Date:         Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:51:21 -0500
Reply-To:     Allan Streib <streib@CS.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Allan Streib <streib@CS.INDIANA.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Frankenshifter
In-Reply-To:  <0D88072D-AAC5-4237-85C5-8B194B65D6B3@cs.indiana.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed

Well --

I ground that weld down to the diameter of the shifter rod, cleaned
and greased all the gearshift pivot parts, and put it back together.

With that bump removed from the gearshift rod, I was able to get the
top collar down onto the spring so it is actually under some
tension.  The reverse lockout now works!  I had to re-adjust the
splines in the center linkage joint because things are now evidently
sitting a little differently.  Got it close enough where I could get
it shifting properly by adjusting the gear shift base plate.  It
actually feels like a proper gearshift now, instead of like a
broomstick in a bucket of rocks.

I mentioned that the tabs on the lower ball half were bent (bowed).
This made it difficult to get the spring to sit on the little nubs
that protrude at the top of the tabs.  I solved this by using a zip
tie around the tabs, to hold them against the gear shift rod.  At
some point I'm sure I'll need to replace at least the lower ball
half, if not all the plastic parts in the pivot bearing, but for now
it seems to be working fine.

Still can't figure out WHY the gearshift was cut in the first place.

Allan

On Jan 19, 2008, at 3:29 PM, Allan Streib wrote:

> Dug into the gearshshifter mechanism on my '91 GL today.  You may
> recall that my trouble is that the shifter is sloppy and that the
> reverse lockout does not work (shifter pops right over the lockout
> "fence" with no downward pressure).  Adjusting the shift linkage per
> the Bentley instructions resolved a good deal of the sloppiness but
> not the reverse lock-out issue.
>
> So, I thought I would take the gearshift pivot stuff apart and see
> whether it looked significantly worn.  I got the gearshift lever out
> and discovered -- it's a Frankenshifter.  It's been cut, and re-
> welded.
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/allanstreib/UntitledAlbum/
> photo#5157279273183368114
>
> Whoever did this did not grind the weld back down to the diameter of
> the rod, so now I can't remove that lower ball half from the rod: it
> won't slide up past the weld.  The other thing this weld does is
> interfere with the movement of the upper spring, and also prevents
> the top collar with the set screw from sliding down past that point,
> so the upper spring can't be compressed more than that.
>
> Why might this have been done?  All I can think of is that some ham
> fisted PO was unable to disassemble the shifter bearing at some
> point, and decided to cut the rod -- maybe he didn't know that the
> shift knob unscrews?  OR, he wanted to reorient the shifter to bring
> it closer to the driver.  The rod is welded back on at an angle, so
> that when installed the top part of the shifter angles towards the
> driver.  I can't tell from the Bentley illustrations whether this is
> correct or not.
>
> SO -- I can grind the weld back down, hope there's enough of it left
> to hold the rod together, reassemble and see if the reverse lockout
> problem goes away.  But does anyone know if the shifter is supposed
> to be angled toward the driver?
>