For anyone who drives a noisy, vibrating, obnoxious-sounding, gear
shift-grinding Beetle, this story may change your life.

Having replaced nearly every engine-related component in my bug, I was still
driving a car that drove me crazy. The noise made by the shifter was
annoying at all times and nearly unbearable at highway speeds. I finally
decided on Friday that I'd had enough and changed the bushing.

Pulling the rod was exactly like the instructions set forth at:
http://huelsmann.us/bugman/ShifterTech.html. My thanks to Eric Huelsmann for
this very helpful treatise on the subject.

Getting the bushing in was challengeing, but acheivable. I highly recommend
using the circle clip that was part of the original installation, because it
greatly helps to keep the neoprene bushing in the rod bracket while you
replace the shift rod.

Anyway, after the project was complete and the stick shifter reinstalled, I
took the car out and WOW! a new VW wouldn't drive any better. Shifting is
buttry smooth. The vibrations and rattles are gone. I can actually hear my
new engine purring. This one little project to replace a $1 part caused the
whole engine replacement/restoration to finally come together.

The reason for the amazing transformation is that the shifter rod rests in a
round metal bracket just behind (toward rear of car) where the shifter
couples to the rod. An old, brittle or missing bushing causes the vibration
and noise from the engine and transmission, the road, etc. to be transferred
into the shifter rod, which I belive is a hollow steel extrusion. The result
is noise just beyond the threshold of psychic pain.

Heading out onto the road...

Randall Brink