VW motorsport style 02A shifter tower and modiifed All Smiles shifter

Hi,

Here's a guide to the modifications i did to an 02A gearbox tower to replicate the VW Motorsport pics in the porn thread.

You will need one of each of these and suitable cutting tools


Start with a std 02A tower and strip it down to the casting.


Cut off the top and remove the seal that no longer sealed

(This pic shows a bearing in its place, this was later replaced with a custom made nylon bush as the shaft snagged on the bearing when it moved up and down)


Machine the excess from the top of the tower away and also the sides to make space for the needle roller bearings.


Use the lathe to make the bush to support the bearings


Detailed engineering drawing


Bush installed with loctite


Bearings and arm fitted


fitted to car (now with nylon bush)


Next step to shorten the fwd/back throw of the lever, again following the VW Motorsport info.

Cut the end off and smooth off


Drill a new hole 46mm from pivot center (extra hole in middle to allow a shift weight to be fitted)

 

Lick of paint and fitted


Next onto the All Smiles shift lever,

I haven't been happy with it since fitting as the fwd/back and left/right movement wasn't on bearings just bolts and washers, the lever used to rattle if the bolt was too loose or be stiff to move if i tightened the bolt. The answer was to fit more needle bearings

First off make some bushes on the lathe to support the bearings


Press onto the lever with bearings in place ( the bush is just under flush so the bearing washer takes the load)


Difference in contact surface area


Installed


recess machined into the main lump of the shifter to take the right/left movement bearings


rear bearing currently proud but also get recessed when i have time


The contact between the 2 parts is on the bearings (this used to just be a washer for the 2 parts to run on )


Finally machine a new reverse selector as this used to just be a screw sticking out of the rod


I think that just about covers it

The gear shift is now much more precise and positive, the lever moves smoothly and no longer rattles.

Thanks to all who helped with this

 

where did you get the flat needle roller bearings?

nice work dude

 

sticky? if only for my future use

 

amazing what bluepeter teaches nowadays well done

 

Cheers,

The bearings came from here https://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/index.php?cPath=1_114

10x24x2mm for the 02A tower mod with 2 of the 1mm thrust washers per bearing making the total thickness 4mm.

I used the same size bearings in the body of the all smiles shifter and 17x30x2mm on the lever.

 

very nice job

 

thankyou.

 

Nice work Steve.

 

Nice work Steve - it's amazing what can be done in your Dad's garage

 

Great stuff Steve - all the better for putting the info up now, so glad useful.

New lathe's doing the job a treat! What's it's hourly rate?

Link here to the original post for anyone reading for the first time.

Out of interest, how did you get the blue seal out of the tower? I had a look at one, starting chipping away with a screwdriver from beneath, but grabbed another one in the end. Did you manage to get the needle bearing cage out too?

 

Thanks,

Not sure on hourly rate, but i'm sure we can come up with cgti discount

The blue seal popped out really easily, just used a snap-on pick to get it out, another tower i have required the seal to be cut and knocked out with a screwdriver. Maybe just luck of the draw with tolerences or design changes to the seal/housing.

I left the original VW bearings in the tower and just added the nylon bush in place of the blue seal.

 

Can you just confirm i have intrepreted your drawing correctly for the spacer bush.


Got some bearings on order and going to spin one of these up tomorrow so hopefully will be on my way to sorting out my sloppy shift!

 

Looks right

The length 3 in view B may need to be altered to suit your housing, mine had a lip inside which may have been a result of casting so we skimmed a little of the 12.2 to suit.

You will also need to machine some material off from each end the the section that the bush fits into, i don't think i covered it in the above write up. The housing is wider than 26.1 and the amount that needs to be removed from each side isn't equal so you have to measure it correctly to get the fork arm to sit in the correct place. Its pretty obvious when you look at it.

Steve

 

Ok cheers.

I thourght that was just a lead in for for an interference fit i'l knock one up like that and see what I can make fit once ive got the bearings.

 

There's no rule on the thickness of the insert. The alloy tower housing on mine was drilled to ~12.5mm to suit the VWM insert, but I think the tower's around 12mm to start with, so easier to go with 12mm for the insert's OD I suppose.

 

Thats what i thought, make the insert to suit the current hole rather than stuggling to mount the tower in the mill/pillar drill to enlarge the hole and then still have to make the insert to fit the new larger hole.

 

Nice work steve !! ,

I also got hold of a all smiles shifter sometime ago and have been making another one that operates very differently , i liked the look of the all smiles shifter but did not like the operation so have started from scratch only using the steel base. I also looked at the CAE shifter but that look a little over the top but bet it has smoother operation

So far i have done

- Redone reverse as a pull up ( spring loaded ) and cut out so no mistakes in selecting reverse without it being a 2 handed job
- Remade the shifter as a yoke design using 2 different metals , very smooth operation with no slack or vibration and no bearings

Will have a prototype testing in a car soon but working on cable setup at the moment , i was looking to sell these so may keep the pics off the net at the moment , see how it goes

 

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1800921&postid=45419488

 

cracking work steve