for like 15 minutes it shuts off and won't start like its over heating? Is this common for these air cooled vw's?

[xjs3667]

No it should not be doing that, some have a low oil sensor and will shut off...also temp is measured from oil temp since there's no coolant, I'd say check the oil, and also it could be running lean and giving you overheat symptoms, but with air cooled its not like water cooled engines where you get loss of power....air cooled pretty much you know right away as the pistons expand from the extreme heat will start digging into the cylinder walls and eventually sieze most time after it cools down it will run again. Are you doing a lot of ideling?? As this will heat the engine up fast, also check the fan and belt to it,

[ShortTemperd]

Okay it's probably the oil temp then because it has a light and goes on and off so ill do the oil change and and belt and fan is fine. And no just for about a minute and I also notice that that has a internal oil filter that stuff pretty easy to change out?

[xjs3667]

Yea its not to hard to change the filter

[ShortTemperd]

Alright and will it hurt anything if I unplug the oil temp light or is it just shutting down because it is heating up?

[xjs3667]

Sounds like its shutting down from heating up, I'd advise against unplugging oil light since its your ''guide'' to let you know she's getting hot...I'd try oil change and filter and see what it does

[ShortTemperd]

Okay I'll let my buddy know the thing hasn't ran in about 3 years so I'm sure that's got something to do with it