Shifter Parts ID T2

[72lowslow]

[Tcash]

Part # for the metal ball, or who's sales?

PLASTIC SHIFT BALL, VW TYPE 2. Part Number: 004-301-241A
https://weddleindustries.com/products/1000169/1000821

STEEL SHIFT BALL
https://weddleindustries.com/products/1000169/1002085

[pjalau]

Reviving the thread...

I recently replaced a transmission. The reverse gear would not stay in place - it kept popping out. Shift rod removed, it looks like this:

Apparently 47 years of shifting has an effect on metal. I found a much better used one at a local place, it looks like this:

Much better.

Here are the two for comparison.

So as long as I am here, I'll be replacing the plate, bushings, and cleaning the crap out of it before heading back out on the road. Because this looks hideous:

Anything else I should be doing while all this is apart?

[Busstom]

MODERATORS: I believe this thread needs a bit of cleanup. Of course, please delete this post and my suggested corrections if they are found to be incorrect. But, as I’m R&R’ing the shift circuit in my ’75 Bay, I’m all the way into this subject - I’ve read, and re-read this thread numerous times, and found myself cross-eyed and completely confused until I got to the bottom of it. No reason for other Samba users to stumble into this confusion. I’m confident that the corrections to the discrepancies I am highlighting below are accurate. Samba users please log input as required if I’m overlooking something, and I will gladly bury my head in the sand. So…

The first discrepancy is in the 1977 Repair Manual Supplement #18. As marked up in the image below, the service instructions state to drill two 6.1 millimeter holes and then to install bushing # 211 711 185 B. The problem is, 211 711 185 B has only one nub. So there’s no point in drilling that 2nd hole unless the intention is to install bushing # 211 711 179, which does have two nubs. However, in my assessment, bushing 179 (with the C-spring) is way too expansive and is very “draggy” in the shift rod housing (tube), so more than one of that bushing may hinder the smoothness of the rod travel. I believe it’s designed that way to maximize support out at the front end of the shift rod, where it needs more support, as opposed to the rear end of the shift rod, where the 185B bushing is way more compliant, and allows for slight misalignments of the coupler connection to the transaxle. The “third” bushing installation would involve the softer 185B bushing, which would render that compliant support, yet baffle any shift rod vibration if present.

The second discrepancy is the incorrect notation of bushing locations in the image below. While the part numbers of items 2 and 3 are correct, the text descriptions of the locations are not: Item 2 goes on the FRONT of the main shift rod, Item 3 goes on the REAR (and middle if retrofitted) of the main shift rod. As Busdaddy stated, there appears to be no hard rule, and as TCash quotes germansupplyscott on 7/10/14, where 1972 literature specifies 185B on the front, and 179 in the rear (there also seems to be some confusion in that exchange), that too could be a misprint given the obvious discrepancy I highlighted in the factory Supplement. Germansupplyscott states that most of what he's seen are the opposite of said apparent discrepancy. Quite interestingly, if you look closely at the bushing layout in the image, you can see that somebody once overlaid the words “Front” and “Rear” on the original version to apparently "correct" it. In any case, my ’75 has two holes on the front, and a C-spring 179 bush, and one hole in the rear, with a 185B bush. It may not be carved in stone, but I think it makes sense that this is the prevalent design for Bays.

I did also notice that on 3/2/14, Wrenchman12 posted that his Jan. 1973 Bay has only single holes with the 185B bushings, and that automatics only used one type of bushing on the long rod…

As a side note, regarding the “third bushing” supplement: 6.1 mm is not 1/4", it’s 0.240-inch (10 thou shy of a quarter). The nubs measure 6.1 millimeters, so a 1/4" hole will be a hair sloppy (the holes in my shift rod are 6.10 to 6.14 millimeters), especially when drilled by hand by the shade-tree mechanic. I guess VW thought, ahhhh, close ‘nuff.

Who has a stack of Bay shift rods to inspect which ends have two holes and which have one???

Sorry for the long-winded post, but I hope it adds value to this thread…please correct me if necessary.
_________________
My name's Steve and it's pronounced "Bust 'em" (cuz people think I'm Tom) 😏

[sodbuster]

Here is a little trick I've done for years on 002 transaxles. This does not work on 091 boxes as it interferes with the spring loaded shift linkage components inside the nosecone. Nor does it work on the later 002 boxes with the larger mainshaft that may have the spring loaded components. Welding in a piece of steel along the mainshaft bearing side of the bracket stiffens it up so it won't flex and crack across one of it's bolt holes.

Care needs to be taken in the welding process that none of the welds interferes with where the shouldered mount bolts contact the bracket. Also once done the bracket still needs to mount completely flat to the gear carrier housing. Only 3 welds are required. At the top and bottom and in the middle.

With the engine out of my bus right now due to a sucked valve I got a chance to do a few other things the bus needs. One of those things is to replace a few leaking seals on the trans. This trans went in my bus rebuilt by me with a brand new engine 15 years and 50.000 miles ago. When I pulled the engine and trans package I notice one of the seals that the trans needed was the nosecone seal.

I was curious how much things had worn in there in the mainshaft bearing area. The nose cone thrust surface in particular. I was pleasantly surprised to find no real discernible wear. You can see a small ghost line on the nose cone but it's nothing. A remnant from when I surfaced it 15 years ago. Run an edge across it. Nothing. It looks friggin' beautiful in there! A new gasket and nosecone seal and I'll run it.

[hometurbine]

Hello,
going through my '75 and I guess I want to reiterate that Busstom's comments appear correct: looks like the bushings were reversed prior to the correction. The front bushing has 2 nubs and a ring (-179), while the middle-aft ones have 1 nub (-185B).

My bus came with 2 bushings and they added one on later models. So I guess while everything's out it seems like it's worth adding the 3rd one? If so, as Busstom states, the repair manual says to make 2 holes, but it looks like it uses the bushing with just 1 nub (-185B), so only 1 hole will do.

Thanks
Bill

middle & aft one:

forward one:

_________________
Bill
'75 Westy Bus with Subaru EJ25 engine
GE CT58-100 helicopter gas turbine
Tiernay TT10 APU gas turbine

[hometurbine]

Hello as I'm working on the shift mechanism I want to replace the aft coupling with the heavy duty one for my '75 Westy bus.

There was a link to one from Cip1 earlier in the thread (see pic below, but it looked like the one on Amazon)

But the one below from Amazon seems similar but doesn't state it will work on a Bus...

The only visual difference is the color of the polymer, but is there a size difference? Will either work? Any other options?

Thanks
_________________
Bill
'75 Westy Bus with Subaru EJ25 engine
GE CT58-100 helicopter gas turbine
Tiernay TT10 APU gas turbine

[surfbus23]

I’m trying to get my shifter back in form. I repaired the slop from the front bushing but the pin is worn thin and I suspect the ball is worn as well. Can someone confirm for me the diameter is 21.5mm and should be uniform on all cross-sections? Mine is 21.5mm from left to right but closer to 20mm front to back. I was going to fix the pin but I’m thinking this ball will cause problems again if I don’t fix that as well.

Edit: When I shimmed the slot with a .24mm shim the spring took up all the front back diameter of the ball and had nice tight action. I don’t think my pin is overly worn. Looks like it’s supposed to be 6mm and with the rotation trick I’ve got 5.95 or something.

However my front shifter arm is not original and I’m wondering how tight the tolerance would be in the notch in the cut. Was the original pretty tightly machined to 6mm? If so I think maybe the easiest course of action right now is to track down a good used one.