I've thought about asking one of my woodworking friends to turn me one, but I assume I'd have to put some metal inside of it to add weight (and hold threads).
Shift Knob Replacement
- Thread starter Dlirium
- Start date
Maybe black industries can fabricate a wood veneer on one of their knobs?
Also found this Etsy shop. Wouldn’t that work too?
I got this product from the same vendor.
It's noticably heavier than the OEM one but it should be lighter at 150g vs the 165g for the Darkworks. It has the same issue as mentioned earlier in the thread, where there isn't a cutout in the knob for the reverse lockout like the OEM knob, so there's a gap between the top of the lockout and the bottom of the knob that shows the tension spring.
The gap is barely visible while driving but it bothers me knowing it's there. Not sure if there's something I could do to fix it; I think someone mentioned drilling into the thread/knob but not sure how that would work. I'll drive with the knob as-is for now and see how I feel.
Do you have a photo of the underside showing the differences? Maybe the Etsy shop would be willing to make a lotus specific wood knob. Lots of people want the Clark edition knob. There’s just something about the classic feeling of wood that goes so well with one of the last manual sports cars to be made
See posts 64 and 77 for what the stock looks like from the bottom and 77 are the actual dimensions.
thanks for that! I think I’m going to reach out to that fabricator on Etsy with the dimensions to see if they can do it. I’d only want a knob with the proper fitment and recess
On this and other aftermarket knobs, is there a set screw? Doesn't look like it? How do you get it to stop perfectly so the top shifter logo is straight
With the Black Forest knob, the shift pattern is on a small "coin" that is stuck on top of the knob at the very end and covers up a tightening screw below.
It's actually a pain to remove the shifter without damaging the coin. I found a #11 scalpel blade or Xacto blade to be the best method to pry the coin off.
So i contacted the etsy seller. Their solution to the lockout is this sleeve. The photo below is a knob made for an exige, but would fit an emira. I asked if they could place the sleeve entirely in the shift knob. Unfortunately, he said he couldn't. So still looking for a good wooden knob to get, blah
You should hit up Black Forest and see if they'd be interested in turning one in wood, or at least sharing the dimensions for the middle stack of the shifter (the part that's leather wrapped)
How big are the diameters of the wooden one's your were discussing with the Etsy person? I suspect the problem requiring the adapter on the bottom as pictured is two fold: the external thread pitch of Evora and Emira shift levers is M12x1.5 if memory serves. I've had difficulty locating any sort of insert, either for metal or wood, with an M12x1.5 internal thread. I think you'd have to have slightly more sophisticated machining capabilities to turn your own (with an acceptable outer thread for wood). Then I suspect that hollowing out the sphere enough for a custom threaded piece in wood, you may end up with not enough meat in the sphere itself and it becomes too light/fragile, etc. (and subject to splitting with temp changes).
I think it might take some somewhat more-sophisticated turning capabilities, with multiple parts (like both BFI and Raceseng knobs) to get where you're going with wood
I had a big fat, 550g 54mm Stainless knob I used in an older car, and a machinist mad a brass adapter for its custom thread to the M12x1.5 and was just enough room in the original opening to fit the lock-out collar. But it's almost too heavy, so might try BFI one, or have one made in the style of the now-defunct Raceseng slammer (just not as heavy).
Not sure how sophisticated it would have to be, as the threads themselves aren't in the part that would be wooden (they'd be in a metal base which has a sleeve that runs up through the wooden ball and attaches under the coin). At some point I'll take my knob back apart to see if replicating this in wood on a lathe would work, but for now here's a picture of one of their knobs exploded - though this one is not Emira specific.How big are the diameters of the wooden one's your were discussing with the Etsy person? I suspect the problem requiring the adapter on the bottom as pictured is two fold: the external thread pitch of Evora and Emira shift levers is M12x1.5 if memory serves. I've had difficulty locating any sort of insert, either for metal or wood, with an M12x1.5 internal thread. I think you'd have to have slightly more sophisticated machining capabilities to turn your own (with an acceptable outer thread for wood). Then I suspect that hollowing out the sphere enough for a custom threaded piece in wood, you may end up with not enough meat in the sphere itself and it becomes too light/fragile, etc. (and subject to splitting with temp changes).
I think it might take some somewhat more-sophisticated turning capabilities, with multiple parts (like both BFI and Raceseng knobs) to get where you're going with wood
I had a big fat, 550g 54mm Stainless knob I used in an older car, and a machinist mad a brass adapter for its custom thread to the M12x1.5 and was just enough room in the original opening to fit the lock-out collar. But it's almost too heavy, so might try BFI one, or have one made in the style of the now-defunct Raceseng slammer (just not as heavy).
Basically, it would be replacing the black plastic piece in the picture with wood. The metal cap on top of it in the picture where the coin rests also comes off, and a small screw hidden by the coin goes through the chamfered hole in the center down into the base/sleeve to lock everything together.
My next big question would be, do I turn it out of burlwood or stack a few layers of contrasting wood.
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I finally stopped being lazy and took a picture of the knob and underside. So I bought this plastic piece from Amazon and put it under the knob to push down the spring. You need 15mm ID to clear the threads, 17mm OD to contact the springs to push in but not block the reverse lockout, and like 15-20mm length to cover the full gap between the knob and the reverse lockout. The springs work fine even if pushed in a bit more. I wish it was metal instead of plastic but I couldn't find anything in the right size in metal.
https://a.co/d/08ryt2CF
It's slightly bothersome that the gap is there and doesn't color match, but you can't see it from the driving position or notice it from outside the car I think. You can probably get away without touching/feeling the gap but I end up kinda fiddling with it when holding and waiting on the knob. I ended up getting the gear shift on the knob, even if it required loctite when screwing in to center, just in case I got a valet or something and forget to tell them how it shifts.
For the knob itself, I like it. Note it's slightly higher up than the OEM knob since the normal one has the bottom flush with the lockout. Both the higher weight and length make the shifting much smoother and kinda just slides into gear. The wood is smooth, transmits feeling in the way wood does, and doesn't burn my hand off in summer, so it's worth the downsides.
Love this! Can you share who the Etsy seller was? I basically just want something identical but in a walnut matte finish
Dragon Fire Wood Works. I'm sure they can make you a walnut matte finish version. They have a picture of my exact knob on one of their pages, along with the underside showing the threading and the cutout, etc.
thanks! im reaching out to the seller now. When you install the knob, how do you get it to stop at the appropriate orientation for shift pattern on the top of the knob?
From an earlier posting: The custom knob I had made has no set screw. Solved the issue by having it fit the stock threading with Locktite. The top plate with the shift pattern fits into the knob with a minor amount of pressure, but easy to pop out for setting it straight... once the knob was screwed tight, the top plate had a little epoxy added to the bottom to glue it permanently in the correct orientation. The top plate with the shift pattern is for a 993 911, its aluminum. I sourced that of a Porsche parts place (think it was $25)
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