The 009's Days are Numbered

Q: What does that title mean?
A: It has to do with Ludwig's distributor.
Q: What's a distributor?
A: It's the thingie that distributes the spark to each of an engine's cylinders, at the right time and for the right length of time.
Q: What's wrong with Ludwig's?
A: It's a 009 ("double-oh-nine"), which is an old German code for "dead weight".

Q: But then why do so many ACVW have 009s on them?
A: Mostly due to the fact that St. John the Muir wrote so eloquently and at length about his love for them. And they're cheap.
Q: Why did Bosch make them to begin with?
A: Because for industrial ACVW engines that just sit there and run a pump or a saw or something all day long with no real variation in load or rpm, a mechanical-only advance distibutor like a 009 works just fine. Also, if your ACVW weighs about 600 lbs fully loaded, or you only ever drive it on dead flat roads at 60mph in fourth gear, the 009 is for you.
Q: Isn't that how you guys drive Ludwig?
A: No.
Q: So really, what's wrong with them?
A: Spark has to arrive at a spark plug at just the right time, and for just the right length of time, for the engine to run its best. Like when you pedal a bike: you can feel when and for how long you should push on the pedal. And that changes whether you're climbing a hill, coasting down one, or whatever else.
The engine has the same needs--the spark needs to arrive and at one point of the engine's rotation when your crate is chugging up Parleys Summit, and at another point when you're barreling down it. The proper distributor can "tell" that Ludwig is trying hard to make it up the hill, and alters its spark delivery accordingly. The 009 can only alter the spark according to how fast the engine is spinning. This makes for a humiliatingly slow creep up the grades for a heavy brick like Ludwig.
Q: Bor-ing!
A: Yeah. You could always read this instead. It's pretty hilarious.
Q: So what does any of this have to do with anything?
A: After a little research and a few ($29) bux, we got ahold of the correct distributor for a 1974 VW Type 2 with a 1700cc engine and a manual "transmission", viz., Ludwig.
(Q: Does it matter that Ludwig has a 1800cc engine instead of the 1700cc he had originally?)
(A: Not really.)
Q: Well, let's see this thing.
A: Here it is in all its glory:

Q: Cool, I guess. So after you put that doohickey in, Ludwig will power up anything at 75mph, right?

A: Not quite. I expect we'll still have to use 3rd gear some of the time. But he won't have to try so hard, if you get my drift.

Q: When will this all happen?
A: This June, hopefully. It's all part of Ludwig's Back-to-Basics Summer, which hopefully will include his getting his real carburetors installed.
Q: What are you talking about?
A: That'll be covered in another boring, pedantic post.

Q: Was the photo of that new blah-bitty-blah taken on your stellar hardwood floors?

A: No! That's our stellar hardwood kitchen counter top. No kidding.