[T3] AT deathmatch: shift lever extraction

[Greg Merritt <gregm@vwtype3.org>]

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	I finally extracted the shift lever from my '69 AT.  No, not 
*that* shift lever -- the *other* shift lever.  It's the the one on 
the transmission, at the tranny end of the shift cable.  Here's a 
description of the problem:

http://vwtype3.org/listsearch/?post=/archives/2001/july/msg01520.html

Basically, the problem is that the outer lever is supposed to be 
fixed to the shaft.  On my car, the outer lever can rotate about 
20degrees or so independently of the shaft.

	The problem with removing it is that it hits smack! into the 
front mount for the left rear trailing arm.  I tried just taking out 
the four front tranny mount bolts and lowering the front end of the 
tranny/engine assembly so that the lever piece could clear the mount, 
but it would only drop less than a cm or so.  I went up and down a 
bit with the jack (under the differential? drain) to try to see if it 
would drop more, but it wouldn't.

	I put another jack under the engine, and my daughter and I 
went to work on the four engine crosspiece bolts.  I disconnected the 
three engine/body boots (cooling air, combustion air, and dipstick), 
and lowered the two jacks incrementally.  I was able to get the 
drivetrain low enough to slip the lever out.  I did not have to go so 
low as to clear the engine crosspiece from the double tabs of the 
rubber engine mounts, so it was pretty easy to bolt the drivetrain 
back into place.

	I'm not certain of the precise rotational orientation of the 
outer lever vs. the inner lever.  I think they're actually supposed 
to be not quite parallel.  One clue to this is Fig. 10-25 in the AT 
chapter of my Bentley -- you can see that the flats on the inner end 
of the shaft are a little bit rotated with respect to the outer 
shaft.  I think that if I'm off a little bit, I'll still be able to 
adjust the cable.

	If anybody has a spare good lever & shaft for sale, please 
let me know!  Or, if you have one that you can just look at to 
confirm that the inner and outer levers shouldn't be parallel, please 
drop me a line.  If you happen to be dropping your AT pan any time 
soon, you can just look up into the tranny and compare lever 
orientations.

	Wow, haven't driven the square in over 6 months (shame). 
It'll be nice to cruise around in it again, and to actually be able 
to shift reliably and use park!

-Greg

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