Bay Area 02 | Features | Gus Pfister Interview and Story

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Interview

BA02: Tell me a little about yourself and your experience with rebuilding Kugelfischers

Gus: I've been rebuilding these pumps really all my life, around 30-35 years. I originally started working for Robert Bosch, who bought out the Kugelfischer factory, in Zurich Switzerland. I also did some work for some other dealerships near the boarder of France... where I learned a little French too (laughter).

BA02: When did you make the move to the States?

Injector testing
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Gus: It was 1977. A Swiss automotive newspaper had an add looking to open a shop over here in the States and needed someone to rebuild these pumps. I came here through that add. Took me about a year to get the visa.

We started out in Burlingame originally. There was a Bosch factory rebuild facility that they closed in 1979, because Bosch didn't want to be in the business of repairing these pumps any longer. The workshop manager was then able to buy all the equipment in the facility from Bosch. We became partners in1970 and founded Pacific Fuel Injection in Burlingame. We continued rebuilding pumps until 1992 when my partner retired. In 1993 I bought this building in South San Francisco and moved everything over in 1994.

BA02: You are one of a rare breed. There are not many shops out there that know how to work on the Kugelfischer pumps.

Gus: (laughter) Yes, as time goes on there are fewer older people who know how to do these pumps. They are going away. There used to be five of us in this shop, now there are only two.

Money shot
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BA02: Is there a younger generation interested in continuing to work with the older types of fuel injection pumps, like the Kugelfischer?

Gus: No. There really isn't any new interest in these, because it really doesn't have much of a future. It is a dying art, a dying business. Younger people want to play around with their electronic stuff now (laughter).

BA02: How difficult is it to obtain parts for these pumps? I found a few of the other shops doing Kugelfischers were having trouble getting seal kits, etc. They had all these pumps waiting to be rebuilt, but no seals. "We're still waiting". Have you found that to be a problem?

Spill your guts
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Gus: Well, seal kits are no problem for me and all the parts are basically still available. It's just that the prices are so outrageous now. You cannot rebuild the pump economically. If there's very little corrosion inside then we can usually use the parts over. Otherwise, if you need to replace parts than you try to find another good used pump and rebuild that one. That is much more economical than buying new parts. For instance, suction valves are around $120 a piece. To replace the pump camshaft is around $600-$700.

BA02: Do you have any special connections that other rebuilders may not have, considering your long relationship with Bosch in Switzerland?

Gus: No, not really. Most of the parts I use are from other used pumps. Over the years I have collected so much stuff, so I don't have any problems. Well, one problem can be warm up runners. They have the tendency to corrode and then you have to find a new one. I've heard they are available again from BMW (mobile tradition) who had them made by Bosch, but you are looking at around $500.

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BA02: Are all new parts manufactured by Bosch, as they bought-out Kugelfischer?

Gus: Bessides the warm-up units, there actually are no other newly manufactured parts to my knowledge. They are just selling off what they have in stock. But they jack up the price so high it scares everybody away (laughter)! I don't think they are ever going to make any more new parts for these pumps, because the cars are 30 years old. In Germany they (2002's) are almost non-existent because of corrosion. Here you still see them driving on the street. In Germany they're just collectors items.

Monitoring the flow bench test
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BA02: You were saying earlier that corrosion on the pistons in the pump was a problem. What are some things that tii owners can do aside from regular oil changes to increase the longevity of the internal parts?

Gus: Drive the car and make sure you have clean fuel. And yes, definitely change the engine oil regularly.

BA02: When I removed my injection pump I noticed the oil return line was fairly dry inside.

Empty pump shell
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Gus:That's normal, it's a very low flow design. The oil doesn't rush through the pump.

BA02: From your experience, does there exist an average mileage range in which the Kugelfischer pump is ready for a rebuild? Especially if the owner is looking to retain the original performance the tii is capable of?

Gus: I would say between 100,000 and 200, 000 miles. It really depends on how well the car has been taken care of. Regular oil changes, whether the car is driven a lot, fresh fuel... even the climate here in California is a factor.

The main thing is the seals will go out. Everything that is rubber will get hard after a while. If you drive it in the bay area, where we don't have a really hot climate, they will last longer than, say, Arizona. There is such high heat there, that the rubber dries out much faster.

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Top view
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BA02: What about the fuel injectors?

Gus: Injectors are either good or bad. Even though you can take them apart there are no parts available to service them. Between 100,00 and 300,000 they are usually OK. I think they are still available, but they are expensive too.

BA02: If there is some corrosion or buildup on the injectors can they be disassembled and cleaned?

Gus: When you take them apart you stretch the springs and they really don't work correctly after that. Really you can just run chemical cleaner through them, to clean them up a bit.

Another thing, don't over tighten the nut on the injectors when installing them. Put some oil on the fittings, regular motor oil. Tight enough so they don't leak, but if you over tighten them you can spread them out and they can even crack. Same goes for the fittings on the pump, they will crack if you over tighten them

The name says it all...
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BA02: Any developments in the last 30 years as far as additives or synthetic oils that can help the pump last longer after it is rebuilt?

Gus: Synthetics... With that it's not really the base that is important, but the additives. The same additives can be found in non-synthetics. What all these new products on the market claim they can do, they don't always do (laughter)!

BA02: Any closing comments you think a tii enthusiast would want to know?

Gus: Well, definitely to have the pump perform right, you need everything else right on the engine. A proper tune up, valves adjusted, make sure compression, etc. is good. What ever goes with a good engine needs to be there.

Irregular surface of the 3D cam
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Also, the pump only holds a certain fuel map, which was originally designed into the pump. If you make changes to the airflow then there is no way of changing the fuel flow, without changing the cam inside the pump. You can do this type of modification, (pointing to a pump he has altered for tii racer on the East Coast) but you have to realize after that your fuel map is not the optimum anymore. You can make certain corrections, but it's never going to be as good as it was designed originally.

BA02: There are numerous after market modifications available out there for tii's. One example is the removal of the stock air cleaner housing and replacing it with a single large K+N filter. I've heard this actually hurts performance. This would be corroborated by what you've just explained... since the pump is tuned for a certain amount of air.

Rear cover removed: reduction gears
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Gus: Yes, every time you make air changes then the fuel flow is changed too. It's not that easy to do... Correctly.

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