917 Style/Inspired Shift Knobs

[slodave]

Slodave, can you make them with satin poly finish?

Not a problem.

[Noah930]

How about alternating layers of satin poly and that French/friction polish to complement the alternating layers of wood?

[Shuie]

They look great. Nice job!!

[Moozak]

just got mine today... looks and feels awesome! Love it!
I went for the friction fit with black sleeve.
I'll upload a photo once I get my Momo Super Indy wheel installed.
Thanks Dave!

[slodave]

Originally Posted by Noah930

How about alternating layers of satin poly and that French/friction polish to complement the alternating layers of wood?

Sure! How deep is your bank account!

Originally Posted by Shuie

They look great. Nice job!!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Moozak

just got mine today... looks and feels awesome! Love it!
I went for the friction fit with black sleeve.
I'll upload a photo once I get my Momo Super Indy wheel installed.
Thanks Dave!

Great! Glad to hear it arrived so quickly. Please do post up pix! I need 'em.

[Moozak]

Not the best pic... but here is one for now... Love the feel of the shift knob too. I ordered a friction finish.

[slodave]

Looks great together! Enjoy!

[slodave]

Updates...

I got the Wevo billet shifter from TRE and am starting to work on a solution. I hope I have a prototype in the next day or so. But....

I need some recon. Rusnak, can you confirm that your billet shifter has external threads on the top, round part of the shaft. Anyone else that has the Wevo billet shifter as well. Thanks!

The knobs with the black anodized bushing should be in the catalog by now.... I'll send an email about getting a ETA on that. Hang tight!

I'm also going to start researching a bushing idea for the 924/944/964 crowd. I have to have a custom tool made before that can happen and I think it's going to be pricy. I'm going to a shop that can make the tool tomorrow to find out cost.

[wevoid]

Slodave,

We have made two versions of the billet levers for the WEVO shifters.
There are about 1,000 of the originals in circulation, about 2,000 of the current version.
There is some cross compatibility, but not total.
email me and I can give you all the engineering data you need to make sure your product is as good as ours that its made to fit!

Hayden

[slodave]

Awesome, Hayden! I'll send an email when get home and on my laptop later.

Thanks!

[Joe Bob]

Very nice of you Hayden......I've been using your shifter and 915 retainer plate for many years. Thanks.

[rusnak]

Hayden is the MAN!!!! Good on you, sir. I enjoyed talking to you before I bought mine way back when.

[slodave]

I sent a PM to you, Hayden. Didn't have your email handy, though I suppose I could have guessed it. Thanks again!

Dave

[slodave]

Exciting news!

Although I won't be posting pix for a while. I've pretty much solved how the actual 917/908 knobs were made and what materials. The knobs are laminated and balsa was definitely used. Porsche also used another wood, almost thin like a veneer. It just so happens I have this particular wood. At least enough to make one or two knockoffs.

A fellow Pelican visited the museum a couple weeks ago and was gracious enough to take a bunch of pix for me. When I was there, I felt like I was being watched and blew the couple photos I took.

['71 911E Coupe]

Awesome! Definitely going to get one of these.

So was the original 917 knob more of a satin finish or poly? Looks shinny in that one picture.

[slodave]

It's a little hard to tell what the finish on the original knobs looked like when new. The pix I have are of well used knobs. Based on the cracks in the finish and the yellowing, I'd say that the finish was originally a nitrocellulose laquer. Hard to say if the finish was a high gloss or satin or... I was really trying to figure out the wood/s and construction method, which I'm pretty sure I've figured out. I'm going to consult with my dad a little to see if he concurs.

I have to focus on the WEVO adaption and the 924/944/964 bushings first, but I will be figuring out the thicknesses of the each layer of the original 917 knobs and will attempt to turn one in the next week or so.

Once I have things figured out a little more and have started to produce one, I'll see if I can get permission from the Pelican that took the pix and post a few pix of the real knobs. Right now, these are the best pix I've seen out there and don't want them in public domain just yet.

[slodave]

WEVO prototype bushing done. The bushing will not have the 2 set screw holes in the shoulder like the 911 bushings. The bushing will fit both the 1st generation WEVO billet shifter and the 2nd generation. The bushing will use the threaded inner hole, like the WEVO Al knobs use. The wood knobs will simply twist on.

[Jack Olsen]

That was fast.

[slodave]

Hehe, yes.

I drew up the concept a couple nights ago and had the above 95% done last night. I just needed to pick up a 14mm drill bit today to finish it up. If it involves round holes, I can do the prototypes in the woodshop. Not nearly as precision as CNC machines, but good enough to test with and have one that the machine shop can take measurements from and do their magic.

I'm starting to wish that I had a small metal lathe in the shop, so I could turn out small batches while waiting for the big production runs.

[slodave]

The Pelican catalog has been updated with the black anodized bushings.

Porsche 911 (1974-1989) - Shift Linkage - Page 2