Let me clear up the questions about the shifter before I get myself into hot water...it's not the BugTech Shifter, it's a copy. I started copying it before I knew it was a production unit...otherwise, I wouldn't have done it.
About a year ago I found a random photo of a bug with a CNC shifter unit in it. The photo wasn't even on a beetle site. Anyways, I thought at the time it was a one-off since I couldn't find anything online about it. Started doing a bit of review-and-duplicate, based on the photos. Turns out I was actually working on a copy of a production unit, the BugTech unit. When I started the project I didn't know, and I was rather wary of posting it here since it's commercially available.
My current unit, the initial prototype, is a ridiculously ugly setup jig which is strictly for figuring out where I want my pivot locations...and thus my throw ratios. It's built mostly of square stock which is easier and faster to drill out then round stock. I can also make all the required parts on my drill press and a lathe, both of which I have easier access to as opposed to a mill. Some of the parts for my final good-looking unit have already been made, and the end result will be quite similar (by nature of being a copy) to the Bug Tech unit.
I suppose I should highlight a few things for those who might consider following my path. First off, its not cheaper. I only buy scrap aluminum and off-cuts from my supplier, and I have easy access to a mill and a lathe. By the time I'm finished my prototype and production unit, I'll be at about 50-70% of the BugTech Cost in materials, plus beer for machine time. If I factor in my time, I'm well over the cost of just buying a BT unit. Secondly, the BugTech guys have solved some problems that aren't immediately apparent, I'm not about to share those here because they aren't apparent in the photos and only after you build one do the problems surface. Some are relatively obvious, I've found reverse instead of second a few times, but others aren't so easy to figure out. Suffice it to say that it does definitely take some serious thinking to get it 'right'.
My unit, though, will be different in a few regards. I wasn't happy with an equal amount of throw reduction for fore-aft (1-2, 3-4) and lateral (2-3) movement. I'm currently changing the adjustable-pivot design to allow for two pivot locations, to try and "open up" the space between 2nd and 4th. If I set current design up so that 1-2 or 3-4 feels like an inch of movement...the space between 2 and 4 feels like 1/8". Tough to nail second on every downshift! So i'll need to create a second pivot to adjust the leverage ratio of the lateral movement separately. The overall height of my unit will also be different then the BugTech unit. That alone requires a completely different lower geometry.
Now that I have a relatively crisp and snappy shifter, I'm going nuts with the difficulty of heel-toeing the bug. With my Audi, I have the pedals set up to suit me well for left-foot braking and also heel-toe. With the bug, the gas pedal is just too low, relative to the brake pedal. The easy solution would be a block of wood, or a chunk of aluminum out of the scrap bin...but by now you should guess that I have an appreciation for adjusting things "just right". Enter my gas-pedal spacer design:
The left bit mounts to the stock gas pedal, the two middle spacers are stackable, and the top panel bolts onto the rest. I don't machine grip surface into the top plate for two reasons a) I don't really own the milling tools for it and b) I actually prefer to use skateboard grip tape. It's cheap, grippy, and easy to replace when worn out.
-Dave