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Jack Frisch
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2003
Posts: 766
Location: Northhampton, MA
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 Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2025 10:25 pm Post subject: Shifter Acting funny.. |
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My 67 bus' shifter starting acting funny tonight.
When the shifter is working properly there is a slight snug fit as it engages into any gear.
Tonight on the way home from a ride that feeling disappeared.
All the gears still worked as I drove home, but there was no feeling in the shifter of engaging into any gear, in one regard it felt mushy.
Whne I got home and in my garage, I could move the shifter, but I couldnt engage reverse
I have never experienced this.
Any ideas what happened? |
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pondoras box
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2004
Posts: 1673
Location: Eerie PA
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| Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2025 5:57 am Post subject: Re: Shifter Acting funny.. |
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First things to check is the condition of the shift rod bushings and the connecting pieces. Make sure everything looks and feels good and is present.
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Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.
1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda). https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=563183
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Another 65 hardtop
1973 standard bug
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=804912
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Lind
Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2000
Posts: 10225
Location: idaho
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| Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2025 6:23 am Post subject: Re: Shifter Acting funny.. |
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shift coupler gone bad?
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Jack Frisch
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2003
Posts: 766
Location: Northhampton, MA
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| Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2025 9:05 pm Post subject: Re: Shifter Acting funny.. |
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BAD COUPLER!!!
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1958 Beetle orig. 6 volt 36 hp engine, body & pan, Black w/red/off white inter., Orig. VW wood roof rack and orig. rear luggage rack.
1967 13 Window Walk-thru Deluxe Bus, stock 1500 engine, Titan Red/Grey, Platinum Mesh interior, orig. & stock
1966 GT350H Shelby Orig. low mileage car |
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Split 66'
Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2010
Posts: 1374
Location: Bay Area, California
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| Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2025 10:38 pm Post subject: Re: Shifter Acting funny.. |
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Those stock rubber shift couplers are the best, was so bummed when mine split. Wish someone would reproduce those exactly like the OG ones.
The new metal couplers are ok, I used Red Loctite on the square bolts, so they don't fall out.
https://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=111711175B
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"OG = Original German" -- TheSamba.com dictionary |
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Jack Frisch
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2003
Posts: 766
Location: Northhampton, MA
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| Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2025 10:59 pm Post subject: Re: Shifter Acting funny.. |
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i ordered this one:
https://ronlummusracing.com/product/billet-aluminum-shift-coupler-early/
_________________
1958 Beetle orig. 6 volt 36 hp engine, body & pan, Black w/red/off white inter., Orig. VW wood roof rack and orig. rear luggage rack.
1967 13 Window Walk-thru Deluxe Bus, stock 1500 engine, Titan Red/Grey, Platinum Mesh interior, orig. & stock
1966 GT350H Shelby Orig. low mileage car |
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BonTonRoulet
Samba Member
Joined: September 29, 2020
Posts: 476
Location: Mississippi
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| Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2025 7:02 am Post subject: Re: Shifter Acting funny.. |
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There might have been better couplers to choose from. Race cars are noisy. That solid coupler is going to transmit the entire noise and vibration of your engine and transmission through the shift rod inside the shift tube all the way to your shifter and your hand.
I've repaired the type coupler you have decades ago by sourcing some rubber same thickness as the old one, drilled holes for 6-32 socket head machine screws at a 120 degree interval around the coupler and with 3 screws, lock washers and aircraft nuts it worked fine for decades. So don't throw that old one away just yet.
The Wolfsburg west variant works well but I definitely would not use red loctite on the grub screws. Good luck ever getting them loose if you have to. I used very small plastic zip ties in lieu of safety wire.
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70bus 
Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2004
Posts: 1448
Location: P.O.
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| Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2025 11:27 am Post subject: Re: Shifter Acting funny.. |
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| Quote: |
| Wish someone would reproduce those exactly like the OG ones. |
There's a seller in the classifieds that IS making them exactly like the originals: two rubber disks face-mounted, with no metal band around them. Early style.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2711488
Looks well-built. However, my mechanic looked at them and said they'd disintegrate due to oils getting on them, just like the OG ones did, so didn't approve. Guess that's why the metal shell was added later? I suppose you could crimp some metal around it to replicate the later style. I may try that as otherwise the repros looked good.
After having issues with WW couplers, my local started ordering them from WW again and says they are again better than the others. Some other models came apart a few blocks from the shop!
Question: how to tell if an OG one is going bad? I have a used VW one that seems fine - but if you twist it hard, it has a verrry slight give. As-designed, or pending failure?
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Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people." - Robert Williams
Raul the 65 singlecab
Karl the 70 nine-seater |
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Who.Me?
Samba Member
Joined: July 14, 2014
Posts: 2544
Location: UK (South)
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| Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2025 12:41 pm Post subject: Re: Shifter Acting funny.. |
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VAG-branded versions are still available in Brazil.
Google for "111711175a Brasil"
I got one from a US seller on ebay, but they're not selling them at the moment.
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Andy
Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786 |
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Split 66'
Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2010
Posts: 1374
Location: Bay Area, California
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| Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2025 1:37 pm Post subject: Re: Shifter Acting funny.. |
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| BonTonRoulet wrote: |
The Wolfsburg west variant works well but I definitely would not use red loctite on the grub screws. Good luck ever getting them loose if you have to. I used very small plastic zip ties in lieu of safety wire. |
Red Loctite will back out easily with heat, use a solder iron/gun under there if open torch/flame isn't a possibility. Can use a 10mm 12pt. socket to remove those square grub screws, makes it easier.
| 70bus wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Wish someone would reproduce those exactly like the OG ones. |
There's a seller in the classifieds that IS making them exactly like the originals: two rubber disks face-mounted, with no metal band around them. Early style.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2711488
Looks well-built. However, my mechanic looked at them and said they'd disintegrate due to oils getting on them, just like the OG ones did, so didn't approve. Guess that's why the metal shell was added later? I suppose you could crimp some metal around it to replicate the later style. I may try that as otherwise the repros looked good.
After having issues with WW couplers, my local started ordering them from WW again and says they are again better than the others. Some other models came apart a few blocks from the shop!
Question: how to tell if an OG one is going bad? I have a used VW one that seems fine - but if you twist it hard, it has a verrry slight give. As-designed, or pending failure? |
To test your OG rubber coupler, try bending the halves in different directions, you should see the splits starting to form on the outer rubber discs.
My experience with the deterioration of the rubber coupler was just as the OP described his going out. What used to be a precise and repeatable shift pattern, changed, and then quickly got worse, until it let go entirely.
That repro coupler in the classifieds does look really nice. I have a low-mile Rancho rebuilt T3 trans that doesn't leak, I'll seriously consider that new coupler, thanks for the heads up!
The reason I liked the rubber coupler so much is I put the Berg shifter in, and that coupler made the entire operation feel like a smoothly shifting race car, compared to the new metal coupler, that likes to wander around sometimes, where 4th will be in a slightly different physical location. Miss that positive, precision shift feeling. Might be time to get that back.
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mastorna
Samba Member
Joined: May 26, 2008
Posts: 191
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2025 2:02 pm Post subject: Re: Shifter Acting funny.. |
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| BonTonRoulet wrote: |
That solid coupler is going to transmit the entire noise and vibration of your engine and transmission through the shift rod inside the shift tube all the way to your shifter and your hand.
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I can confirm this is indeed true. My coupler split wide open on the freeway once and I put in a solid billet coupler. The shifting is extremely tight\perfect but the noise is bothersome. So much so, that I'd like to swap out for an OG if I can find one.
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Chuey
Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2010
Posts: 887
Location: Oceanside, California
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| Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2025 8:05 pm Post subject: Re: Shifter Acting funny.. |
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BonTonRoulet, thank you for chiming in! I have been wondering and even asked someone who makes one of the solid couplers, hoping to get a real answer. Equivocation was what was offered. Nice to hear from someone who has actually used one.
Chuey |
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Lind
Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2000
Posts: 10225
Location: idaho
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| Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2025 8:55 pm Post subject: Re: Shifter Acting funny.. |
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I imported a few extras of the reproduction ones from Germany. They have been using them for years with no problems. These is no metal to metal contact, so it will be as quiet as it can be. It takes 30-60 years for an original to fall apart, so I think these ones might outlast me.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2758237
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Wanted:
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Split 66'
Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2010
Posts: 1374
Location: Bay Area, California
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| Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2025 11:28 am Post subject: Re: Shifter Acting funny.. |
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| Lind wrote: |
I imported a few extras of the reproduction ones from Germany. They have been using them for years with no problems. These is no metal to metal contact, so it will be as quiet as it can be. It takes 30-60 years for an original to fall apart, so I think these ones might outlast me.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2758237
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Sold! PM inbound.
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