Well, after spending a short summer with the bug, I've realized that maybe I got a bad one. This car has been even more unreliable than my Cutlass(and that's saying something). Sure it's cool, but now I'm at my wit's end.
I'll explain my problem;
Points are good, Valve adjustment good, I have spark at each plug, fairly new cap and rotor, plugs and wires have 500 miles on them and are free of fouling or broken/melted wire. Newer fuel pump, unsure of fuel filter condition, and unsure of ignition coil condition, no vacuum leaks found either. No carbon/exhaust buildup in the valve cover area. The car has an extreme misfire. It shows no symptoms of a burned valve. Severe lack of power, but drivable. Today the car drove ok for about 8 miles, then it began backfiring out the exhaust on-throttle, at high-ish RPM. The driver's side exhaust, #3 & #4, is very hot and the chrome exhaust tip is kind of "heat-treated" gold now. The passenger side exhaust tip, #1 & #2, is still perfectly chrome, but cold to the touch if it's idling(gets much hotter after driving), and the exhaust coming out is far colder than the other side. If the engine is running at any throttle position, unplugging the #1 wire from the distributor makes no difference in how the engine runs. If I hold the plug wire just barely over the #1 pole on the dist. cap, enough to see the spark between the cap and wire, the engine runs slightly better, but fully connecting the plug wire has the same effect as completely disconnecting it. The #1 plug has spark, but isn't firing in the cylinder, it seems. I'm stumped at this point, and I either need to make it run properly and keep it, or fix it and sell it. Either way I need to fix this car. If anyone here could point me in the right direction that would be fantastic.
Picture just for fun