Tuesday, April 5, 2011

A New Look for the Shifter Knob

 Time was hiding under my dining room table with the cat this morning but I found enough to turn my attention to the unsatisfactory shifter knob.

1) The old look

Not that there was anything wrong with it.  I did buy the item on Ebay to replace the plastic knob the car came with, and the vendor had varnished it nicely to a high gloss. But that precise gloss didn't go with the rest of the woodwork in the car.  I started out with my usual 60 grit sandpaper and removed the surface varnish by hand, then switched to an round orbital sander to even out the wood and get the curves properly sanded.

Next I hand-sanded again with 220 grit paper, and finished smoothing the wood with fine steel wool. After applying two coats of teak oil the work was complete and now the shifter knob better matches the other colors and finishes in the car.


2) The new look; less polished but more authentic

2 comments:

  1. congrats on your new shifter, i like the dark tone of the wood.
    have fun shifting ;)

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  2. Looks good Kit! I did the same with a couple of my wood shift knobs too. I used teak oil on one a tung oil on the other. They both look great, with the tung oil I achieved a perfect match to your interior!
    Keep it up!

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