Shifter Bushing

Interesting. Anyway, not all lithium grease is petroleum based which is why you will frequently see it or what is often referred to as "white grease" listed as being safe for plastic. Some are synthetic based. I didn't mention silicone grease but it may also be a possibility. Shop silicone probably falls in to the same category as lithium grease, some have petroleum products in them others do not. The shop silicone that I have has no petroleum products in it and just leaves a nice slippery film. I guess the key here is finding out whether the lubricant being used is listed as safe for plastic.

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'64 sunroof Beetle '55 semaphore Beetle

you will frequently see it or what is often

synthetic based. I didn't mention silicone

the same category as lithium grease, some

has no petroleum products in it and just

lubricant being used is listed as safe for

It's most likely that what you have is just a rather ordinary petroleum grease. Do you have a brand and number? Where did you buy it?

----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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late here,but-the hanger that bushing goes into is probably rounded out. or you did not put the retaining ring in slot for it. by the time these guys get done fighting over what grease to use you could have used vasiline petroleum jelly and had 20,000 miles on it.i guess nylon is a plastic.

you do not need to cut a hole in the tunnel. drill out spot welds (6 usually) holding hanger to pan. i tape old one to broom stick,or long brake line(i keep a spare in my garage) and feed it into or out of tunnel by way of front opening between tubes for front axel.i then bolt it in without shifter and rosette weld new braket/hanger in place or use 3/16" steel pop rivits if no welder availible. broom stick can then be inserted in aporpriate place in guy that says"cut hole in tunnel."

"bill may" wrote in news:1109167054.117690.145850 @l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

LOL, I like your answer. ROTFLMAO

Who pee'd in your Wheaties this morning? There are several ways to get the job done, yours not being the only way, which is why I mentioned that there's probably any number of websites that one can find where people have described "their" method. I think we need to put the broom stick up against the side of your head.

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'64 sunroof Beetle '55 semaphore Beetle

If you're referring to the silicone spray I've had the can for ages (don't use it much) and most of the lightly painted label has worn off. I got it from my Dad who worked at a plastics plant. They sprayed it on molds used in their blow molders and injection molders to keep the parts from sticking when the molds opened. The words "silicone mold release" are visible to some degree. I don't recall what the entire contents were when it was possible to read the label, I just don't remember any petroleum products.

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'64 sunroof Beetle '55 semaphore Beetle

done, yours not being the only way, which

find where people have described "their"

I must have missed the post you are replying to. I didn't see anyone say anything rude in this thread until just now. (your post above).

broom stick can then be inserted in aporpriate place in guy that says"cut hole in tunnel."

I've never met Bill, never said anything to him before so I don't know what his problem is. There are several methods mentioned both here and on the 'net about how to replace the shifter bushing bracket. Cutting open the side or top of the tunnel are ways that many like to do it. He has a different way. That's fine. We're all just trying to share our experiences and offer help and ideas. The person who has to do the work has to decide for themselves how to do it but they ought to have as many options as possible.

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'64 sunroof Beetle '55 semaphore Beetle

in tunnel."

problem is. There are several methods

bracket. Cutting open the side or top of

fine. We're all just trying to share our

decide for themselves how to do it but

hahaha! I *did* miss the comment about putting the broom-stick in an aporpriate [sic] place. No need (as far as I'm concerned) to defend your response to a smartass response like that. Now I feel guilty enough about questioning your "upside your head" comment to say I'm sorry. Sorry, dude. heh heh

it much) and most of the lightly painted

sprayed it on molds used in their blow

opened. The words "silicone mold release"

That's not a grease, it's a silicone compound, probably with a solvent and a propellant. It's a great lubricant for rubber or plastic to almost anything else.

I was referring to what you said earlier:

frequently see it or what is often

synthetic based.

The typical "white grease" is one of many Lubriplate products. Most of these are calcium based soaps with petroleum oils, the remainder are lithium based soaps with petroleum oils. I'm sure that you can find synthetic oils in some greases, but you won't find them in hardware or auto parts stores. They are specialty items which cost many times the price of greases which are perfectly good for most purposes.

Special applications which might well use such greases would be the bearings in turbomolecular vacuum pumps and computer disk drives. The only one I'm familiar with is one which I regret that I can't recall the name of. I have a small syringe of it, which they sell that way because it costs about $25/oz and you buy it one oz at a time.

I guess the main thing I want to disagree with is the implication that petroleum oils are incompatable with many plastics. I just don't think that's true. OTOH, many elastomers (rubber-like products), including natural rubber, ARE incompatable with petroleum products.

There's misinformation in the bicycle world about how you should not use lithium grease on certain bike parts. That's also got to be bogus because the only thing that MIGHT be incompatable would be the petroleum oil, not the lithium soap, but the petroleum oil would be present in almost any base grease, not just those with a lithium based soap.

----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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working as a vw beetle tech. at vw dealership in 60's and 70's i got to see lots of pos stuff. cutting hole in pan to replace a shift bushing is one. kinda like peeling the bottom plate off tunnel to replace fuel line inside tunnel or cutting roof off to get to wiring going from front to rear of beetle.. being driving beetles since 1965.. and i still have 2-1967 beetles and a 1967 bus 13 window.. sad to see advice like "cut hole in tunnel to replace shift bushing bracket" oil is used to lube shift rod bushing when in place. you really should get a bentley or suffer advice from people that dont like simple ways to fix this that dont butcher your car.

I agree with everything you said Jim. And it's difficult trying to figure out what lubricants are compatible with what types of plastics. Lotsa lubricants, lotsa different plastics. Lubricants have come a long way since the inception of the Beetle. There are better alternatives available today even if the old way still works well enough for some people.

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'64 sunroof Beetle '55 semaphore Beetle

i like it when you buy a new to you bug and find that one of the previous owners was apparently allergic to jacking the car up, so they cut the rear cargo area to replace the starter....

by the way - when working at dealership i saw techs. (not me) install bushing with shift rod in place.. but i did not say or tell how to do it. but if curiouse i would be glad to pm answer to this.maybe i should hide behind a screen name like bill67bug or something instead of my real name. yes i am the one that has been answering questions on vintagvw list for 9 years and do lots of samba tech answers and had my my 1976 vin.vw club of america patch in hot vw's in rich kimballs column.. some guys in madison wisconsin club may know me as i moved to san diego,ca usa in 99 from racine,wisconsin i was B&D Beetles parts there.

I would certainly like to know how to install the bushing with the rod in place!

"Randall Brink" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@adelphia.com:

I would suspect that it gets cut in half, so that you can just slip it over the rod and then push it into place.

Nobody is hiding anything. Maybe you should simply learn to be polite. If you have ideas and help to offer then say so. If you had just said that you knew of a different way to get the job done and described it that would have been fine. Instead you chose to bash someone you don't even know without justification.

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'64 sunroof Beetle '55 semaphore Beetle

They come cut in half. I'll try it.