Early wooden shift knob restoration

[AZ-240z]

Dan, if you enlarge the pic in post #5 you may see the glue on the button end that has formed sort of a mushroom shape. This is where I concentrated the heat. Once that was softened, it tapped out fairly easy. I did apply heat on the other end also, but I'm not sure if it was effective or even nessesary.

I don't know if you happened to see the thread where I chucked a shifter knob in my electric drill to turn down and refinish. I was thinking it would be easier to do this first, before removing the plug. Just a thought.

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showpost.php?p=313403&postcount=24

I did see that thread but this is an early knob so no need to reshape it. I was thinking that it might be helpful to thread a bolt onto the knob to help extract the plastic plug, though, or maybe thats what you intented?

Thanks for all the helpful info and I'll let you know if I am successful.

Dan

[geezer]

Dan, I know you wouldn't want to reshape it, I was thinking of sanding it, if it needs refinishing. It is so much easier to sand while it is being spun then it is by holding on to it by hand. Good luck with it!

[River City Speed]

I wouldn't want to spin it and sand it since that would be 90 degrees to the grains direction. That might be kind of nit-picky for a shift knob, but that's just me.

I am going to make a shift knob and lever that looks originalish for the T56 going in my car. I'm going to turn the knob out on a lathe and make a 6 spd pattern insert for in the original styling. I want it to basically match the Nardi wheel, so I may add an ebony stripe around it.

[JohnnyO]

WARNING: Thread Hijack in Progress

During the blasting of my tranny I damaged the Shift Pattern Insert. Does anybody sell just the shift pattern?

Sorry for the hijack.

Thanks,

John

[Arne]

During the blasting of my tranny I damaged the Shift Pattern Insert. Does anybody sell just the shift pattern?

Not at the present time. I know that Will has it on his list of future repro items, but no ETA. Not too soon, I suspect.

[JohnnyO]

Not too soon, I suspect.

I've heard he has a lot on his plate.

Thanks Arne.

Anybody have a bad shift knob that I can salvage the shift pattern from?

Edited March 17, 2010 by JohnnyO

[Mike B]

I wouldn't want to spin it and sand it since that would be 90 degrees to the grains direction.

I'm going to turn the knob out on a lathe and make a 6 spd pattern insert for in the original styling.

How is sanding it while it is spinning worse than turning and sanding it on a lathe? I'm pretty sure using a lathe goes against the grain direction too.

-Mike

[AZ-240z]

Dan, if you enlarge the pic in post #5 you may see the glue on the button end that has formed sort of a mushroom shape. This is where I concentrated the heat. Once that was softened, it tapped out fairly easy. I did apply heat on the other end also, but I'm not sure if it was effective or even nessesary.

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showpost.php?p=313403&postcount=24

Ron

Finally got around to using your technique with the heat gun and got the chromed plastic finisher off. The plastic did have a crack which enlarged when I tapped it out of the knob.

Before I have the finisher replated, I need to find a material to repair the crack and am hoping someone might have some ideas of a good material to use. I was thinking of something like J B Weld to repair the crack.

Any thoughts?

Dan

Original Owner hls30-20419

[ajmcforester]

Ron

Finally got around to using your technique with the heat gun and got the chromed plastic finisher off. The plastic did have a crack which enlarged when I tapped it out of the knob.

Before I have the finisher replated, I need to find a material to repair the crack and am hoping someone might have some ideas of a good material to use. I was thinking of something like J B Weld to repair the crack.

Any thoughts?

Dan

Original Owner hls30-20419

If you know the plastic type that would help, their are a lot of glues out their that will work. What you want is a glue for that specific plastic. This is a busy time of year for me but I'll try to get some time to test to find out what type of plastic it is. My bet is ABS since most of the car is made it.

If it tests as ABS plastic you have a lot of options to repair the piece including plastic welding. Yes I've welded plastic it works, it also allowed me to put mesh support into corners and places know to crack on panels. What might work best is a ABS powder and catalyst. I'll go into more detail when I know what plastic it is.

Also check with the company plating their could be problems with some glues

[MikeW]

It's a shame that this apparently isn't an exact match of the original. It would be very easy to just buy a new knob from Nissan and be done with it. The shift knob is the single easiest component on the whole car to simply replace. No tools required - 30 seconds of work. The original could be kept in your sock drawer if originality is that important to you. The reason I'm pointing this out is that with the wood, plastic, and chrome not to mention the glue inside this is actually a quite tricky piece to restore and I suspect you guys who've been working on it have put in quite a few hours to get those great results.

[Arne]

It's a shame that this apparently isn't an exact match of the original.

I agree. But I have one of those new ones, and it looks so heavy and chunky-looking compared to the worn original that I actually have the new one in my sock drawer. I'd rather have my worn original than the new one. It's that bad (to me).

[AZ-240z]

MikeW, Arne, ajmcforester,

Thank you all for your replies. Good point about compatibility of repair material to specific plastic, aj. I will try to locate a local plastics fabricating company to see if they have a compatible glue or repair material.

MikeW, the original knob appearance and finish is quite different, as Arne described, and originality is my goal. My car was restored by Pierre-Z in 2002, and I have been tweeking it ever since. I know that perfectly original is an unobtainable goal, but I'm an old guy, and remember the whole experience and enjoyment of buying, test driving, and even smelling my new car. Just trying to recapture some of that with the "original" word.

I'll try to update this with progress of knob renewal