I would like to replace the existing fuse box. The old style ceramic fuses are probably ok but it seems to me that the new style fuses are more reliable.
Funny story about this with my '57 bus. A previous owner changed the tail lights and wired up a single center brake light. This was legal in California for vehicles built in 1957 or earlier. There was also a wiring problem the would occasionally blow the brake light fuse. A few times police would pull me over for having no brake lights. After explaining this was a 1957 and the law only required one they would want to check. I kept a lot of spare fuses under the dash and could replace the blown one with out looking faster than they could walk to the back of the bus. They would come back, shake their heads and suggest something should be done about getting more brake lights in the back but never cited me for it.

This happened 3 or 4 times before finding the bad spot in the wire.

I ordered am EMPI shifter, its a clone of the orginal Hurst shifter I had in my 66 Beetle. I am waiting on the parts to replace the rear shift coupler and I already have the front (Heavy Duty) bushing kit replacement in hand. This should totally tighten up the shifting issue.
Back in the day you would occasionally see an ad for a VW with a note like BC 2nd. It stood for Bungie Cord 2nd gear meaning it came with a bungie cord to hold it into 2nd gear because the transmission or something was worn. Without the bungie cord it would pop out of second climbing a hill.

jtk