Replacing a VW Carburetor's Main Jet

I've always felt that Voxy guzzles up gas like it's water. VW fuel gauges' tend to give out inaccurate readings - at least mine does - and I've paid for it dearly by having to walk several miles because I thought she still had some gas :( I was left with no choice but to resort to the unconventional but tried and tested "peek in the tank" method to see if I still have fuel left. I think I'm just being paranoid but whenever I take a peek in the tank- I end up asking "where the heck did my gas go?!?"

I've asked several VW gurus (VWCP) about my dilemma and was advised to check my carb's main jet. I may have the wrong jet and that results to poor fuel economy. I was told that my carburator's (Solex H30/31 PICT) main jet is supposed to be either a 122.5 or 125 main jet - so I had to check what I had in there once and for all! As you can see from the picture above, Voxy's carb is very easy to remove - its held in place by just two nuts.(marked by arrows)

I bet the jet could be removed/replaced with the carb in place but since I have a crampped up engine bay (the A/C compressor is in the way) - removing the carb ensures that I do this right. I don't want to drop any screws, bolts and what nots in the engine bay (We all know how difficult it is to fit our hands (fingers) in tight spaces) or snag wires in the process. I had to remove the distributor cap so that I could have access to the nut in the back.

Once we've removed the two nuts - we can't remove the carb right away. We still have to disconnect the fuel line first (this is connected to the fuel pump) - there's a bit of fuel left in the line so be careful not to spill it.

Then remove the throttle cable by loosening this screw here.

The carb in my hand (bwahahaha). By removing this brass bolt - we get access to the main jet.

As the main jet is located in the carb's bowl - there's a definitely gas in there so loosen the brass bolt first - pour out the gas and set it aside (we'll use it to prime the carb later on).

Stuff the manifold (where you the carb sits) with an old rag - to protect it from things that might drop in there (or bugs crawling in).

Here's the main jet (inside) - removing it is easy.

As it turns out - what I have is a 120 main jet (not sure if the carb really came with this or if the previous owner had this replaced) - so I went out in search of a 125 main jet. Fortunately, jets are somewhat universal(according to Ate Cora - wife of Mang Nardo - a VW shop owner). I got my 125 jet from a friend's shop (Effie's) and it just cost me 30 pesos!  They told me this is for a Toyota carb but the threads are the same (we used a caliper to check)

After screwing the 125 jet in place - everything went back smoothly.

TIP: Whenever the carb's bowl runs out of gas, like if it was drained (like what we just did) or if the car runs out of fuel, it has to be primed first by pouring in a bit of gas in the carb through this little tube here (not applicable if your bug has been converted to use an electronic fuel pump). Otherwise - the car will have a hard time starting.

Now that the jet has been replaced - time to test Voxy's fuel consumption! See how I did that on my next post! :)

P.S. Thanks to sir Wrathskeller (arnold), sir Aceman (ray) and the VWCP community for answering my carb and F/C questions! Appreciate it! :)

P.P.S. To see a know more about VW fuel consumption (or if you have a question), you may leave a comment here or go to http://vwcp.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=26400