Gearshift stop plate

DicDoc · Aug 14, 2024

Partly out of curiosity, and partly to try and work out why I can easily go past 2nd gear into reverse when changing down from 3rd (with resultant gear grinding), can someone explain how the stop plate is supposed to work. It’s beyond the capability of the mechanical part of my brain (most things are these days). The stop plate is correctly installed (I’ve checked on numerous occasions) and I have a correctly installed Empi quick shifter plate.
Richard

creationblue · Aug 14, 2024

Long story short, mine did the same as yours recently. The internet says to put the stick into 2nd gear then release the two 13mm bolts and adjust the lower part of the gear stick forwards and to the right to get good shift, however, once I took out my rubber mat I noticed I'd marked the original position of the plate (before I fitted a Gene Berg) and that position was backward (not forwards) and now I get perfect shifting going up and down the box.
Basically you will need to take a spanner with you and go for a drive until you get it right.
NB: First inspect your rear coupler and make sure the rubbers are in good shape and also the front bush (you cant check the middle two bushes unfortunately without taking the engine and box out)

andrewblackwell · Aug 14, 2024

Mines exactly the same, so i'm equally keen to get to the bottom of it. Need to be very careful going 3>2 you feel like t*t if you crunch into reverse with passers by.

Sometimes i lose 1st & 2nd entirely at random, but have found if i bump the stick down, as though trying for reverse, they reappear.

I know my linkage bushes must need sorting as the front rod can be rattled side to side. I have been collecting the best bits hopefully to do it all later in the year, bushes from Schofields & the group buy on here, a genuine OG early bay shiftplate, with the little tags on its sides that i guess help adjustment. It had a bit of gearstick wear along the "ski ramp" which i got TIG welded using hard rods. I also found a NOS beetle one that lacked these side tags, so we welded some on to match the bay unit as a second option.
I've got a VW rear coupler with a good cage, & some heavy duty rubbers that were still a bit loose in the cage, so i've placed shim steel around them to eliminate any slop.

Moseley · Aug 14, 2024

The ramp part of the stop plate is effectively the part that the bottom collar of the gear stick ‘rides on’ when you shift into reverse. When in second, this collar should be next to the ramp, and the ramp part is what physically stops you from moving the shifter over so far that pulling it back finds reverse rather than 2nd.

When pushing down on the shifter to begin the action of going into reverse, the collar is now underneath the ramp (rather than alongside it) allowing the shifter to pivot over further, and the rearward movement then selects reverse.

This is why the VW setup suggests aligning the ramp section against 2nd gear, to prevent accidental reverse shifting, but whilst still allowing enough movement to select reverse / 3rd and 4th. I am sure there’ll be a bit of tolerance either way, so it doesn’t need to be an exact science, but it is probably wise to make sure the shift plate remains parallel to the throw of the shifter when moving it about.

andrewblackwell · Aug 14, 2024

You’ve explained that very well to me.
I can see that my untested genuine used bay plate was very worn along the inside edge / bottom corner of the ramp. This has now been welded up with hard steel, as we noticed that the plate was difficult to file, so evidently heat treated to increase hardness & durability. I wonder if the repro ones are hardened?
I haven’t checked, but did suspect the collar on my gearstick could be equally worn to a flattened area, which would possibly also allow 2nd to be selected accidentally more easily.

Moseley · Aug 16, 2024

andrewblackwell said:
You’ve explained that very well to me.
I can see that my untested genuine used bay plate was very worn along the inside edge / bottom corner of the ramp. This has now been welded up with hard steel, as we noticed that the plate was difficult to file, so evidently heat treated to increase hardness & durability. I wonder if the repro ones are hardened?
I haven’t checked, but did suspect the collar on my gearstick could be equally worn to a flattened area, which would possibly also allow 2nd to be selected accidentally more easily.

I’m not sure if they should have a flattened area at all on the lower collar - if they do (like ours!) I’d suggest someone has been in there with a grinder to make it easier to select reverse, or it has seen a lot of wear over the years.

I’ve driven ours for years without the need to push the gearstick down to select reverse due to this flattened area. In theory, I could accidentally select reverse when going from first to second, but it would need a bit of a swing of the shifter to the left. Will get it fixed one day with a new Gene Berg!

andrewblackwell · Aug 16, 2024

I saw a pic, maybe on the samba of someone’s badly “flatted” collar, which they built ip with weld & reprofiled.
When I get around to do mine I’m expecting i might find something similar. It would make sense as I can easily balls up my gear changes.

DicDoc · Aug 22, 2024

Thanks everyone for your replies. Moseley’s explanation of how it works is extremely helpful. I think I need to have a very close look at the gearstick collar which I suspect has significant wear and will need building up at some stage.
Richard

Gearshift stop plate

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