custom shift rod build for my 68

[buggin68hippi]

whats up guys i havent started a build thread for my bagged 68 yet but i thought id do a build thread on the custom shifter im making for it.. i wanted a tall shifter like the 23.5" bus shifters but everyplace i went said it wouldnt fit.. my bug came with a hurst T shifter and a extra stock shifter with a beer tap stuck on it.. so i decided to make my own using the beer shifter one.. here are some of the 2 designs i started drawing out

this is the first one i came up with


then i decided i wanted a lil more organic look but still keeping a mechanical look to it so i came up with this


i ended up deciding on the second one.. it will be about 23-24" tall and have all different sized holes cut into it with tubes through the holes
went and picked up all the material im going to need for it and some extra as well


i knocked off the beer tap off the shift rod and cut it in 2 pieces.. so i can retain the shift ball and the threads to thread on a knob at the end

this is where im at right now.. i cut the main middle 2" tube and i got one side of the top cut out of sheet metal.. i need to trace out the second top section once the first one cools off a bit.. then move on to the bottom half.. drill all the holes and put a small break in the top and bottom pieces so it can go from the 2" in the middle to about 1/2" on top and from 2" to 1" at the bottom.... so stay tuned there is more to come for this shifter build!

[buggin68hippi]

got the other top side cut out while there was a thunderstorm busting off.. it was nice to feel some cool wet weather for a change in socal... but today is another story... its 100* with about 100% humidity...NOT FUN.. i want to get in the shop and finish the cut outs but its pretty unbareable right now.. so ill have to wait for the sun to drop a tad.. or the next storm to roll threw in a few hrs.. if the wife was still on vacation id proly just turn up the ac and cut and grind the parts in the house lol.. but thats a no go while captain is here..

[Ol'fogasaurus]

"... i wanted a tall shifter like the 23.5" bus shifters but everyplace i went said it wouldn't fit.. "

I was told the same thing but I went ahead and bought a bus shifter to see what it did. There is an additional loose piece to it that fits on the bottom but I don't know just what it does. Did it bolt in... yes! Did it work... never tried it !

By-the-way, there is, or was another version of the bus shifter that was almost straight up and down. It was more like a Scat shifter as I remember correctly. This was back in the early to mid 90's so I don't know what is still being sold.

Lee

http://www.mooreparts.com/1521-AC711222/

http://www.mooreparts.com/11415-AC711215-2/

[buggin68hippi]

oh sweet! wonder why they all said it wouldnt fit... oh well i guess.. buying all the metal for the one im making was still cheaper then what one would of cost so i will see how it goes... at least i now know i have something to fall back on lol.. cool lil buggy u got their... what kinda body is it?

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I don't kbow why they say it won't work other than maybe the connection to the shift rod itself is too deep or something like that. Again, I did not try to shift with it, I just bolted it in.

[buggin68hippi]

crazy moore parts wants 100$ for it... the vw shop carcraft over here has it for 74$.. i paid 45$ for all the metal and welding wire..

[sideshow]

Just for a data point, I used my berg sedan shifter for a few week in my truck. Kind of a long reach but it shifted fine.

Since both sedan/bus use the same transmission guts (ignoring nose cone, coupler clocking, and hockey stick) and popularity of swapping nose cones to raise or lower existing transmissions...I don't know what the difference could be.

[buggin68hippi]

mine does have a bus tranny in it right now.. so thats a plus cause i wanted to raise the tranny a lil bit so when im aired out the oil pan doesnt get dragged.. i just cleaned up the 2 top halfs of the shifter im making and cut out the 2 lower halfs.. once i get those cleaned up ill post some updated pix

[buggin68hippi]

here are the 2 lower sections.. just need to cut out half of the 2" hole

and here are the 2 top pieces all cleaned up

[buggin68hippi]

ok so i just ran into a lil road block i think... i took off the empi T shifter to check out the stock shifter fitment... and the stock shifter ball has a nipple that sticks off the ball about 1/2".. the empi shifter doesnt have that... and the cuppler that the shift ball slides into on the shift rod in the tunnel doesnt have a slot for that 1/2" nipple... is this something that was changed out by the PO or am i just missing something here....

[Ol'fogasaurus]

First of all let me apologize for not doing this a long time ago.



Two Hurst/EMPI shifters. The top one is the bus shifter you saw in the picture of the Redhead Roadster Cute-T I posted. The second one is a Hurst/EMPI shifter for a type I (years unknown to me).



This is the shifter end for the Type I shifter.



Again, the type I shifter.



This is the shifter end for the Bus (type 2) shifter.



The Bus shifter measurements.

If you need more pix please let me know just what you need. It will take a bit as the batteries for my caliper are just about gone and I will have to get some new ones.

Lee

[buggin68hippi]

heres what im working with... here is the linkage the shift ball goes in.. ( no notch)

heres the empi shifter

empi shifter ball (no 1/2 nipple)

and this is the stock shifter (i think it was off a 67) that i cut in half to use for my custom shifter.. it has that 1/2 nipple


so idk if 1968 shifters didnt have that 1/2" nipple since the shift linkage doesnt have a slot for it to slide into.. or should i pick up a new part that connects to the shift rod thats inside the tunnel that has the knotch or what... also idk if its because i dont have the engine on the tranny or that the throw out barring isnt on the tranny but it seems like i can throw it in reverse without pushing the button on the empi shifter.. and i dont feel and push down motion like my pops 1970 has for reverse...

[buggin68hippi]

kind feel like i might be missing some parts or something...

[trbugman]

Early shift rods and shifters used the pin to prevent the bent shifter from rotating. As the years went by they changed to a straight shifter that wasn't pined. You should be able to remove your shift rod and cut the needed slot in it just wider than the pin in your shifter.

[buggin68hippi]

ic that does make sense.. i forgot the shifter i cut up was a bent shifter... the shifter im making is kinda gonna be bent in shape.. so im guessing im gonna need that slot cut in that shift rod or it will just spin around