cheap tricks to tighten up your shifter

[Larry" <rocco16v@netzero.com (Larry)]

Scott- Does your linkage kit contain all the shafts and brackets?  It will
have to if it is to get rid of ALL the excess clearances.
(and if it does, I'll take one....)
Larry

> Or you could buy my linkage for $150 and get rid of all the slop.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> At 02:35 AM 8/16/02 -0700, you wrote:
> >Warning: if you are not a cheap bastard, stop reading this right now! you
> >will laugh at how cheap and stupid I am.
> >
> >...
> >
> >After spending an alarming amount of cash on all new shift bushings,
> >linkage rods, bearings, ball assemblies and levers, I still had an
> >annoying amount of side-to-side and front-to-back play in my shifter -
> >something like 3/4" in every direction. With a little inspection I
> >discovered this was because the metal parts in my shift linkage were worn
> >out and the circular holes in the linkage had become oval-shaped.
> >
> >Now, being the cheapass that I am .. I don't want to go order a bunch of
> >new $87 metal lever arms and relay bars and whatnot from the stealer. So
> >instead, I rigged up the following solutions:
> >
> >TIP #1 - This tip is the easiest and has to do with the relay arm that is
> >shaped like an upside down L and has the rubber-drumstick-ball attached
to
> >the bottom of it. On my car, I could grab this arm and shake it even with
> >brand new bushings and it would jostle around. I even tried the solid
> >plastic bushings from the A3 linkage but they didn't help I took the
relay
> >arm out and pinched the bottom bushing with my fingers and shook it. It
was
> >moving around in the hole. So I took it out, wrapped electrical tape
> >around the outside 4 times and pushed it back in place. It took a bit of
> >effort to get it to snap in because it was such a tight fit... but the
> >electrical tape isn't at a wear point so it will last for some time. Now,
> >when I grab the arm and shake it, the whole car moves and the arm
doesn't!
> >
> >TIP #2 - This tip is what many would describe as "ghetto", but it worked
> >perfectly for me. The rubber-drumstick-ball that I was referring to had
> >worn away at the "cage" surrounding it, introducing play to the system of
> >levers. So my options were to either enlarge the ball, shrink the cage,
or
> >shim the cage somehow. I chose the last one because it was the easiest. I
> >cut the top and bottom off of a pop can with some tin snips, made one cut
> >from top to bottom then folded the remaining rectangle of aluminum in
half
> >several times to make a ~2mm thick pad (I rolled the sharp edges under,
> >too). I made the width a little over twice that of the cage. Then I
> >slipped this nasty contraption between the ball and the cage, centered
> >the excess and folded the sides around the back of the cage, creasing the
> >metal. Then I 'hooked' the two ends together so the pad won't come off.
> >Yes, it used to be a pop can and now it's part of my shift linkage.. but
> >now a lot of my front-to-back play is gone. I don't know if the aluminum
> >will wear through but I'm hoping it won't since I greased the ball up
real
> >nice.
> >
> >TIP #3 - The L-shaped pivot thingy for the plastic ended relay rods. A
> >major source of side-to-side play and a major pain in the neck, this
piece
> >was the #1 trouble spot in my linkage. I had already clamped the whole
> >contraption in a vice while it was on the car to try and bend the bracket
> >that holds it to hold it more snugly. That helped a little, but the real
> >problem was the bottom hole in the bracket which was out of round. Now, I
> >had lots of options here: I could drill it out and use a larger bolt..
> >(more difficult than it sounds - the bolt is special), I could drill it
> >out and use a sleeve bushing, I could weld the hole shut, grind the
> >weld flat and drill it again. Instead, I chose to file the out of round
> >spot a little, and wrap stainless steel tie wire through the hole several
> >times to effectively shrink the hole. I had to use a dremel tool to make
> >'channels' for the wire to sit in so that the bracket would still be
flush
> >with the pivoting arm, but the wire wrapping worked very good. I was able
> >to shim the hole down to just the right size for the bolt. Now, of the
> >tips here.. this one will cause the most wear (on the bolt). But the
other
> >options for this trouble spot were more work, and I'm not only cheap..
I'm
> >lazy.
> >
> >TIP #4 - I bought a brand new shift lever and bearing assembly (the lever
> >that you actually hold on to in the car) with the hope that it would fix
> >the play that the old one had. Nope, even though it was brand new the
play
> >was still there. So what did I do about it? I took the shift boot off so
> >I could see the outer piece of the bearing, the inner round piece of the
> >bearing and the splined sleeve in the very middle. Then I went and got
> >a selection of small finishing nails and sat there placing them in the
> >crack between the inner bearing and the splined sleeve until I found the
> >perfect two nails (one for front to back and one for side-to-side) that
> >eliminated the play. I was actually just fooling around at the time.. I
> >didn't intend to leave the nails in. But the improvement was so good I
> >said "screw it" and left them in. They haven't fallen out yet, but in a
> >year or two I might have to switch to bigger nails if they wear a groove
> >in the plastic (I don't think they will, though.. there's no movement
> >where they are.. just force/pressure)
> >
> >TIP #5 - Make your own weighted shift rod. You should have done this a
> >long time ago if you haven't already. Just buy a bunch of lead fishing
> >weights, make a mold out of a couple 2x4s nailed together and notched for
> >the rod, melt the lead with a propane torch and pour it in to the mold.
> >Easy as changing your oil and it helps a lot. In case you couldn't tell I
> >didn't come up with this one.
> >
> >I have about 1/4" of side-to-side play and 1/8" of front-to-back play
> >now while out of gear. And I know where that little bit is coming from
> >(the junction between the in-the-car shift lever and the long relay rod)
> >and I intend to fix it in the next few days. Nobody cares, though.. so
> >unless somebody asks I won't bother describing how I end up fixing it.
> >
> >So, if you're still with me, you're probably thinking "this guy is an
> >idiot". And you're right.. but at least my car shifts 500% better than it
> >did a few days ago. It's almost like having the tranny right under the
> >gear shift (i.e. no linkage at all).
> >
> >I think I'm the only one who'd be crazy enough to do this kind of stuff
to
> >their car. Anyone want to disagree?
> >
> >-Toby
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Scirocco-l mailing list
> >Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> >http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l
> >
> Scott Rose
> 88 red 16v
> 90 yellow g60(not too much left now)
> Import R  "solid shift" linkages for VW A1 chassis
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l
>

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