'75 Shifter Rod Bushings; Replacement Help - Trans Installed

[BellePlaine]

I'm still having troubles getting my 75 Riviera to shift well. After messing around for a two weeks different shifter plate adjustments the best it gets is to hard shift into 1-2-3-4 and miss reverse.

I've check the shifter place orientation by comparing it to the Bentley and my parts bus shifter assembly. My Bus Depot shifter bushings arrived and I have a lot of questions. My transmission is a 6-rib and is different then the original.

Here are some pix and then the questions.

Which of these bushings can I replace with the transmission installed? It doesn’t seem like that I can get the ‘yellow’ section of the shifter rod out but I think I can get the ‘blue’ one out. Note on the first pic that the end of the yellow shifter rod has a lip which would prevent me from even getting to the forward yellow bushing. Is there another way to get at this?

Any help or step-by-step instructions would be very much appreciated!
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'75 Riviera

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[VDubTech]

You can do the front bushings with the trans installed, you can not do any of the rear. The rear shift rod only comes out through the back, which is impossible with the trans installed. Remove the safety wire and the grub screw from the shift rod sections. Twist them in opposite directions and pull them apart. You have enough room to push the front shift rod forward and pull it out around the rear rod. Once you have it out you can replace the front bushings with ease. Remember to pull the shifter out before you try to remove the shift rods. Grease everything up, replace thge bushings, and put it back together. Another area that can cause slop in yoru shifting is the shift coupler at the trans to shift rod joint. You can replace that one with a new one with the transmission installed.
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[SGKent]

with the engine and trans installed just replace the front one which is in front of the shifter and the rear flex coupling. That will get you by for now. In order of wear that I have experienced.

100% chance it is worn to causing problem
donut ball in transmission nose
bushing in front of shifter

75% chance of wear
shift plate

35% chance of wear
flex coupling
nosecone bushing and seal in pre-091 trans

10% chance of wear but cleaned up and replaced as needed
shift shuttlecocks
rubber boots front and back to keep debris out

As needed
Shift plate adjustment
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[BellePlaine]

Thanks guys. I just wrote up an entry but before I could send I must have hit another button and lost everything. So, here's the quicky version.

I got the front bushing installed, it was easy especially with the splash pan removed since it made working from underneath the bus way better then working through the shifter hole from inside. Also, I was able to simply side the front-most shifter rod down and over the rear-most shifter rod which made it easy to access the front bushing and ram the shifter rod though it to install.

Here's the pics, thank you Vdubbin and SKent for confirming what I needed to know.

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'75 Riviera

Whether you are a novice or know your way around an ACVW, a day with Amskeptic is money well spent. My mechanical ability/knowledge/bus is always better after Colin visits.
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[germansupplyscott]

you installed the wrong bushing.

the middle yellow bushing in your upper photo is actually two bushings. the clearish donut is stuck to the end of the badminton birdie with the metal ring inside.

the donut with the split in it is not for a bay bus, it is beetle and split bus. the smallest one is not for your year of bus, it is up to '73 bay bus.

the only one you can install is the donut. the one you intalled may be better than the old busted one but it's not the right bushing.
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SL

[SGKent]

I think this is the one you need up there. Scott is this correct for his year?

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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[BellePlaine]

[Red Fau Veh]

Hey I bought 2 of the shuttlecocks for my 73 shifter and the one that has a groove in it for the metal ring, has 2 of the snap in the rod plugs on it, so it will only fit the rear of the rear shift rod, the front one looks the same but there is no groove for the metal ring, but the Bently manual shows the metal ring goes into the front most shuttlecock. Anybody understand and have a thought? Maybe I got wrong year shuttlecocks?
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1971 Deluxe Sunroof Bay 1905 stroker, dual idf40's, 74mm Scat forged crank, engle 110 cam. CB 044 heads, AutoCraft rockers, chromoly push rods
1973 Orange transporter stock type 4 with dual 40 Dellortos and Empi single quiet pack
1969 Adventurewagen blue whale Gene Berg 1776 built by Dave Kawell dual 36 DRLA's, Vintage Speed exhaust, Bosch 019 screamer
1961 Swivel Seat camper, L345 grey

[Red Fau Veh]

Well I found out what's up, http://www.ratwell.com/technical/091Transmission.html#shiftrod BusBoys has the part numbers wrong and these replacement parts are crap quality stuff, so now I understand why I got confused. Does anyone make better quality shift rod bushings?
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1971 Deluxe Sunroof Bay 1905 stroker, dual idf40's, 74mm Scat forged crank, engle 110 cam. CB 044 heads, AutoCraft rockers, chromoly push rods
1973 Orange transporter stock type 4 with dual 40 Dellortos and Empi single quiet pack
1969 Adventurewagen blue whale Gene Berg 1776 built by Dave Kawell dual 36 DRLA's, Vintage Speed exhaust, Bosch 019 screamer
1961 Swivel Seat camper, L345 grey

[aeromech]

If you're still having trouble shifting and all the shift rod bushings (except the center) and the coupler are in good shape I say your next place to look is the metal/plastic ball in the nose cone. The original plastic ones are failing often right now. I'm seeing more and more of this issue popping up here.
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[Red Fau Veh]

I kinda recycled this post but my 73 is done now. I replaced all the shift rod bushings, the coupler, actually only the rubber squares because the replacement metal was garbage. And I reassembled my trans with a new main seal, new nose cone seal and both brass bushings, a new steel shift ball, sanded the nose cone groove away, and also used a metal gasket with bearing retainer. I intalled everything and now my shifter hits all gears easy and isn't like a big salad bowl with a spoon in it. Now all I need to do is build an engine and I'm all done! Can't I just hang a nice cheap type 1 motor in there?
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1971 Deluxe Sunroof Bay 1905 stroker, dual idf40's, 74mm Scat forged crank, engle 110 cam. CB 044 heads, AutoCraft rockers, chromoly push rods
1973 Orange transporter stock type 4 with dual 40 Dellortos and Empi single quiet pack
1969 Adventurewagen blue whale Gene Berg 1776 built by Dave Kawell dual 36 DRLA's, Vintage Speed exhaust, Bosch 019 screamer
1961 Swivel Seat camper, L345 grey

[stevo96]

Now that all that is done what sort of movment do you have in the gearstick whilst in neutral/in gear? Mine has about 3 inch of play side to side both in and out of gears... I just wondered if thats how they came out of the factory new?

[Red Fau Veh]

That's about how mine is, but it was alot more before.
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1971 Deluxe Sunroof Bay 1905 stroker, dual idf40's, 74mm Scat forged crank, engle 110 cam. CB 044 heads, AutoCraft rockers, chromoly push rods
1973 Orange transporter stock type 4 with dual 40 Dellortos and Empi single quiet pack
1969 Adventurewagen blue whale Gene Berg 1776 built by Dave Kawell dual 36 DRLA's, Vintage Speed exhaust, Bosch 019 screamer
1961 Swivel Seat camper, L345 grey

[Gumboguy]

im in the process of replacing the shifter rod bushings.

What i find is that the forward shuttlecock bushing in the new kit does not easily (if at all) into the two holes in the shaft. One pin fits, but it seems impossible to get both pins in the inside of the bushing to fit into the shaft holes.

Is there a secret? File off one of the two pins and hope for the best? Just leave the old bushing alone? The old one fits really tight in the tube and seems to cause a ton of drag. I can see it supposed to be snug, but it feels like a lot of extra force is required to move it in and out of the tube.

What are yall doing?

[BUSBOSS]

Post a picture of your existing bushing.

The plastic in the new ones is not as robust as OEM. Unless your existing bushing is shot, I would say add the additional bushing from the service bulletin using the new, install the existing in original location, and lube all with Silglyde.
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[Wildthings]

[airschooled]

I worked on a bus (70crew? I think?) where intense lubrication of the stock bushings just couldn’t fix the tough shift rod travel. We opted to replace the bushings and it’s been shifting fine for a few years now.

Getting the new bushings on the old rods requires squeaky clean rod ends and holes. I also dress the holes with a debuting tool, and file the SLIGHTEST chamfer on the bushing index dots to help get them started. Once close, channel locking pliers or vise-grips will be your friend. Didn’t forget the metal clip ring, did ya now??

Robbie
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[Gumboguy]

Here's some pics of the old and new shuttlecock bushings.

I haven't even gotten to the metal ring yet. Still trying to figure out how the two plastic pins on the inside of the shuttlecock looking thing fit into the two holes on the shift rod. I imagine that ring is not gonna be an issue.

Looks like the aftermarket bushings just don't fit as sold.

[Gumboguy]

Here's some pics of the old and new shuttlecock bushings.

I haven't even gotten to the metal ring yet. Still trying to figure out how the two plastic pins on the inside of the shuttlecock looking thing fit into the two holes on the shift rod. I imagine that ring is not gonna be an issue.

Looks like the aftermarket bushings just don't fit as sold.

[SGKent]

use the old one if it is still good. That repop is not worth using IMHO. We all have issues with it. The knobs on the one I bought were poorly deformed in the casting process.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin