Help needed: 5 speed gearbox install

[dubstar]

Not rocket science, but it feels like I'm making paper planes out of glad wrap.

I gave the engine a good wiggle, levered it back over to the drivers side and then tightened it all back up. Still out. Photos:

[dubstar]

Also the shifter is different between mk3 and mk1, as Pete has pointed out

[dubstar]

So this morning I went and grabbed the entire 5 spped linkage and also the gearbox mount from the mk1 cabby at Jolly's. I will check to see if the mount I have is bent or out of shape. I will also lose the fancy pants shifter gear I have and get it going with the standard shifter gear first, then we can go about improving the linkage.

[roccodingo]

Lever you have on the trans selector shaft is incorrect ( to long and offset to far ) from what i see. Keep at it you will win

[dubstar]

I have pulled out the mosh mash of shifter parts that I had on the car and started replacing everything with the set-up I got at the wreckers.

Very interesting fact. The shift levers on the gearbox are all different. Here are the pics.

- 4 speed mk1 - has the silver shift rod attached

-5 speed mk1 - has the black shift rod attached

-5speed mk3 -has no shift rod.


It may not look like much, but the difference in situ is huge

[gldgti]

your rad support mount looks way out of alignment. Are you SURE your front end is straight?

The silver rod in your pics is not stock - its aftermarket.

[dubstar]

To rule out the 'non-straight' front end suggestion I downloaded all the jig measurements from vwmotorsport.info and did the 8 measurements of the front end........its dead on and perfectly straight (amazing for a 40 year old car!).

I have found another guy in the UK who had exactly the same issue. Early golf with a later 5 speed conversion. The front mount was aligned perfectly with the 4 speed but twisted with the 5 speed. He just added spacers to the mount to bring it back into alignment as he spent weeks tracking down the issue, but everything with the car was right.

[sports racer]

So problem solved? You know how to get it to fit now?