6 Speed shifter mania

[Rich Z]

Yeah, I know this is a dumb question, but what shifter knob do you all prefer for your shifter? I'm talking about manual transmissions here, since us gear wranglers have to have the hand on the knob most of the time we are driving, so this is kind of an intimate relationship to have with the car. It's got to feel good in the hand.

When I changed out my Hurst shifter for the MTI unit, I originally had this one on the Hurst:



I liked the feel of it, but the plastic insert wasn't really all that good for a nice firm feel. It felt loose and I found myself having to twist it on occasion to get it lined up right. Well when I tried to put it on the MTI unit, I found that I just could not tighten it up and finally bottomed out with it cocked 180 degrees from where I needed it to be. To the credit of the place I got it from, they have offered to take it back and replace the plastic insert with a metal one which they say will make all the difference in the world.

So I had to fall back to a shifter knob I bought a while back, but seemed to tall for me:



In a way I like the feel of this one, as it makes the ease of shifting much lighter then the other knobs I used. Likely because it IS taller, so it changes the leverage needed. I'm tempted to just keep it, but this one too, uses a plastic insert and I'm not sure how long it will hold up before becoming loose as well. I REALLY cranked down on this one to put it into position, so it could be a while before it becomes a problem. But still, I have this kind of plastic phobia now.

When I had my GTO many moons ago, I had one of those horizontal pistol grip knobs on the shifter, which at the time I liked, but for some reason I think it would look like a monstrosity in a Corvette. So I've been looking for something else and found that the regular old ball shape kept catching my eye....



The black one, of course, is the one I liked, so heck I ordered one. These are supposedly made from the same material that billiard balls are made from, so I think it will have some heft to it. Which is kind of what I am looking for. A knob that has some mass to it. I think the weight in the hand would make shifting just FEEL easier for some reason. Heck if I could get a tungsten steel one, I think I would for that one reason alone. Lead would likely be too soft but maybe not. Certainly the threads couldn't be lead.

Anyway, anyone found the "perfect" shifter knob, in their opinion? Yeah, I know this is all subjective, but maybe there is one out there that I just haven't seen and considered yet. The height of the knob does have a bearing on the shifting ease of motion, so I guess I have to keep that in consideration as well. I would seriously even consider going back and trying the stock knob again, as it sits pretty low, but no WAY I'm ever going to put that retaining plug back in there. The last time I tried to remove it I could NOT get it out. Probably because I whacked it a good one when I put it back in after installing the Hurst shifter. BAD mistake. I had to let the vette tech at the dealership get that one out for me. I have no idea what he did, but he did it. So any of you putting in a new shifter and using that stock knob, be GENTLE tapping in that cursed retainer.

[MADN3SS]

Rich, these are my 2 shift knobs I rotate between.




They are called Lunar Rocks and they were featured in the movie "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" with Eddie Murphy. Terrible movie. I found these on ebay and paid $150 for the set with the sole purpose of using them as shift knobs! I know, stupid. We want what we want. Anyway, I gave away the 10 ball to the guy that drilled them for me (Jim Lembo from Z06Vette.com) and the 11 ball to Ivo, for helping me install my headers. I wouldn't mind making a little money back on them. I have the 2 ball left, it's yours for $15 shipping included. They were used a couple of times. Here's a link to a site that sells these balls individually for $20 plus shipping. Of course they didn't have this when I bought the whole set. I would have saved a bunch of money.

http://www.billiardsstore.com/produc...ption/2405.cfm

About the only ones I have that are close to the color of a C5 Vette is the 1 and 9 (for Millenium Yellow) the 2 (for Electron Blue or Lemans Blue) and the 7 and 15 (for Anniversary Red? or Magnetic Red). I suppose really, any of the balls would look good on Quick Silver, Sebring Silver or Machine Silver.

[Rich Z]

So what are they made of again? Do they have some heft to them and are ready to be mounted on a shifter? What about a jam nut?

The deal for the black ball shifter fell through. I swear I just don't get along with East Coast Corvettes. I had an earlier issue with the rear bumper letters, but I thought it was certainly a fluke. Apparently not.

When I filled out their order form, I clicked the option to bay with PayPal. So when I went through the entire order process, I noticed that not only was sales tax added in on ECC's shopping cart program, but PayPal added in sales tax as well. I sent the info to them and asked them to correct this error. I told them that simply doing a refund of the sales tax error from PayPal would be easy to do and would solve the problem. So what reply did I get?

NO, It looks right to me. If it doesn't look right to you, we need to do it a different way.

I am going to go ahead and refund the full amount.

Give me a call with your credit card info if you want to make the purchase.

Thank you,
Todd Wiley
East Coast Corvettes

Well right within that very same email is PLAINLY shown:

This is from their shopping cart program.

1 97-04 C5 / Z06 Corvette 6 Speed Billiard Ball Shift Knob w/
Pattern @ $39.95 = $39.95


Sub-Total: $39.95
Shipping: $8.70 (UPS Ground)
Sales Tax: $2.80

Invoice Total: $51.45

And this is from PayPal.

Web Accept Payment Received (ID # 5UA595567X0278426)


Name:
Rich Zuchowski (The sender of this payment is Verified)
Email: rich@serpenco.com
Payment Sent to: todd@eastcoastvette.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Total Amount: $55.05 USD
Fee Amount: -$1.90 USD
Net Amount: $53.15 USD
It looks like a PayPal issue. I think I should refund the full amount and start over and bill your credit card directly, to avoid the PayPal fees and tax issue.

Let me know.

Thanks, Todd



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Item Amount: $51.45 USD
Shipping: $0.00 USD
Handling: $0.00 USD
Quantity: 1
Sales Tax (7.000%): $3.60 USD
Item Title: C5 Shifter knob
Item Number: 1161
Invoice ID: 1161
Date: Jun. 13, 2006
Time: 21:16:53 EDT
Status: Completed

WTF? I guess they don't want my business. Fair enough with me.... Heck, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that sales tax WAS added twice. Yet it "looks right" to this character...

So yes, I am in the market for a ball style shifter knob right at the moment.

[MADN3SS]

Originally Posted by Rich Z

So what are they made of again? Do they have some heft to them and are ready to be mounted on a shifter? What about a jam nut?

So yes, I am in the market for a ball style shifter knob right at the moment.

They are an actual billiard ball. Although the guy that drilled mine said they were a little softer than a "normal" billiard ball. So just pick up a billiard ball and that will be how it feels in your hand. I like it. My hand hasn't slipped off it or anything like that.

No, it isn't ready to be mounted. I only had the two that I used drilled. I should just ask the guy that drilled mine if he would do the others that I have. I had to send them off to Colorado.

What is a jam nut?

[Rich Z]

Originally Posted by MADN3SS

They are an actual billiard ball. Although the guy that drilled mine said they were a little softer than a "normal" billiard ball. So just pick up a billiard ball and that will be how it feels in your hand. I like it. My hand hasn't slipped off it or anything like that.

No, it isn't ready to be mounted. I only had the two that I used drilled. I should just ask the guy that drilled mine if he would do the others that I have. I had to send them off to Colorado.

What is a jam nut?

A jam nut is a threaded nut that goes underneath of the shifter so once you have the knob in the correct position you tighten the nut up against the knob to keep it properly aligned. Without a jam nut, you have to tighten the knob and hope you can get it tight in the orientation you want. Shifter knobs that need no orientation (completely rounded with no shift pattern of insignia) can just be tightened down on the shifter threads without this sort of concern.

[MADN3SS]

Originally Posted by Rich Z

A jam nut is a threaded nut that goes underneath of the shifter so once you have the knob in the correct position you tighten the nut up against the knob to keep it properly aligned. Without a jam nut, you have to tighten the knob and hope you can get it tight in the orientation you want. Shifter knobs that need no orientation (completely rounded with no shift pattern of insignia) can just be tightened down on the shifter threads without this sort of concern.

I guess that would make sense. I kept tightening until it lined up. I was a little tough. A jam nut would have made a whole lot more sense!

[Rich Z]

Originally Posted by MADN3SS

I guess that would make sense. I kept tightening until it lined up. I was a little tough. A jam nut would have made a whole lot more sense!

The problem is that if you try to make one more turn to tighten it up, and then bottom out before it is aligned, you are then screwed. That's what happened with the C6 shifter I was using. If the guy hadn't been willing to replace the plastic insert (with a metal one this time), then the shifter knob would have been useless to me.

I found another supplier of the black round ball shifter I like and have it on order. It's supposed to be made from the same material that billiard balls are made of. They had two sizes (2 inches and 2.25 inches). I went with the smaller one thinking it would fit my hand better. I was leaning towards the larger side thinking it would have more mass and weight) but I don't want it TOO big.