T3 Gear linkage differences, petrol, diesel and Syncro

[SyncroGhia]

Here are some pics I took of the gear linkages that I have from vans I've broken over the years.

First the rear sections:

From the top down,

The top two are diesel 2WD. The diesel gearbox and engine are mounted higher in the body than the petrol gearbox and engine.

The centre one if from a Syncro, the gearbox and engine are mount further down in the body.

The bottom two are for petrol 2WD.

Next is a photo of the front sections:

The top one is from a Syncro van.

The next one down is from a diesel 2WD van, note that is has a small kink at the right hand end.

The bottom two are from petrol 2WD.

I have converted several 2WD vans to Syncro and managed to use the original 2WD linkage by simply bending it to match up. Also, the front section has cleared the front diff despite not having the section that is bent up to give more room.

Also, I have converted from petrol to diesel and again, I have managed to modify the original petrol linkage to work on the diesel (this is on my daily driver Tristar 2WD).

Obviously the best and easiest way is to just change to which ever one suits your application, but you can modify and make it work.

All of the above linkages are for later style gearboxes, not pre '83 with the three bolt gearbox mount as on air-cooled vans.

I hope that this helps other nutters like me who are always modifying and changing their vans around

MG
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T3 Syncro 16 S6 Westfalia Limey SOLD
T3 Syncro 6x6 SOLD
T3 RS6 Bluestar
T3 Tristar Syncro 16 SOLD
T3 Tristar Syncro RHD SOLD

[zeohsix]

Thanks for sharing Mods should make this a sticky. Great reference for future troubleshooting.

[Farfrumwork]

Thanks for the info!!


I was wondering if which front linkage I should use on my syncro conversion. Might a well use the syncro component as i have it pulled from the donor van already. (I have the rear section already from the syncro transmission install a couple years ago)


Thanks again

SyncroGhia = wealth of knowledge
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sold -> '85 Wolfsburg Syncro / 'Built' DOHC EJ25 (a great machine!)
'07 Legacy spec.B, road tuned stgII
'17 4x4 Sprinter, stone grey, SMB pop-top, on 33"s

"Blood stains, speed kills - Fast cars, cheap thrills - Rich girls, fine wine - I've lost my sense, I've lost control, I've lost my mind"

[SyncroGhia]

Just following on from the original post, I have realised that I missed off another piece of information that might cause some issues when swapping parts over.

This info is from ETOS. If anyone knows differently, please let me know.

MG
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T3 Syncro 16 S6 Westfalia Limey SOLD
T3 Syncro 6x6 SOLD
T3 RS6 Bluestar
T3 Tristar Syncro 16 SOLD
T3 Tristar Syncro RHD SOLD

[MarkWard]

I recall a recent thread where the poster was having a problem with the shifter ball not being deep enough in the cup. I think it was resolved by loosening the bolts and prying the support bracket up. Looks like there are two cups based on those photos. Good to know.
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[Gnarlodious]

I agree about the bolting on the socket mount while applying upward pressure. Letting it fall can result in locking up of the gearshift, as the socket’s angle is too acute to move the ball. You have to crawl under the van to move the lever towards the center. This normally happens with worn parts.
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Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit

[SyncroGhia]

I've just installed a Syncro gearbox to a Syncro van than my customer bought running with a 2WD gearbox.

When fitting up the linkage to the Syncro gearbox, I realised that the wrong bracket was being used as the socket was a long way off the ball when it a gear was selected.

This is what reminded me that I'd forgotten to include the info here

MG
_________________
T3 Syncro 16 S6 Westfalia Limey SOLD
T3 Syncro 6x6 SOLD
T3 RS6 Bluestar
T3 Tristar Syncro 16 SOLD
T3 Tristar Syncro RHD SOLD

[insyncro]

I have all of the USDM 2wd and Syncro parts MG has shown, brand new from VW.
Last year I had the Syncro parts copied by my local fabricator out of stainless steel.
I used the linkage tips available from T3technique.

So far so good.

After more miles to make sure that there are absolutely no issues with the parts, I will make them available for sale in the classifieds.

As an aside, coating the interior of the shafts with Wurth wax or sprayable sound deadener has made a huge decrease in noise transmitted by the linkage into the cabin.

[Christopher Schimke]

[insyncro]

Not using the aftermarket billet rear cup and extremely hard aftermarket bushings will cut down on the noise transfer too

[MarkWard]

In the US market the early vanagons had a 3 piece shift rod setup. Add to that there were subtle differences between the air cooled and 82 diesel rear rod.

The noticeable difference for the early setup is the rear shaft. Rather than being supported by a bushing like the ones above, the rod slipped over a pin at the transmission. Here is a picture of my original 82 rear section.

You can see the pin lower right.

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[SyncroGhia]

We have those over here also.

They also have different linkage parts and different mounting brackets at the front as the gearbox sits much higher in the diesel install than in the petrol version.

Check out the height of this early diesel bracket in comparison.

MG
_________________
T3 Syncro 16 S6 Westfalia Limey SOLD
T3 Syncro 6x6 SOLD
T3 RS6 Bluestar
T3 Tristar Syncro 16 SOLD
T3 Tristar Syncro RHD SOLD

[ALIKA T3]

Shyt, I didn't know about the bushing plate at the transmission on the Syncro was different. I gotta check that out on the pile of parts that's waiting to be assembled.

One thing I will never understand is the difference of the shifter cup 251711973(A) on a Syncro between diesel and petrol: transmission sits at the exact same spot, bushing plate 251711187B is the same between syncro's….
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Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget

[SyncroGhia]

[MarkWard]

Here is a side drawing of a 2wd diesel. It shows the install angle. Not that it explains anything, but it looks cool.

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[SyncroGhia]

The 2WD diesel setup moves the gearbox around all over the place.

Not only does the 2WD gearbox sit higher but the mount is in a difference place centrally.

The Syncro uses the same gearbox mounts on both.

Good to see it in a diagram

MG
_________________
T3 Syncro 16 S6 Westfalia Limey SOLD
T3 Syncro 6x6 SOLD
T3 RS6 Bluestar
T3 Tristar Syncro 16 SOLD
T3 Tristar Syncro RHD SOLD

[ALIKA T3]

[ALIKA T3]

Follow up on this.

Un-accordingly to ETKA, the Syncro diesel does NOT use the petrol plate and shifter. I tried both for the sake of science on a Syncro diesel shifter.
Other members around the world who took pics for me confirmed they had the diesel selector cup and plate.

Petrol on top, diesel on bottom

This explains the 10mm difference between the petrol and diesel selectors, the diesel plate lowers the shifter position from the transmission by 10mm

With petrol parts, the shifter is very close to the transmission, way too close for engineers to accept that...

Much better with diesel plate

Why a diesel and petrol rear shifter when the transmission is in the same location? Because the petrol one hits the engine and transmission skid plate which is different than WBX, much wider.
They could have made a diesel syncro shifter for all Syncros, so I don`t really know...

Comparison of shifters between syncro petrol shifter and syncro diesel shifter
The syncro diesel is also clocked a bit differently at the selector.
Brown shifter is gas, white is diesel

That`s where you see the brown gas shifter would hit the skid plate mounting bar/elbow on the right side of the van.

I also fixed the syncro diesel shifter I got from Germany, it was a zombie shifter!!

Before

Cut and welded a thick 20mm rod

This part had so much play, it got welded shut and redrilled.
I had brazed the head of the pin a long time ago too.

Also, here`s a comparison of the aftermarket shifter bushing 251711207E on the left, kinda beige looking sold by GoWesty and others. It is softer but gets damaged from the grease ( green/blue marine grease). I had this WBX syncro shifter rebuilt for at least 5 years sitting unused and unmounted for my project. The center of the bushing is decaying. The one pictured is a good one I just unpacked and used for my trial set ups. The decaying one was thrown away before I realized I should have documented it.
On the right is a NOS VW bushing, super hard plastic. Choose your poison
I choose the VW part for overlanding and put white lithium grease like factory this time.
I also use the VW brand bellows, the JP Group ones are mega junk, they will crack just sitting for a couple months unused, if you see them, boycott!

Happy Syncro diesel shifter!

Hawk eyes will notice my high tech selector boot, made of neoprene insul tube. This is 7/8 ID. Fits tight and lasts a very long time and much cheaper than the evil undersized junk found nowadays.

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Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget