Das Volks Vintage Volkswagen Gruppe

I'm helping out a friend with his dune buggy. He needs a new shifter bushing and was having some problems running in 4th gear (kept popping out of gear). The shift tube in the car could not be removed to replace the bushing as it was cut and welded back together while still in the car and the welds are so large it would not fit through the bushing mounting hole. He cut out the old shift rod and i made him a replacement with an adjustable end.

We tried to install it last night but I could not get the end of the shift rod to line up with the end of the transmission. The old shift rod had a fairly significant bend to it near the coupler while the one I made has a very slight bend. Could that be the problem or do i just need to keep working with it to get it to line up properly. All suggestions are welcome!

Thanks

I'd look at that bend, sounds like it might still be too straight. I guess I got lucky, mine hasn't given me any trouble.

Ken, have your friend pick up a bus shift rod. They use the same rear coupler but they come apart. There are sections, front (with a curve down) middle (straight) and rear (curves back up). You can cut the middle section while preserving the curves. They are held in place with set screws and I believe they are the same diameter as a beetle's bar. They use the same reverse plate, the shifters are interchangeable too I believe. So it may be easier to modify something than start hacking something from scratch.

Get another shift rod, scribe a straight line down it, then cut out what needs to be cut, realign and weld?

I already modified one i had with an adjustable end. I'll try using a tubing bender to put a slight bend near the back!