EMPI Shifter Modifaction
By Brian Mason

My name is Brian Mason and this is my first article for SuperBeetles.com I have about five years restoration experience and most of what I write about is from my own experience with my 68 Beetle. You can find me in the forum at this web site under the username "68".

Have you ever had this happen? You look inside a sweet Beetle and see this cool looking shifter only to see EMPI in big letters written on the side instead of HURST? Well here's how to get Hurst quality on an Empi budget. You remember the many things you have heard about EMPI. They're cheaply made, they always break, Every Mistake Passes Inspection (EMPI) to name a few. When really they are good shifters the just have a few weak points. (Remember a chain is only as strong as its weakest link). So I'm gonna tell you how to fix em' up right.

Weak point number one. The most common failure mode is to break at base of the shifter (not a good thing going down the road 45 MPH shifting into 4th and snnnnnap). Don't panic if you have one of these shifters. Okay, looking with the plastic boot off you can see the shifter is held to the base with 4 rivets. These rivets are the weak point, as you can see in this picture, so lets have a look.

  The rivets are made of aluminum and if you leave them in they will break. So it's best to replace them now before they do. Pull out your trusty drill and drill them out. I just ground the heads off with an angle grinder. If I remember correctly its about an 1/4 or 1/8 inch drill bit.

Now that you have them drilled or ground the rivets out go get yourself some bolts to replace them. I used 1/4 inch machine screws with washers and locking nuts. This the next picture the bolts compared to the rivets.

Now that you have your bolts, washers and nuts, bolt the shifter to the base plate and use thread locker such as Locktite so that they won't come loose in the future. Now you have a shifter that will last for years to come!

Now for the 2nd weak point. The chrome plating on these shifters is bad to say the least, but it's an easy fix. Now go get yourself some clear coat (Clear spray paint works fine) and give the chrome two to four coats of protection. This will help to prevent the chrome from pitting. Now go out and enjoy your new EMPI shifter! I will have more articles to come including Speedometer Rebuild, Bodywork, Painting how-to's, Rust Repair, Window Regulator Repair, and much more! I Hope that you found this article helpful or at least interesting to read.

Brian Mason AKA "68"