How to fit a Gene Berg locking shifter (LHD) by StuF

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Pics and words taken from StuF's thread here: http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=44243

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Xmas has come a little early!

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Evening all - well with Dubfreeze approaching Sunday and with Clare and I having every intention of going camping beforehand I wanted to get my nice shiny new shifter installed before the 2 or so hour journey.

The job from start to finish, test drive included took all of 2 hours 15 mins and I have never ever changed one of these before - it wasnt difficult at all or tricky.

So here goes - pics and all!

The comprehensive instructions from Gene Berg helpfully suggest removing the old shifter before attempting to fit the new one so thats what I did.

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Standard setup

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I had the roll back the madmatz to get to the og rubber one

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Then to the bare floor

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The shifter is only held in with 2 bolts!

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Out they came along with this

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I gave the aperture a quick clean and ensured there was ample grease in the linkage

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Old vs New

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Then to install the locking base you basically have to disassemble the unit until you are left with the base plate alone

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Two bolts in and a slight tweak up before fitting the intermediate section

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With that held in with 2 of the supplied hex head bolts I had to make sure I had all gears and reverse was only selectable with the button depressed, after a few adjustments all was feeling nice and selectable.

With the gears all available the four hex bolts have a little locktite applied and tighten them badboys up

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Then it is a simple case of adjusting and locktighting the actual locking mech so it only engages when in reverse and all done.

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Bit of og and matmatz mat trimming to ensure the carpets now fit around the larger base.

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Then took Murphy out for a test drive to see how the new shifter faired on the road.

Here are some of those shots.

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My first impressions of the shifter are positive - actually to be totally honest its a revelation. It has absolutely changed the way I can drive the bus, short accurate shifting without the risk of going into reverse or trying to pull away in 3rd.

I am gobsmacked by the improvement and cannot reccommend fitting one of these enough. I never thought the shifting would be so much like a modern vehicle but it is - I can now compare it to my old MK5 GTI!
 

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