Photos & Text : Stacey Rhymer Hand Model: Evva Chambers |
Stacey Rhymer: How to Make a Kustom Shifter Knob The story of why is just as interesting as the how, you can either humor me and read this part, or just go right on down to the meat of the matter I spent the better part of three hours at the LUBS scrounging for parts for my Rollfast project. I was looking for just the "right" fork, a banana seat (which I decided not to use after all), and a 3 Speed Stick Shift for a Shimano Hub. Luck was on my side, I found everything I wanted... including his last shifter. I paid him and gathered up the seat and shifter, placed them on top of my van near the back door, opened it and went back for my bike and loaded it in, shutting the door. I got in, fired up the motor and waved good-bye as I the |
backed out of the parking space. Grinning ear to ear at my good fortune, I slipped the transmission into Drive and headed home. The Fates do have a sense of humor and I was about to become the butt of one their jokes. No sooner had I reached cruising speed I happened to notice a flutter, traveling in an upward arc from the rear corner of the van. It was the seat and shifter! I knew it... I forgot to put them in the van. Before they hit the ground I let fly with a string of colorful language that would shame a longshoreman. When they did, I got to watch the shifter knob grenade in slow motion. To my good fortune (if there's any to be had at a time like this) there was no traffic behind me. I nailed the brakes and dove in to the nearest parking lot, swung the van around, backtracked, and counted five cars avoiding my newly deposited carnage. Heedless of my own safety, I made a quick recon and recovery of the larger pieces... the seat and main portion of the shifter (sans knob). Forced by my own carelessness to either find an OEM replacement shift knob for the NOS Sun Tour 3 Speed Stick Shift I just bought, which I'm sure would be as hard as finding the shifter in the first place, or come up a suitable replacement fashioned from something else. Owing to the fact this is a Kustom project, I chose the later. Here's how I did it. |
Below: Here it is a naked gear shift stalk, not only is it unsightly but also unsafe... one can only imagine the discomfort of evisceration. SAFETY WARNING ~ Always remember to use safety glasses and secure loose clothing and jewelry! |
Above: Warm up your hot glue gun. Place a good size glob of glue on your work surface (I used a piece of carpet underlayment) and firmly seat the knob. Then run a good fillet around. The object here is to securely hold your knob to be so you can work on it safely. You'll want to make a template (foreground) of your shifter stalk. I used a Removable Mailing Label marked to the dimensions of the stalk and cut out. In this case the stalk measured 1/8" x 5/16" |
Below: Place the template on your shift knob. I recommend using some cellophane tape to help hold the edges down. With a small spur mounted in my Dremel I ground in 3 small evenly spaced "centerpunch" marks to locate a drill bit |
Above: Swapping out the spur bit for a 1/8" drill bit (the width of my shifter), sink a hole at each "centerpunch" mark. You might want to put a piece of tape on the drill bit to act as a depth guide. |
Left: In the top picture you see the three initial holes set in the knob. In the bottom you see the webs between the holes removed. You can check with your Dremel dealer for the correct type of grinding bit. I did it by using the side of the drill bit. Necessity is... |
Left: Now grab the knob and give it a twist, it will come off the underlayment with the glue still attached to it. That's ok for now, it will stabilize the ball while you make adjustments and we'll address the glue later on. Now it's time for a test fit. You'll probably have to lengthen the hole a bit at first to get it to go on the shifter stalk. Just go slow, removing a little bit of material at a time and retrying the fit. |
Right: When you have the slot sized correctly, the knob will sit nicely on the shifter stalk as shown. Now, start at the edge of the glue, working your way around the edge, peel it off the knob. Once the mass of the glue is off, a light scraping with your thumb nail is all that's needed to clean off any remnants. A quick bath in hot soapy water will take care of any remaining munge and smudges. With a grinding stone in your Dremel, carefully roughen up the top of the shifter stalk to give the epoxy something to grip on. Mix up a bit of epoxy and liberally coat the inside of the slot and apply some to the top end of the stalk for good measure. Press the knob on the stalk, be sure to seat it al the way. Watch out for drips, and clean as you go. When the glue is dry you might want to touch up the underside with some color-matched paint. |
Not a bad job for under an hour's work and three dollars for a dozen balls. |
Photos & Text : Stacey Rhymer Hand Model: Evva Chambers |
