Hi,
in that case. people may want to use a shifter extension ..
there are ones that just make the lever longer..
and ..
there 'were' .......like for old Buses, ones that extend aftward a bit.
However I have never thought too much of that style as it adds a twisting
compoent when moving the shiift lever, not a good thing exactly.

and ..in a vanagon ...
how far forward the shift knob is in 1st and 3rd is adjustable.
At the splines in the shift rod  ( aft of the gas tank in 2WD vans. ) ..
there is room there to change that length by up to a quarter  inch.
Lengthing that splined juncion would move knob know aftwards.
perhaps an inch, in any given gear,
with now other changes in alignment, H pattern etc.

in addtion ..
the shfit lever is a little bit taller in 87's, compared to say, an 85.

Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Beierl" <dbeierl@attglobal.net>
To: "Scott Daniel - Turbovans" <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Cc: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2011 1:07 PM
Subject: Re: [subaruvanagon] Musing About Recent Trip - Too Long

> At 03:45 PM 7/12/2011, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
>>there is nothing to gain ..
>>and we're not drag racing, so saving .000002 seconds on a shift is of no
>>use.
>
> I was thinking about some people having trouble reaching third gear - but
> I've never seen a shortened one.  They were rather popular here on the
> list some years ago.
>
> Yours,
> David