OK,  I took the gear shifter out,  it was greasy,  does the shift rod bushing go in there somehwhere?  I did not see an old bushing so maybe it decomposed,  After i gave up an put it back together,   It shifted better.  Magic    SC

After removing the shifter, take a tape measure and slide it into the opening pushing it toward the rear of the car trying to slide it on the top of the shift rod. When it stops note the distance back from the opening, put the tape on the outside of the tunnel and mark the location. On the passenger side of the tunnel cut a 4" square about two inches in front of your mark. Don't use a sawzall or a long blade. There's other stuff in the tunnel too. Use a die grinder with a cut-off blade. Cut 3 of the four sides and leave the bottom and use that for the hinge. Bend the flap down and you should see the plate that the shift rod goes through. The bushing you got goes around the rod from the front and pushes into the hole. In some cases you need to disconnect the couple from the trans and take the shift rod out through the front of the car just to clear the bushing area. Then put the bushing in then slide the shift rod back through it and connect it back to the coupling at the trans. Close the flap and weld up. Or in  your case leave open to help you run new fuel lines through the tunnel :lol:
Those bushing hardly ever go bad and you should first pull your back seat(if you have one) and there is a plate on top of the tunnel hump that you should remove and see if the coupling is bad. Usually that is the problem if you have a problem shifting. It's about a $7 part.
Big Joe

Hey SC . . . What's with the life preserver strapped to the hood of Stupie?  Planning on seeing if it will float or something?  

Zen,   Yep, thats a life saver on the hood. I was driving to work and  a neighbor had that perfectly good life saver laying on a can next to the road.  I love it when I don't even have to open my car door to take other folks trash.  Since my swimming pool turned into  a malarial infested swamp and the city orded me to dispose of it.  I had no use for a life saver.   But Wait!,  What about a Hood Ornament.   Crickey, Genius.

A life persever in the Triangle ?    If that don't beat all !!
 
    Why did you take your rear bumper off ?   Has some miracle transpired where you don't have to push Stupey off anymore ? I'm overwhelmed with joy for you. :lol:  :lol:

Bugtech,
What?  are you a bumper lover?  Can't a guy remove his bumper every now and then?    I felt  the the bumper was not asthetically pleasing.  It also hung low and swung to an fro and I could tie it in a knot and tie it in a bow.  So i ripped it off

Hummm . . . mine just fell off . . .  :-k  . . . maybe I should have left it off???   :?

 

Beetles have torsion bar suspension in the front and rear . . . over time as the torsion rods get tired they sag a little . . . but they seem to sag at about the same rate so the car still sits about level.

Stuper Beetles on the other had have coil springs in the front and torsion bars in the rear.  The coil springs seem to be the one part that VW got right on that front suspension design.  If anything, they get stronger with age and lift the front end higher and higher . . . but the back end settles slowly over time just like a Beetle.  The result is your headlights start pointing up in the tree tops.

There are two ways to fix it . . . lower the front to match or raise the rear.  There are a couple of ways to accomplish both.

Lowering the front  --  You can add weight in the trunk and bring the front end down . . . cheap and easy, and can be undone in a jiffy.  Of course, this causes the front end parts to wear at a much quicker rate than normal, which is bad on a Stuper 'cause they came from the factory half worn out.  It also makes it harder on the brakes and burn a little more gas.  Not a long term solution, but you might want to try it out just to get an idea of how it would look.  If you like the look, go to http://www.toplineparts.com . . . look, read, learn . . . they can tell you what to do and sell you the parts to lower your car the right way.  Done correctly, Stupie can handle like the sports car it wanted to be when it grew up . . . and run over 45 MPH without shaking you to death.  But that takes time, effort and money . . . so instead of working on the front end, I usually just try to raise the rear up to match it.

Raising the rear -- Coil-over shocks are the easiest way.  You get new shocks with adjustable tension coil springs wrapped around them.  The springs help make up for the tension the torsion rods have lost over the years.  I've used 'em before and haven't had a problem with them . . . but the best solution is to re-index the torsion rods . . . you probably have some worn out rubber bushings in there that need to be replaced anyway . . . it's not really "hard" to do, but be aware that this can be a time consuming job and maybe even a little bit dangerous if you don't know what you are doing and don't have the right tools.  I've done it a couple of times with a few hand wrenches, a floor jack and jack stands . . . and a BIG hammer.   :-k  Coil-overs are pretty cheap.  :wink:

Great advice Zen. I'll check the site .  and Bugtech ,  My springs have tons of bounce.    The shocks are some wacky air shocks.  I have little broke black air pipes going to them and there is a innertube valve in the fender to pump them up.
I threw in my hydraulic jack a couple pipes and about 60 more lbs of bar bell  weight and I can't wait to try it out Monday/.  The shocks have like a 22 mm nut inside the hood and a threaded  shaft like the emergency brake adjust  has.  I wonder if that is something to mess with?  I don't have a box wrench that big .   I'll take a picture and post it.  You will be proud   SC
.

I want to see that set up also.  Try to get a pic under the fender and under the hood. I don't think I would be messing that 22mm nut until I saw what it is holding together. This nut on a normal strut is under a lot of tention and if you take it off without a spring compressor( with the strut off the car) more than likely the spring, upper strut support and a good portion of your face will pass the space shuttle. If you take it off while the strut is still on the car, you will never get it back on and you trying to wiggle the strut out will more than likely get you hurt also.
       LEAVE IT ALONE for now Please until we see what you have. :roll: