New shifter

CSP on left.  Vintage speed on right.

The Berg shifters are all top notch, Al, but the Vintage Speed shifter that Phil posted above belongs in a Speedster. Several guys here are using the VS, and so far (as I remember) the reports have all been good. If your car has ivory dash knobs it will look just right. Glad to hear the the trans is still working for you. Still happy with the gearing? 

Oh- the next couple times you drive the Speedster, pay attention to where the shifter handle is. Would you like it shorter? straight? more bend? etc. Now's the time to change things, as Vintage can do whatever you want.

Also- it sounds like the the top plate is worn on your empi shifter; someone I know has made a repair kit for Hurst shifters when they get sloppy, so I'll ask Bruce if it works on the empi ones as well. Al

+1 vintage. 

how often do i think about how awesome it is?  the answer is very.

I have a Berg "T" shifter and I love it - Especially when someone at a show asks me if I'm "Gene".   If you get one, get the plain (no logo) "T".  They also offer a ball top.   Mine is a 14" curved handle which puts it in a nice spot for me.  Yes, you will need to replace the tunnel bushing but it's maybe a 20 minute job using Merklin's patented ratchet extension trick.  BIG difference after that (crisp, not vague).  

Both good shifters and yes to the Merklin bushing trick. Wish I knew about that when I did mine.

Wear gloves and pull the carpet away from the hole. Put some rags down to keep the grease off the things you want to keep clean.

I bought the Vintage (short handle, no bend) and it was an easy install. The old shifter pops out after you back off the two bolts that hold it in. Put the dirty end in a plastic bag and set it aside. The new one has a cast base with a grease fitting. I greased the ball and cup, dropped it into place, tightened one allen bolt a little, realized I'd missed the cup, and tried it again. Third time was the charm. Initial adjustment was easy. 

The Vintage Speed shifter starts out a little tight. Sort of has to "wear in."

In my case it worked good and then drifted out of spec. I'd find myself with no 4th gear from time to time, usually after giving her some gas in 1st and second. I thought I wasn't getting the allen head bolts tight enough so I replaced them with 13mm hex bolts. Turned out it wasn't those that were loose, but the bolts on the trans mid-mount, which I discovered a year later. Tightened those up in June and things have been very enjoyable since. Every gear in its proper place.

--which is to say, since you also replaced the transaxle: if you have a mid mount system, check to make sure all the nuts and bolts are snug. A little movement there can make for soup shifting.

 

I have a stock shifter that was heated and bent back to give me a couple of more inches to the rear. Even with that third gear is a long long reach. The straight stick would be too far for me unless I grow gorilla arms. One of the Speedster companies in the UK Chesil?  cut the shifter tunnel and moves the shifter hole 4-5" to the rear. That would be great. 

Speaking of bushings, has anyone tried that "lifetime" brass replacement seen on the Samba?

crhemi (Bill) poboiinhawaii posted:

Speaking of bushings, has anyone tried that "lifetime" brass replacement seen on the Samba?

Got the link?

I love the VS. Solidly built, looks great, works great. 

ALB posted:

crhemi (Bill) poboiinhawaii posted:

Speaking of bushings, has anyone tried that "lifetime" brass replacement seen on the Samba?

Got the link?

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/cla...etail.php?id=1740498

We tried the lifetime bushing on Tom's car and it did not work like intended.  Most (if not all) of our shift rods are shortened and the bushing will not pass by the weld unless it is ground perfectly smooth.  In addition, the slight bend in our Beck shift rod would not allow the busing to slide on... I am not sure if all manufacturers have this same bend.

All of that said, the lifetime bushing was simply an off the shelf Oilite brass bushing with a grove cut into it for a snap ring.  We wound up making one that would work for Tom's car and it consisted of a $5 bushing from McMaster, a $1 snap ring from the local parts store and about 15 minutes on the lathe...  However, the Beck cars also have access panels to the center tunnel so we did not need all the special install tools that come with the "kit".  These tools might be beneficial (or even necessary) for a pan based car.

As for the shifters, the Vintage Speed shifter has been our stock shifter for a year or so now and I have ZERO complaints about it.

 

Thanks for all the info, friends, I knew I could count on you guys. My car is basically classic style and I think the vintage speed shifter would look better in my car than the "T" handle. I'll contact them and see if they can give me what I need.  

I'll need to find the bushing, maybe they have it as well.  I'll also need to find the "Merklin Trick".  Thanks again.  I need all the help I can get.

I have a CSP. The black knob goes with my black and silver theme and to quote Lane "I like the feel of my knob."

The CSP feels very strong and with the reverse lockout spring in the T and the 40% reduction it has minimal slop.
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So, guys, what's the "Merklin trick"?

     Place a long socket extension at the bushing hanger and drop the nylon bushing down the extension it comes to rest next to the hanger, work the bushing into the hanger making sure you have it in the right slot on the bushing.... done.   I don't bother with the "key ring" retainer as the rod holds it in place unless I have the tunnel open and then a simple zip tie....not sure it's the best engineering but it's functional.

Phil IM356D posted:

CSP on left.  Vintage speed on right.

That's a photo of my two shifters.  Personally, I liked the Vintage better.  With the Vintage in my IM Henry said it was one of the best shifting IMs he's ever driven.

Love my VS Mamba #0021

!

crhemi (Bill) poboiinhawaii posted:

Love my VS Mamba #0021

!

That's a really nice shifter too.

On Friday I ordered the Vintage Speed shifter that was designed for Speedster replicas. It will arrive in 2-3 weeks with the bushing.  The fun begins shortly afterwords.  I'll let y'all know how it works out.  Thanks.

Can you link to the exact model?

Ryan in CA posted:

Can you link to the exact model?

http://vwparts.aircooled.net/V...-p/255-795-50900.htm

That is correct, sir.  It has to be better than my knock-off of a knock-off.  I can drive it but it requires too much trial and error sh!t to be really comfortable and fun.

Thanks for the suggestions on a new shifter.  It arrived just 2 weeks after I ordered it and I "popped"  it in the same day. I was in kind of a hurry to get it in so I could enter a vehicle show where I usually get a trinket of some sort. This year it was a door prize, no trophy.  Gift certificate to Tru Value , which will be used soon, and a cheeseburger, which is now long gone.

 It was a couple of hours of trial and error to get it adjusted properly but I got it eventually. The job got easier when I replaced the Allen head bolts with 13 mm hex head ss bolts so I could apply more torque and I didn't have to use the braille method to tighten the forward bolt.  I inspected the shift rod bushing and I will replace it when the weather turns colder, but for now, I can live with it.  It shifts MUCH better.

The bushing should be tons of fun because there's a weld in front of the shift coupler to the transmission that looks like a six year old ( or I ) did it. Carey warned about this and he was correct as usual.  I'm not sure that it would be possible to grind the shift rod in place , pull it out and buff it up, or get creative with the bushing.  Either way , it looks like it will be time for some "automotive yoga" in a couple of months.

IIRC (been a lot of wine since then) when I cut/welded mine (ok, so I chickened out and had my brother weld it for me - Pfhhhtttt!) but I scribed a line down the length of my shift rod as a reference to align it later, then cut it to length using the angle of the shift lever as a gauge and then cut one piece 1/2" shorter.  We then got a short (3"-4") piece of steel tubing, the OD of which was a close slip-fit into the ID of the shift rod.  That holds it together while tack welding it.  Use a straightedge to align both halves, tack it at the shift rod/inside tube interface and then weld the circumference for each end.  That done, grind off the weld even with the OD of the sift rod tube and you're done.  There's a little jiggling upon removal/installation to get the intersection past the bushing, but that's minor.

Depending on where your cut is, maybe you can remove the shift lever (to release the front of the rod) then release it from the tranny coupler and then pull it back far enough to get at the weld to dress it.  While I'm thinking of it, somehow the rod was installed and the weld passed through the nylon bushing, so maybe if you removed the bushing lock ring and pulled the rod forward it would come out, bushing, lockring  and all?  Then you could remove it through the front inspection plate opening and work on it on your bench.

Pull the rod out and do the job right, you'll spend way too much time trying to dress a chicken sh*t weld in place  .... remove it tack it a few times go around it witha file and repeat until it is round. ..Reply By Al Gallo: New shifter

 

Yeah, it's gonna come out , but not right now.  The weather is too nice and I'll work it in with other stuff that I want to do.  Some electrical stuff that I want to dress up and some nuts and bolts I want to change or check for tightness.  I bolted a lot of sh!t into this car in the last couple years and I want to check my work.