59 Beetle Shift Rod Bushing?

elgatto · Samba Member Joined: October 26, 2004 Posts: 29

Shifter is real sloppy on my 59 Beetle. I have been reading about VW not using the shifter rod bushing in 1960 Beetles. My chassis # is 261 2537 which I think is a mid 1959 car. Should my car have the white plastic type shift bushing in the holder? And, should I replace the coupler along with the bushing. I have it apart and there is no sign of a broken or worn rod bushing in the holder or tunnel.

60ragtop · Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 8:49 am Post subject:

There is no bushing in the 59, just an arm to hold tension on the shift rod.
What kind of shape is the round rubber coupler Question

They get real spongy with age

elgatto · Samba Member Joined: October 26, 2004 Posts: 29

Is the arm to hold the shift rod like the holder for the later model bugs?
The holder for the shift rod in my car looks just like the holder in pictures of later model cars. That's why I thought a plastic bushing should go in there. Thanks for your comments/help. Any other ideas are welcome too.
I am going to replace the coupler just to be sure.

Snort · Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 10:02 am Post subject:

If your car was designed without the bushing, it should look like this. If it's worn out, you need to replace it with the later version with the plastic bushing, as these are NLA, or find a used/NOS one. If it's not worn, put a dab of grease on it where the shift rod goes through the hole, and where the shift rod contacts the spring tensioner behind the hole.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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Doctor · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 9:06 pm Post subject:

I'm going to jump in this thread and hope that you guys can help me out...

I have a 1959 Beetle, the shift with a stock shifter is very sloppy, I have an empi T handle in the parts bin, so I have thrown that in, Selecting second, I now get reverse, and 1st is impossible to get... There is a new coupler on the shift rod under the rear seat... When the car is NOT running, I seem to be able to select any gear I want, but when it IS running... I cannot get the gear I want...

Given that 59 Beetles did not have the white shift bushing... What should I be looking for?

Everyone says "Replace the shift bushing" but if my car doesn't have one... where do I go next?
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Dustin B · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 10:27 pm Post subject:

Have you changed the coupling between the shift rod and tranny?
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Doctor · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 10:34 pm Post subject:

Snort · Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 8:32 am Post subject:

Remove shifter. Visually inspect your shift rod bushing right behind the shifter mount. Metal, plastic, it doesn't make any difference it still functions the same way.

"Sloppy shifter" is somewhat vague. Get your stock shifter working properly first, then if you need to put in the Racer X shifter you'll have better luck.

Do you have a full synchro transaxle in a split case car? You may need to work on the hockey stick to get the shift coupler properly aligned.

Have you read up on adjusting the reverse lock-out plate under the shifter?

54Mike · Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 12:50 pm Post subject:

silvertonguedevil · Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 4:03 pm Post subject:

This is a good one to check out.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=157519
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my59 · Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 4:49 pm Post subject:

Remember- '59 has no synchro for first.

If you just changed the shifter, maybe that is the root of the issue- adjusting the revese lock out plate
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Matt_Lewis · Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 7:05 am Post subject:

Just wondering...when did the spring tensioner come into play? what years? I have a 55 and it has a spring tensioner.

I am trying to diagonsis a 1st gear and 2nd gear issue and someone said it could be the bushing and once I removed everything there was no bushing and the place where the bushing would go, the hole, was beveled like the image above.

Thanks
matt

JoelH · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 2:09 am Post subject:

I'm going to jump in on this thread as well. I too have the same problem of being able to shift into all gears just fine with the engine off, but when it's running, it's seems hard to shift into 1st gear and 3rd gear. I have installed the red empi urethane shift coupler (maybe my 1st mistake) and it is a brand new syncro transmission. The car is a 1960, so no shift rod plastic bushing. Everything looked good in the tunnel when I had it all apart. I did notice that when I take out my shifter, the shift rod seems a little farther back in the "shifter hole" in the tunnel when it's in neutral then what it should. I mean, it doesn't seem very centered in the hole. Is this normal?

I see there is a possibility that I need to adjust my clutch cable tension. I will try that and report back my findings. If it's not that, what might be my next thing to check out?
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tomsbuggered · Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 8:08 pm Post subject: 1959 beetle shift issues

Just bought a 1959 bug; with shift issues. I removed shift rod, no bushing in tunnel which seems correct for 1959, Clutch seems to be set up correctly, 1/2" of freeplay. Before removing rod, shift to find 1st would go into 3rd, could not downshift to 2nd. Shift coupling is original but seems to be tight, there is a bored out section on the shift rod for the set bolt to tighten into. I re-installed the shift rod today, cleaned dead mice from tunnel and greased rod into holder assembly. Have not tried to install shifter yet.

Tom

Heinz57 · Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 6:16 pm Post subject:

I had the same problem on my '59 Beetle and ordered a late model shift rod hanger, a new white bushing and retaining clip from WW. There are about 8 or 10 spot welds holding the original hanger to the tunnel. It took about an hour to redo the whole thing. I also later modified the shift rod to use the late model shift coupler to go with my '68 transmission. Shifts very well now.
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Snort · Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:25 am Post subject:

I would be hesitant to change out your shift rod bracket with a newer style unless you are sure it is worn out. The older style bracket has a nice snug fit to the shift rod and as long as you give it a bit of grease you will never have trouble with it whereas with the later style you may find that plastic bushing will wear, crack and break into pieces. This is why the later style bracket fails, as the plastic bushing falls apart then the shift rod starts cutting through the metal hanger because the metal is so thin.

More comments here:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=609822


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