type 1 in a late bus transaxle question

[ricobiker]

i put a 1600 dp and a 003 transaxle from a 71 vw into a 79 westy.
bought custom brackets on ebay, i had to switch the nose brackets on the transaxles because the bolts on the rear torsion bar is different.
everything bolted up perfectly, but a can't move the gear shifter forward or backwards. Is the gear shifter on the early and late busses different lengths?
will try to take some pics

[Desertbusman]

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=483408
_________________
71 Superbug
71 Westy

[aeromech]

Yeah,
There was a guy here just a few weeks ago with the same issue. Off hand I can't remember what the fix was though. It's either in the above link or you can find it in a quick search.

Quick question though... why did you use the 1971 002 transmission when a 1972 + would have had the correct hanger lugs on the bell housing?
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[drober23]

The shift rod on the '79 should be about 1/2" shorter than the one on the '71. I have read posts where people got this to work, but the shift pattern was transferred back a bit.

I am not sure if swapping the nose sections accounts for the length difference.
_________________
DJ

'75 Westfalia, '79 Deluxe, and some others...
(more busses than sense)

In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey

[aeromech]

When I put an 091 into a 1968 bus the linkage worked fine, no problems. I did have the transmission shop that built it put a 002 bell housing and nose section on it though.
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[drober23]

I put an 091 into a '75 and had to shorten the front shift rod to get it to work. Didn't change bellhousings or nose cones though.
_________________
DJ

'75 Westfalia, '79 Deluxe, and some others...
(more busses than sense)

In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey

[Paintedbus]

hey ricobiker-

I had a very similar problem in my 78. Perhaps what I did will help shed some light on your situation...

The previous owner of my bus had swapped out the 2L for a 1600dp but had foolishly left the 009 transmission in place. Luckily, I was able to secure a transmission out of a 68 double cab and used that instead... (swapping over the bell housing to use my late bus starter and the trans to frame hanger the later bell housing provided.)

At that point, I took it out for a ride and while I wasn't going 40 up the hills anymore, I did find it incredibly hard to find any gears due to the fact that all of the bushings and the cage linkage were shot. So out came the shift rod, lubed it up, put on some new bushings and jammed it all back into place. I hooked up the new cage bit in the back and screwed the grub screw up front and... no movement at the shifter what-so-ever.

As it turned out, I had screwed the grub screw too far back on the shift rod... essentially making a new dent for it to sit in and completely locking it in place. I tried everything before I determined that was the culprit.

Now I have exactly the set-up you have and I already took it on a 3000 mile ride around the south. The shifter knob is VERY close under the e-brake, but it works and I will be taking a torch to the shifter to bend it back a bit.

So, moral of the story here is make sure you have everything lined up right. It WILL work with the later (longer) shift linkage, but it takes some finagling to get everything to work. I'd suggest loosening the grub screw up front (if you played with that at all) as well as the one in the back that holds the cage linkage to the shift rod. See if that frees up things.
_________________
Champagne Edition Roadtrip monster "Juakali"

~"Paintedbus" Ken~
The Mobile Muralist
WWW.PAINTEDBUSART.COM

[ricobiker]

i use the 002 instead of the 091 transaxle because on the samba they said it is better geared for the 1600, the bently book says there is a adjustment on the front of the transaxle, didn't change the nosecone, but got new hardwareand switch brackets. going to loosen the transaxle and engine and adjust it back or forward and try that