Gearknobs - alternatives
- Thread starter a11y
- Start date
If you can post some pics with it disassembled, someone might be able to offer an alternative method.ali_b said:
After having a number of different knobs, to me it seems that the greatest effect/improvement is by shortening the height.ali_b said:
the prices seem to have gone back up.
by ''the collar'' do you mean the plastic insert? by not having this in does it not alter the grip on the shaft?
you could cut the top of it off and get the best of both worlds??
grip on the shaft....... cut the top of it off
il beat you to the comments lol
by ''the collar'' do you mean the plastic insert? by not having this in does it not alter the grip on the shaft?
you could cut the top of it off and get the best of both worlds??
grip on the shaft....... cut the top of it off
il beat you to the comments lolShunt - How much are the whalen shif machines ?
Regarding the collar, im pretty sure when I was messing around it looked like a noticable difference, i.e. the collar needs to be off the base so you can tighten the allen keys onto the shaft, this means the collar is at least 1/2 cm lower than absolute bottom otherwise you cant get to the allen bolts. Without collar, you have another maybe 15% furthur down the shaft ??..
I didnt have the balls to chop the illuminating wires either, as I'd spent all weekend under my E36 compact swapping struts and couldnt be arsed !
and yes, its getting silly 
Regarding the collar, im pretty sure when I was messing around it looked like a noticable difference, i.e. the collar needs to be off the base so you can tighten the allen keys onto the shaft, this means the collar is at least 1/2 cm lower than absolute bottom otherwise you cant get to the allen bolts. Without collar, you have another maybe 15% furthur down the shaft ??..
I didnt have the balls to chop the illuminating wires either, as I'd spent all weekend under my E36 compact swapping struts and couldnt be arsed !
and yes, its getting silly
Looks like no easy fix to make much of a difference. You could remove some of the base on the collar, but that would only give you an additional 3mm drop or so based on the photo. Any other modifications will require a fair amount of lathe work.ali_b said:Offending collar :
Question: with the collar attached, what is the overall height of the knob?
, maybe A11y can chime in?ali_b said:
They aren't cheap, around £60 shipped, maybe a bit more. But the quality and weight make a big difference, my wedding ring has never marked them. Doug is very good with customer service, he'll engrave anything you want as well as his standard library. I designed (copied) the Alpina logo into an autocad file which I emailed him to use for the engraving with great results.
My current gearknob has an \\\M Coupe logo on it similar to the font on the Z3MC dash, very nice. It also shortens the throw and the weight smooths out the changes.
Tempted , but I snapped up the Richmond last week for £20 shipped so I'll see how it goes with the collar this Sat.
The other thing I dont really like is securing with Allen bolts, they eat into the shaft somewhat (and you have to go tight).... Pity you cant retrofit the OEM push fit sleeve into the gear nob - you'd need it machining out somewhat.
Does the Whalen push fit or secure with bolts ?
The other thing I dont really like is securing with Allen bolts, they eat into the shaft somewhat (and you have to go tight).... Pity you cant retrofit the OEM push fit sleeve into the gear nob - you'd need it machining out somewhat.
Does the Whalen push fit or secure with bolts ?
ali_b said:
No bolts involved, it has a clever locking mechanism. You lift the lower collar, slide it onto the shaft, let the collar go and that's it locked to the shaft. Nice bit of engineering. Doug has an engineering shop primarily, the gear knobs are a bit of a sideline for him.
I'd ordered the new MC knob as soon as the deposit on the car was paid, it arrived the following week. The original shift knob was just too high and felt uncomfortable.
Only just noticed the latest Q on height: combined with the collar, the Richbrook knob plus collar is approx 60mm. The hole where the shaft goes into extends most of the way through the knob, i.e. I'd say the top of the knob is only approx 10mm above the tip of the shaft.
Those other knobs are lovely but I just couldn't justify the price of them - I don't spend that much on my car
Edit to make it read properly - I'm a muppet...
Those other knobs are lovely but I just couldn't justify the price of them - I don't spend that much on my car
Edit to make it read properly - I'm a muppet...
60mm -10mm = 50mm (+/-) for the inside shaft hole. IIRC the shifter shaft length over the larger diameter base is about 55mm in length. Shortening the collar might not make much of a difference in lowering the height of the knob or removing any bottom gap. Does the knob sit visibly lower on the shaft without the collar? (I know....a11y said:
)Right, lets see if I can make this make sense lol... 
If I pushed the knob as far onto the shaft as possible (so that the top of the shaft hits the bottom of the hole in the knob), the sleeve that covers the bolts on the collar can't be slid downwards to access the 3 bolts which secure the knob to the shaft - the leather gaitor stops it from being lowered further.
So, I had to position the knob up by approx 5mm to allow space to access the 3 tightening bolts. In theory, you could only lower the knob by that 5mm over what mine already sits at. But believe me, I wouldn't want the knob any lower: the position of the handbrake when it's raised interferes with your nataural hand position on the knob, but that's only really an issue changing into gear when the handbrake's on, so you wouldn't be moving anyway...
Ally
If I pushed the knob as far onto the shaft as possible (so that the top of the shaft hits the bottom of the hole in the knob), the sleeve that covers the bolts on the collar can't be slid downwards to access the 3 bolts which secure the knob to the shaft - the leather gaitor stops it from being lowered further.
So, I had to position the knob up by approx 5mm to allow space to access the 3 tightening bolts. In theory, you could only lower the knob by that 5mm over what mine already sits at. But believe me, I wouldn't want the knob any lower: the position of the handbrake when it's raised interferes with your nataural hand position on the knob, but that's only really an issue changing into gear when the handbrake's on, so you wouldn't be moving anyway...
Ally
