Gene Berg Shifter

[doc_holiday]

Zup?

I have a 1970 Bus and I am having some trouble with my Gene Berg shifter. I mailed it to Gene Berg Enterprises and they totally re-did everything. It is now "like" new.

My problem is that I can shifter in 3rd and 4th and reverse. No problem. But, I can't get into 1st and 2nd unless I press the reverse button.

Any ideas? Please help [/b][/color]
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Doc

[orangeeyesore]

i'm having a hard time understanding your post. are there gears that you can"t get into?
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HBB

As it says, who have you got as a quote in your signature line and why?

[nik]

I think he meant to say that he can't get into 1st and 2nd?
Have you replaced the shifter bushing?
Do you have the shifter lined up correctly? If it is off center I am sure that you will not be able to get into certain gears.
nik
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[stevo]

i recall reading on the gene berg site you must replace your shift rod bushings. of course make sure the shifter is lined up per bentley. and finally make sure the shift rod coupler is sound, especially the cage. on last inspection when it was difficult for me finding 1st and 2nd, i found the cage faulty. the round part in the rear loosens from the rectangular part.
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[doc_holiday]

[doc_holiday]

[Tcash]

Ran across this today.

Gene Berg Bus Shifters -10% Off Special

Quote catalog listing.
http://www.geneberg.com/product_info.php?products_id=1194

"GB 6750 66-79 bus shifter. Fits chassis number 216-028-112 to the Vanagon. Approx 1-1/2" from bottom of base to bottom of ball. Polised inset T handle as standard. Length approx 25" from floor to top of handle. SW#6 MSRP $351.85 Our Price+ $255.89 Cash Price $246.05"

"GB 6750R 66-79 bus shifter. Fits chassis number 216-028-112 to the Vanagon. For right hand drive buses. We have bent this shifter the opposite way and installed our right hand drive handle. Approx 1-1/2" from base to bottom of ball. Total length approx 25" from floor to top of handle. SW #6 MSRP $351.85 Our Price+ $255.89 Cash Price $246.05"

"Midnight Special. All black non-locking shifter, base, shaft and handle upgrade. For bus/quickshift add $5 for a black quickshift plate. Added to price of a shifter."
"Midnight Special add $20, or $25 for bus/quickshift for a black Q/S plate."

Hope it helps
Tcash

[Brian]

Ditch the Berg shifter, get stock one.

Then once you get a stock one, adjust the shifter stop plate.
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[skills@eurocarsplus]

[Heliconman]

Thanks Skills,

I had planned on ordering a berg. Ill stay away now. I'm sad to hear it though because they look really nice.

[skills@eurocarsplus]

they do....

and the 1-2 & 3-4 are like an inch apart....very, very close, just like anything else with a short shift kit.

if you plan on driving your bus like a dump truck, and delay your shifts you may be ok....

again, this is what I was told by very reputable builders. for all of them to have the same answer/reply was amazing. for our builder to warranty this was more than appreciated. huge shout out to benco racing. ben is by far the most honest and reasonable guy I have met....

shame on me for not looking into this. the trans in question had about 7-8K on it when the issue came to light
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[Bryan67]

I`m not so sure about all this. I have used Berg shifters on several Bugs and early Buses but I`ve only owned one Baywindow. And it had a Berg shifter along with a new coupler, bushings and an extremely well built 002 trans. It never caused this problem and actually was not as tight as posted on here. I`ve known others with Berg shifters in Baywindows with no issues either.
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[GTV]

[aeromech]

Some shifter porn

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[wcfvw69]

I don't think VW aftermarket parts manufacturing companies get enough credit for their marketing practices. Even today, with so much utter (Chinese) garbage parts being sold for our classic VW's, some folks still gobble it up. Then these forums are littered daily with posts about how poorly their VW now runs, shifts, drives, etc.

Now, I'm not implying that Gene Berg products are garbage but rather, some in my opinion are not simply not needed or required. In many cases, these aftermarket parts are a significant reduction in quality over the original VW made parts.

After refreshing my buses shifter bushings, replacing the POS Chinese shifter plate for an NOS one and relubing the assembly, I was rewarded with a nice tight, crisp VW shifting experience as was designed by the factory. It cost me less than $30 to achieve this as well.

I want to point out that I'm really NOT knocking people's decisions to try to upgrade or improve their classic VW buying some of these parts. I'm only sharing my experiences (and others) in that I've learned most of these crappy aftermarket parts belong in the trash dumpster. There's a reason so many people are scrounging up the original parts and refurbishing them. They simply work that much better.
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[skills@eurocarsplus]

just passing on what benco, wright, long, and rancho told me. early transmissions had a smaller hub...why do you think all the buggy guys want 091's?

whatever...just telling you what I have found. if you want to run the risk, that's on you. but having 4 transmission done and holding up well and one come unglued with the berg being the wild card...then asking around to different trans builders, I would say I did my due diligence.

do what you want...you're going to anyway
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[chabanais]

Thanks for the info on the short shifter. I didn't know that. Glad I stayed stock. I had been eyeing the Vintage Speed shifter.
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[Dogsled]

I've had a Berg shifter for a while now, all the shifter bushings have been updated, adjusted, etc. Shifter feels firm and solid but I am going back to stock. The big issue I have is the reverse lockout. Sometimes downshifting to second is balky, and I grind gears (reverse). Occasionally this happens when up shifting as well. I NEVER had this issue with a stock shifter. I have had misalignment issues and balky shifting until adjusted correctly, but never grinding reverse. I can tell this as I have a backup camera that triggers on reverse, and this comes on sometimes downshifting, and even sometimes starting in 1st. Tried alignment changes, no effect. Berg shifters use a button, instead of pressing down, and I think that is the problem.
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Don't make a fuss, just get on the bus...

[aeromech]

I recently had a customer with a “rebuilt” transmission. The shop couldn’t get it to shift right and they told him he needed a berg shifter. They tried to install it but shifting still wasn’t good. That’s when I got involved.

The sad end of this story is that after fucking with the berg many many times I still couldn’t get shifting right. In frustration I went back to the stock shifter. Same problem. I fucked some more. No luck. Turns out that the tranny shop screwed the pooch and tried to blame it on needing a berg shifter. Lots of wasted time on my part.

I gave the bus back to the owner and told him to go back to the tranny shop for relief because it was their fault. Still don’t know the final result.

Observation: I love my Berg shifter in my personal bus. Everything better be in good shape when you install one though because it’s not a fix for poor shifting.
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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

[Jeff Geisen]

I have had my Gene Berg shifter in two early bays with 3 rib boxes with no problems.
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