When home I want to get the Wife (Jackie) to drive the van but she flatly refuses blaming the gear box & gear selection, which leads me onto my question... Which gear shift is the best out there, ie. the one that may tempt her to drive the van, I don't want to get clouded by the cost, I'd rather worry about that later, I would just appreciate your feedback & knowledge in spades - Cheers one & all! (I've been told the CSP, but it's 5 weeks waiting at VW Heritage for a LHD, so that could be out if I intend to give it a go during this leave rotation.)
Gene Berg are the daddies, and CSP are a good copy of the CSP, thats my perosnal prefernces. (have a gene berg in my own van) I can try and get the CSP one in a bit quicker for you, but they are special order from germany. (You could always go direct to CSP)
I have a CSP T Handle with a trigger/button for reverse on my crewcab. I had an Empi trigger (you pull a lever for reverse) which I sold on one of my vans. It was very good. I will be ordering another Empi as I really liked it, short throw, good reverse lockout, straight and precise shifting. I'm not a huge fan of the CSP myself as it feels very loose and not as precise as the Empi, however, I haven't taken a good look at all of my linkages etc so it may just be these at fault. Worth checking though as i've read a lot of people have had issues with the empi model, and have had to perform modifications. Mine installed first time out of the box with no issues and took less than 5 minutes to change over. The only real downside on the empi is even with a correctly adjusted handbrake i found it goes too close to the handbrake lever when in first gear so could prove to be an issue with hill starts. I hope that helps
I have gone for the Empi trigger.Fantastic.5 mins to fit with no issues.But as Joker said can be a little close to the handbreak when in first.Hill starts took a little pactice but now not a prob.Would reccomend every time.
Thanks Alex, can you get a price on the Gene Berg or do I need to go fish elsewhere/ I'm of the mindset that if it's worth doing it's worth doing once.....Hopefully!
I have broke 2 empi's and a scat befor getting my gene berg, you get what you pay for in a shifter in my opinion. The empi bottom plate is held togther by 4 rivets, one in each corner. These are prone to pulling through ther plastic so its wise to drill out two at oposite corners and replace with a small nut and bolt (with washers). The scat has a plastic ball at the bottom and seesm to wear very fast, I had a mate that also had one of these just break off above the plastic ball too. Hope this helps.
We dont supply Gene Berg you have to go direct. There is often a group buy on here and the earlybay forum. Not sure if there is one running at the moment. The cheapest way is to find a friend in the states and send one direct to your mate and get your mate to ship it to you.
Cheers Fellas, I started typing my first response & then got distracted (why does work have a habit of doing that) So far it's Gene Berg 2 v The Rest 1 1/2
like I said though I think its likely my bus that's at fault not the CSP - i've only read good reviews about the CSP
Yeah its importnat to state that a good shifter is only one part of the puzzle you need to replace every bush and connection down the whole mechanism to give you a tight shift. Cheers Alex
I have had the Empi one for 2 years with no issues. I changed all the gear rod bushes as well this makes a huge difference !!!!!!!!!!.
Gene Berg for the win for me - did some research on the others and then this one came up on a group buy with my brother. I went direct PM me if you want some help on that. Another to consider is http://www.hayburner.co.uk/shop/Section/3/Bug-Tech Bus Shifters These look awesome. @nedfaux is the man to talk to I recall.
Vintage speed, had an Empi before which was Ok but this is lovely! Looks more factory, has a really smooth action, and I got lucky I guess, as I bolted it in and it worked perfectly without any adjustment.
errrmmm, suddenly it's not as clear cut as I had thought. Thanks everyone for your input, by the sounds of things as long as I change I won't be going far wrong, I just need to make sure that the whole operation is checked out & sorted beforehand. The links will give me something to look at & will be a big help I'm sure, although I'm a pretty pictures kind a guy, I have little knowledge of what makes what do what if you get my drift. Still a bit of reading matter on what would have been a quiet day in paradise - Thanks again all, appreciated!