Re: [T2] Yet Another Loose Shifter Question

[al brase <albeeee@xxxxxxxx>]

Tammy:
I went through this with several 68-72 bays. There are several bushings and
potential wear spots, but their effect is unequal.
The coupler at the front of the trans is the easiest  to fix and if loose,
represents one of the biggest points of loosness. Sometimes just the rubber
sideplates can be replaced and if that is the case you are lucky. Dr. Tim
recommends tack welding the cages on the new ones because they have sometimes
failed. I'm sure this is good advice.
The next most serious point of loosness on my 69 and a previous 70 is the very
front bushing where the front tube fits over a pin. I'm sure they changed this
to a bigger bushing by 73 and maybe by 72. On my first 70 bus, my brother used
an old valve guide and shortened it and just drove it into place to replace the
worn or nonexistant plastic bushing. This fix outlasted the rest of the chassis
and may possibly have got moved to my double cab back about 1991 when I replaced
the front axle beam and forgot to remove the front shifter tube before lowering
the beam. Duh!
The center bushings wear out too, of course, but I don't think they have as much
effect on overall sloppiness.
The last place that wear occurs is in the transmission nose cone itself- both
the two bronze bushings and the alloy steel gear selector shaft (hockey stick)
wear out. Repair or replacement of these is not very difficult, but the
transaxle must be removed. (In fact, replacement of the nose cone and the
bellhousing are about the only two easy jobs of transaxle repair without a lot
of special factory tools!) Replacement of these is also necessary to solve
leakage of gear oil at the gear selector shaft. I think I have seen rebuilt nose
cones in ads and would make this job even easier.
I think some adjustment of the shifter and reverse lockout plate will bring your
shifter performance up considerably and possibly make it quite a bit better than
it was before you started. Look in Bentley or possibly the archives. It's pretty
easy.
Al Brase
69 double cab, 80 westy

Tammy wrote:

> Hiya all
>
> The current thread about loose shifting brought a few questions to mind
> about my camper (1968 Bay).
>
> I recently had the rear shift bushing replaced to try and eliminate the
> excess play I was getting on the gearstick.  There is still a fair amount (a
> couple of inches) of slack in the stick, but it has improved.  I am pretty
> sure that replacing the front bushings will eliminate this eventually, but
> time and money are holding me back on having the work done.
>
> The problem I am having is this....
>
> When I select reverse, I no longer have to depress the gearstick, I can just
> move it into reverse.  It is only really a problem when changing from 3rd to
> 2nd as I occasionally hit reverse.