Shift rod bushing - how to?

[mnussbau]

[Glenn]

From: Shift rod bushing replaced! pictures

[WD0AFQ]

Thanks Glenn, I am doing this tomorrow.
Dan
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66 baja

http://www.danandteri.blogspot.com

[WD0AFQ]

Pulled inspection cover and my rear coupler is shot. Monday I can buy a new one and do this trick. Say, why is there water in the tunnel? Is it ok to drill a drain hole in the bottom?
Dan
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66 baja

http://www.danandteri.blogspot.com

[CLASSIC CAR GUY]

I love this place!!!! great post, and great pics, found this post a few weeks back. Just did my 62' today, and took about hour to hour and half, fortunatly it came apart easy and nothing was broket, shifts unbelibable just like everyone else has said, Next I will be doing my new 61' picking it up tomorrow, try to get to it one day this week now that I did this one and see what it entails,
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58' Rag'
60' Type 1
61' Type 1
62' Type 1
64' Type 1
66' Type 1
66' Fasty'
67' Type 1

"every one wants to reinvent the wheel, but nobody knows how to make it round"

Vintage Volkswagen Sales and Service as well as Classics and Muslcecars all located here in Phoenix Arizona at www.rpmotorcars.com

[bill may]

[WD0AFQ]

Ok, thank you. I did not smell it but felt like grease. Oops, you were talking about the water. I will double check that.
Dan
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66 baja

http://www.danandteri.blogspot.com

[tb03830]

Look what I found in my Shifter Linkage. Look at the bottom if the series.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4866376#4866376
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"Si vis pacem, para bellum - If you want peace, prepare for war."

1964 Convertible Bug - 1600cc SP engine with a stock H30/31 Carb and SVDA Distributor - Swing Arm Highway Flyer Tranny, Chassey #5 849 630

[silvertonguedevil]

OK! Let me let you in with my little nightmare.....So I just bought a '64 beetle the other night. I drive it home with no problems. I go out to get into it the next morning to take it to work. Car will not go into second gear. Period. I jump onto the samba and do my search. I run across several posts including this one and figure that I can do this job no problem (everyone makes it sound so easy). I go down to Bugformance and grab a shift rod bushing, a spring clip and a rear coupler. I come home and start tearing my new acquisition apart. I find that the coupler has been done but the bushing is shot. So I pull the shift rod out and discover that the hanger bracket is also worn out. So now I pull the front bumper and pull the shift rod completely out. I go back to Bugformance to return the rear coupler and grab a hanger. I drill out the old one which was fairly easy but pulling it out through the inspection hole in the front was a joke. I finally got it but holy shit!! I get the new one in (another holy shit) and get it tacked into place. I clean up my welds and paint the area, let the paint dry and installed the bushing in my new hanger. With my ambitious 8 year old helping me, we start reinstalling the shift rod. It pops in with no problems and we start feeding it back. I'm watching through the shifter hole and I realize he pushed it a little too far so I grab my needle-nose pliers and start pushing it back towards the front just a little and half of my bushing comes back out with it!! The g**damn brand new bushing split in half. I'm into the "easy" repair now 3 days!!!! I'm trying not to lose my mind or patience with my new car but....shit!! Sorry for the rant but I really needed to vent. Between the brewskies and typing this out, I'll hopefully feel better. My next day off is 5 days from now and I'll install a new bushing and all should be good (I hope). I'll keep you all posted.

[silvertonguedevil]

Sorry, it's me again but this is really bugging me.....
If the brand new one is only good for one slide back and one slide forward before it splits, how is this repair supposed to last the next 40+ years like the last one did? Even 10 years? Anyone have this problem?

[tb03830]

[silvertonguedevil]

So after running home after work and putting in a couple of hours for the past two nights, I finally put 'er back together and took 'er for a spin last night. Shifts soooo much nicer. No more hunting for gears. It was probably the most frustrating job/task I've ever had to do on a car (any car for that matter) but I learned alot and in the end it was totally worth it. It may have been easier to pay a shop to do this for me but in addition to being cheaper, now I'll be able to do my '63 in about 1/32 of time it took to do this one.

[Shorrock]

Put in my new Berg 12" extra curve shifter and noise, noise, noise! I did not hear it with the Hurst shifter but then it is spring loaded. Bushing again?! this is the second time I have replaced it. The last time I thought I would kill myself and said never again. Well this time I gave it some thought and in less than an hour from start to finish, including waxing the nose since the bumper was off, did it by myself without any of the frustration of last time or asking for help from my wife (who also said she would not help again the last time). I took some 3/4 inch white PVC pipe cut it 6 feet and cut an angled slot 1/2 through 1/2 inch from the end and drilled a hole at the bottom of the slot. Slid the pipe in till I was butting up against the shifter rod and slip a piece of wire into the slot and tied it around the shifter rod head. Turned it 90 degrees and easily pulled it all the way out of the bushing. The old bushing was still installed but the front flange that holds the spring had cut through. Using my pipe I slid it right back in without a hang up. Installed the new coupling and done. The spring apparently helps reduce noise at least in my case because it is now gone even though the bushing itself was still supporting the shaft.

[silvertonguedevil]

[eaterofdog]

I finally broke down an did this repair on my buggy today. I've had the bushing sitting here for weeks but have been avoiding it. Everything went fine except it was a real bitch to get the rear coupling back together because the body covers half of the porthole. After finally getting it back together, it now shifts really well. I had a real problem downshifting to first or second gear before. It had also popped out of gear a couple of times. No problems at all now.
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[joemac]

From VW school in about 1970:

The clip is there to reduce the outward tension of the bushing against the hanger, decreasing the chance that the bushing will split at the groove where it sits in the hanger. Without the clip, it WILL split.

From replacing hundreds of shift bushings over the years:

Grease the bushing after it's installed in the hanger. Push a quarter into the front of the bushing. This holds the bushing open to allow easy insertion of the shift rod. Clean all rust and old grease off the shift rod and smear a thin coating of grease onto the rod as it's being slid through the bushing.
If you care about losing the quarter, place a sheet of paper towel under the shifter area in the tunnel, which will catch the quarter. The grease that's on the quarter will cause it to stick to the paper towel, which can be grabbed with long needlenose pliars or a length of coat hanger that can be used to catch the end of the towel and removed through the opening at the shifter.
In all the years, and all the shift rod bushings, I never lost a quarter, a clip or a bushing.
I don't think I ever had to remove a bumper, either.

Buy a good quality bushing and cry once.

Shift rod lengths changed in 1968 when the location of the shifter was moved back. Auto SlickShift rod is different from four-speed.

[MuesliNZ]

Did my shift rod bushing today, and it went really smoothly thanks to all the advice in this post. In fact its the first job I've done on the bug where its all gone smoothly and I haven't broken something else while fixing the thing that made me get the tools out in the first place. Yay!!

Having delicate lady-hands definitely helps in this procedure, I mostly didn't need the pliers to wheedle the rod along and out : )
A big thanks to whoever first suggested tying string to the end of the rod before removing it, it really did make getting it back in a hell of a lot easier! In fact, it was harder to get out than it was to get it back in.

Just done a test drive and all rattling associated with the gear shifter has ceased, it slides in and out of gear way easier, and the gears are where you expect them to be, every time : )

[jcfrenz]

i cant get the stupid bushing in. it goes in a little but wont fully go in how do i get it in?

[CLASSIC CAR GUY]

it should snap in the bracket with no problem, check that its not bent or crushed in someway, but i dont see how this could ever happen but you never know. I have done a few and never had an issue getting the plastic bushing in the bracket it just snaps in, this maybe a dumb question but you are tring to put the bushing in with the shaft out correct?, and not trying to slid it down the shift rod and in the bracket with shift rod in?(belive it or not i have heard a few people trying to slid it down the shaft and get it in the bracket )
_________________
(0\!/0)
58' Rag'
60' Type 1
61' Type 1
62' Type 1
64' Type 1
66' Type 1
66' Fasty'
67' Type 1

"every one wants to reinvent the wheel, but nobody knows how to make it round"

Vintage Volkswagen Sales and Service as well as Classics and Muslcecars all located here in Phoenix Arizona at www.rpmotorcars.com

[skineman]

I need to do this as well on 66 baja I was a bit scared after the shop told me about it now after reading all you guys info I feel like it wont be bad at all and i can remove the whole nose so it should be a bit better

THANKS ALL