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Re: Cheapass Rons Weighted Shift Rod



I just completed Ron's Cheap ass instructions.   Pretty darn simple to me.  The
shifter feels great- except that I still need to adjust my linkage.  :^)
The welded Idea would be great too but Im not allowed access to dangerous tools
(Tim Taylor syndrome- I told my girlfriend that map gas was what jet pilots
inhaled to better understand maps at high altitudes)   just kidding.

On my MK1 the rod is fairly hidden so I was'nt as concerned about appearances-
But I did manage to give it a shot of black to hide it even more.

Brings up the question -   aside from show why would anyone spend money for this
piece?

drew wrote:

> Personally I like the CheapAss Drew weighted shifted rod better - less
> work.
>
> Go to the workbench/scrap-pile and root around until you find a suitable
> chunk of steel - I used a piece of steel shaft about 1 1/2" in diameter
> and 10" long.
>
> Set the wire feed welder to the appropriate settings and weld the weight
> to your selector shaft (it helps to weld it on the TOP side of the
> selector shaft so it doesn't get in the road of anything important.)
>
> Have a beer while it cools (or just dunk it in a pail of water/snowbank
> and save the beer for later.)
>
> Reinstall the selector shaft in the vehichle (or, if you used a spare
> (good idea!), remove the old one and install the new one..)
>
> Enjoy the benefits of a cheap weighted selector rod, which coupled with a
> short-sifter kit making shifting a breeze.
>
> Total expired time, <5 minutes (using a snowbank to avoid burning your
> hands... :) )
>
> If you don't have any suitable scrap piles hanging around, drop by your
> local machine shop - they'll have something that will work, and they'll
> probably give it to you.
>
> If you're worried about cosmetics, slap a coat of high gloss tremclad on
> it while it's still warm... ;)
>
> What, no wire-feed welder?
>
> Bummer... :)
>
> Drew (84 Wolfsburg with cheap weighted selector shaft!)
>
> On Sun, 25 Feb 2001, Ron Pieper wrote:
>
> > Cheapass Ron’s Weighted Shift Rod
> >
> > There are many ways out here for a cook-your-own
> > weighted shift rod, but frankly, I like my way best.
> > After you paint up it looks very nice indeed,
> > perfessional-like.  Here's the process:
> >
> > The concept:  Slide a piece of copper plumbing pipe
> > over the rod and fill with lead.
> >
> > BE CAREFUL.  KEEP YOUR LITTLE KIDS FAR AWAY. WEAR THE
> > GOGGLES AND GLOVES.
> >
> > The parts required:
> >       -(1) piece ¾" dia. copper pipe, 8"or so (or 1" dia.,
> > your choice)
> >       -(2) ¾"copper end caps (or 1")
> >       -?" dia. drill (somewhat larger than the rod
> > diameter)
> >       -some lead (cake or shot)
> >       -a propane torch
> >       -goggles
> >       -welders gloves
> >       -a bench vice
> >       -pliers to hold the pipe while filling
> >       -Paint, your choice of color (optional)
> >       -steel marking crayon
> >
> > 1) Get the pipe over the rod.  ¾" copper won’t fit
> > over the bent rod ends, so lay it in the vise
> > horizontally and squeeze it so it’s oval.  Slip the
> > rod in.  Loosen, rotate the pipe so the wide end will
> > be between the jaws, and squeeze it back round again.
> > 2) Drill holes in the centers of the end caps
> > 3) Slide one cap over the rod, fit the pipe into it.
> > 4) Clamp the rod vertically in the vise, with pipe/cap
> > resting on the top of the jaws
> > 5) Fire up the torch
> > 6) Fill the pipe with lead:
> > · If using shot, fill the pipe gradually, and heat the
> > pipe bottom up so the shot melts
> > · If using cake, melt it down into a container (tin
> > can?) and pour in, OR hold the cake with pliers, heat
> > the cake and let the lead drip into the pipe.  This is
> > messy and time consuming.
> > · Keep the pipe centered over the rod as you fill!
> > Use the pliers!
> > · Fill it to overflowing.
> > 7) Let cool.  Have a beer.
> > 8) Slide the other cap over the cap and fit over the
> > pipe
> > 9) You can now solder the top cap if you wish.
> > 10) Let cool some more.  Clean, sand, paint.  With
> > crayon, mark "Cheapass Ron Products" on the pipe.
> > Install, enjoy.
> >
> > If you like it enough, and if it's worthy of a tech
> > procedure, I'll get some photos to Brett and burden
> > him with posting.  Otherwise, it'll go into bit
> > heaven.
> >
> > Good luck!
> >
> >
> >
> > =====
> > Ron
> > '87 16V (Victor, the Famous Cheap Scirocco - ausgezeichnet!  unglaublich!)
> > '93 Cab (Teufelhasen, soon for sale)
> > many, many, miles and busted knuckles on seven more past watercooleds...
> >
> > __________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail.
> > http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
> >
> > --
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> >
>
> Drew MacPherson, Network Analyst, University of Guelph
>
> drew@dyermaker.cs.uoguelph.ca           |  visit the Massey-Harris page:
> http://dyermaker.cs.uoguelph.ca/~drew   |  http://m-h.cs.uoguelph.ca
>
> --
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