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Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 95 10:10:19 PDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         smaher@ball.com (Steve Maher)
Subject:      Poor shifting in '71 bus

Everyone knows that older VW busses' shifters are like stirring a molasses-and-rocks stew in January. My '71 is no exception-- 1st and 2nd gears are a real bear to get into. 3rd and 4th aren't so bad. To get reverse, you don't even have to push down any more-- just move the lever toward you, and back. My '69 bus from years back, was pretty much the same way, even after I replaced the tranny in it with a good (used) unit.

But I recently drove a '70 bus, whose shifter feels BRAND NEW. Clicks easily into all four gears, and the pushdown-and-backward into reverse is exactly as advertised.

Does this mean that decent shifting is actually possible on a VW bus older than my wife? How does one achieve this? Do I need a new tranny, or is there some sort of linkage-rebuild I can do, that will _significantly_ improve the shifter feel?

Anyone who has ever made your shifter feel new, PLEASE tell me how you did it!! With as much detail as you like-- Email me direct if the list gets long, if you like. I will post summaries to the list, for those who are interested.

Thanks in advance...

Steve Maher smaher@ball.com '71 Transporter

P.S. That '70 bus also had noticably lighter steering than my '71. Anyone care to guess the cause? I'm mystified. The '70 is not "immaculate" by any means-- my '71 is far prettier. But the '71 takes both hands to get around corners at low speeds. The '70 stomps it in drivability, despite having half a turn of play in the steering wheel.


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