NEW OR RE-CONDITIONED AUTO-STICKS???

[69BUGGER]

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW OR WHO SELL AN AUTO-STICK NEW OR REBUILT? MY 1969 JUST LOCKED UP YESTERDAY ON ME AND THERE IS NOT A SINGLE PERSON IN THIS AREA THAT DOES ANY WORK ON THEM. I AM IN MUNCIE, INDIANA AND WOULD BE GLAD TO PAY SOMEONE TO HELP ME OUT. IT SEEMS TO BE STUCK IN GEAR BUT THE SHIFTER IS IN NEUTRAL. I CAN START THE CAR RIGHT UP AND SELECT A GEAR. IT WILL GO INTO GEAR BUT WILL NOT PULL. I JACKED THE REAR WHEELS UP AND SPUN THEM FINE. THEY SPUN OPPOSITE THOUGH. AS SOON AS I SIT THE CAR DOWN, I CAN ROCK IT BACK AND FORTH AND IT FEELS LIKE IT IS A 4-SPEED STUCK IN FIRST. I TRIED TO PUMP THE CLUTCH LEVER IN AND OUT ON THE SERVO BUT IT DID'T HELP AT ALL. YESTERDAY IT DROVE FINE. ANY HELP WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATED. IF IT SOUNDS LIKE TOO MUCH, MAYBE IT WOULD BE EASIER FOR ME TO STICK A NEW TRANS IN IT AND FORGET ABOUT IT. MAYBE SOME OF YOU GUYS AND GALS HAVE HAD A SIMILAR PROBLEM AND CAN SHOOT ME SOME ADVICE. THANKS A MILLION IN ADVANCE!

[68AutoBug]

With the wheels up in the air, and the engine going, It IS NOrmal for the wheels to go in the opposite direction..  this means that the differential is working OK..  Maybe a selector fork has broken off or some other mechanical failure..  Would be easier to get a replacement gearbox...
from a wrecker or preferably from some one who has taken a gearbox from a car that was OK, and replaced it with a normal 4 speed box..
I don't believe new or reconditioned gearboxes would be available anywhere...   there are not a lot of these cars left..   Many early & late model Beetle bodies are attached to a semi auto chassis with normal running gear..   the semi auto chassis was only available in Australia in the 1976 standard beetle...  The rear end being the same as on Super beetles.  So all these chassis now have standard gearboxes, so there should be a lot of semi auto gearboxes in good condition... some where...

regards
Lee Noonan   68AutoBug

[bookwus]

Hiya 69,

Lee makes a good point when suggesting that a new (used) gearbox might be the way to go.  Truth be told, there are still shops around that will completely rebuild an AutoStick transmission.  I just had this done last summer.  But be prepared with a deep wallet.  More than likely you will have ship your tranny and the job itself cannot be called cheap.  Think around 2 grand.  So..........it might make a LOT more sense to find a used AutoStick in a boneyard and lay out about $200 for that.

Mike

1970 AS Bug

[68AutoBug]

I forgot You were in the USA.
Semi Auto-sticks - are rare in Australia...
I didn't think there would be many in the UK either.
Many down here were changed over to an early body and normal gearbox, so most stick shift gearboxes were OK... its just that they
wanted the unique Chassis... [same as a super beetle]
I do have a spare gearbox etc, but I am going to use My spare torque converter shortly, so I'll try & find another one of those...
Most VW shops here in Australia don't want to know about VW auto stick shift gearboxes etc.... they tell You to change over to a standard setup..
I would go for one from a wrecker...
regards
Lee Noonan  102F @ the moment...   Scone  Australia