New member to the forum. I'm in Minnesota and have been care-taking for a one owner BECK 550 that was constructed in the early/mid 80's. Recently the shifter has snapped from the actuator (pictured). How common is this, how and is it as "easy" as re-welding, or is there a replacement that should be installed?
Thanks in advance!
Aaron
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That was one speed shift - shift knob must be in Canada?
Never heard of that happening. I think @WOLFGANG is right, the knob has definitely left the building.
I've seen it a few times over the years, certainly not common, but not unheard of either. The shift lever is stock VW Beetle (56-67) and it has the tube welded to it and then a bushing inserted. They do not like to be bent or welded on, especially the later replacements. Anyway, all of that is bolted to a custom made shift rod with the 2 "forks" you see in the photo. The "tube" is just a cut piece of tubing, I don't remember what the bushing is from, but I've had to make some replacements on the lathe in Delrin in the past. None those items have been used by us for 10+ years, and there is no old stock lying around unfortunately. I'd salvage as much as you can from the broken shifter and replace the shift lever with new, and weld the attachment tube where you need it. You can actually use any year shift lever that has a reverse lockout plate as the fork on the shaft tube prevents it from rotating and the main difference in shifters is that the bent shifter has a finger on it to prevent it from rotating in a Beetle.
as for replacements, the only ones I am aware of are the Brandwood and the current PBS style. The PBS style is the best shifter I've ever felt on a Spyder, but it not an east install. It CAN be done with the trans in the car but requires trimming the R slider and replacement of the nosecone, plus custom mounts. It's a lot of work.
The Brandwood was a nice solution when it was all that is available, but I fount stiff and notch, so not my personal choice. All of that said, a properly adjusted rod shifter works really well.
As for the pictured breakage, it may have been simple fatigue or it may have been a very rough shift coupled with fatigue, but either way I;d look at the bushing in the middle of the shifter also. It is located near the bell housing of the trains. If this wears out or deteriorates it affects rotation and shifting becomes more difficult and vague. This is when we usually see shifts having to be forced and not smooth.
