Won't shift into second gear

Giday, Mike. You say you have spent a lot of time moving things around and haven't solved the problem yet. My last paragraph was to ask you if, when you have tweaked the shifter hold down bolts, did you happen to tighten them down while into second gear ? ...or not. IE, ( with the engine not running ) get the transmission in second gear and the shifter in second gear position and then tighten down the shifter plate bolts.

The idea was that the shifter and transmission and related connecting parts seem to be in a happy place when all is in second gear, then bolt down the shifter plate. For me, this recommended technique worked. It shifted fine for me for many miles and the shifter hold down bolts now probably just need another tweak in second gear with the engine stopped.

Sounds like the shifter base has to move slightly to the left.

The underside of the shift lever rides up against the lockout plate tab until either you push down on the (stock) lever or disengage/move the reverse lockout detent pin by pushing a button or pulling on the "reverse" lever.  When that happens the lever is allowed to move farther to the left, but the part under the floor is allowed to move farther to the right.  Yours is already too far over there.  

There are three shifting forks inside of the transaxle nosecone and each does two gears by pushing in or pulling out from neutral:  In order; 3/4, 1/2 and reverse (pull out).

Your problem is that you're already mostly over to where reverse is when you pull into second, but the lever still has some play in that direction and can "find" the reverse fork and pull it out and engage reverse gear.  You are probably not centered on the reverse fork when that happens, and you're probably trying to engage BOTH second and reverse at the same time (it's possible, but the Transaxle really doesn't like it).  You have to angle the shift rod back just a skosh to get it lined up properly for second.  Believe me, it doesn't take much base movement to make a big difference.

As I mentioned way up above, loosen both base bolts a little but still kinda firm.  Scribe along the base on the right side so you'll have a reference line drawn along the tunnel, right beside the base.  Take a piece of hardwood and put it against the right side of the very bottom of the base and give it a smack or two with a hammer.  You want it to move to the left 1/16"-1/8", both front and rear equally, so you don't want it too loose, just enough to resist the hammer blows but just enough to move slightly when hit, too.

If I understand correctly and you have another adjuster at the coupling just before the transaxle (and why would you need THAT?  To me, that just complicates things) and if the shifter base will not move farther to the left, you'll need to adjust at the coupling to rotate the shift rod a degree or two to the left (driver's side) to accomplish the same thing.

Hope this helps.

As usual Gordon, a well informed and described post. Now....if someone does not respond timely, threads can get lost easily and I seem to have a hard time getting back to what I need.

So, could you please expound on the procedure that your last para leads to ? IE...where is that coupling ?

Thanks....

Gordon & David, thank you both for your replies.

I think I have things shifted to the left as far as possible.

Should I be moving the shifter itself and the plate below together?

As anyone who has built a Speedster knows, the Beetle shift rod has to be shortened.

Instead of welding the original rod end back I used an adjuster that was available at the time. There is a female threaded piece that is welded to the rod end and a male threaded piece that couples to the trans. (I have been trying to avoid using the word "tranny"). The purpose of this thing is to allow fine tuning the shift rod length.

But, it will also allow me to rotate the rod as Gordon suggested.

Now I just have to get the rear seat cushion out. I have a lock nut on the carriage bolts coming down through the plywood seat base and one of the carriage bolts is rotating so I can't unscrew the nut.

Thanks again.