Searched but couldn't find any info on this, maybe its obvious to everyone (but me).

My '91 XJ-S coupe has the leather shift knob with narrow metal trim ring, want to remove the knob to restore or replace. Does it just screw off counterclockwise? Doesn't appear to be any retaining collar or setscrew anywhere and I can't get it to budge.

Thanks.

 

For the V12 (Your description doesn't say, please add it to your signature)..... it should just unscrew. The two sides are not actually attached to the shifter lever.... they just screw in to each other with the shaft going through a hole in the shifter lever.

If I remember, mine was a bit reluctant to come off (probably had never been off in 20 years)

FYI I replaced my original one which was black, with a wooden one which is quite nice

 

Thanks, I just updated my signature.

I have the shift knob that resembles an old toy spinning top, if you recall what they look like. Not the one that has two prongs horizontally on either side of the lever. Mine should just screw off the center shaft, no?

 

Mmmmm, sounds like an XJ40 style, just like mine is NOW, WAS the traditional "T" style which I hated, and YES, it should just screw off in a counter clockwise direction, unless some deviate JB welded it in place???.

 

May have had a good dose of locktite

 

The 91 shifter knob (round appears to be 2 piece with chrome trim about 20% down from the top) unscrews counter clock wise. It is not the horizontal one found on the older Jags.

To restore it, you can remove the leather and replace it, but the bottom half will require a seam.

Hope this helps

 

Yup, my shift knob is like the one in Grant's photo and as tdriver describes. Its tan, and the top is fairly dirty and scuffed up. Gonna remove and see if I can make it look presentable, otherwise may have to get something a little fancier...

Thanks.

 

Interesting.....

@inertian

I assume your car is not a facelifted car ? (I think they did they classic collection as a last run out of the previous model before they brought in the facelift at the end of 91)

I have the duffel coat button type in my '92 facelift....



Is this correct for the year ? or just one more thing thats been messed with on my car :-)

 

My '92 coupe has the same coat button shifter.

howlinowl

 

My '94 has one like Sarc's.

 

Damn Sarc, that kit looks good. Need to bump that up on my project list.

 

Looked at a bunch of photos on line of my '94 MY and it seems that it's about half and half - round versus T.

 

My '91 coupe is a Classic Collection model, last of the pre-facelifts.

 

OK, got the knob off, it rotated counterclockwise after a little coaxing. Gave it a good going over with a leather cleaner/conditioner, and it looks 100% better. The top is still worn, but at least everything is clean again. May still get a wood replacement, some of them are quite sharp looking and I've told my wife they make a great Father's Day gift... %^)

 

Glad it came out so well. Now I'm going to highjack your thread - mwahahah. My t-handle isn't in the greatest shape; do they come off in the same way? If they do then I might get one of those round wood ones from british auto parts too.

 

I think Grant did a conversion, see his post above and maybe he will share his secret...

 

Helps when you read - d'oh.

 

Yep.

I do all sorts of Grants things, some work, some, well, whatever.

I had a spare gearlever bit, some car, S2 XJ6 I think, and not liking the "T" thingy in the XJ-S at all, and having a spare XJ40 gear knob in the box of "stuff", I set about attaching said knob (round threaded hole) to a chrome spindly lever. which is "unround".

I sat in the car with the gear knob in hand, and held it at about the hieght I reckon it should be, and marked the point on the installed lever. Then transposed that to the spare lever, and cut the top bit off.

Much J Daniels later, a bolt that actually threaded INTO the knob was located, and the bolt was welded to the cut lever. That made a mess of the chrome, damn, so I slid some black "heatshrink" over the lot, and shrunk it with the heat gun, fitted it to the car, spun the knob on, sat back and drank some more, coz that one actually WORKED. That was 10 yeras ago I think.

 

You know that in years to come some poor bugger will be hunting for an exact replacement for his "original" gear knob.

 

We have a '91 with the Magnolia leather and had the same issue on the shifter. I found a seller in the UK that sells a dye kit. It's called Scuffmaster.

Present link here.....EbayLink

It worked great. The shifter was like yours, badly scuffed. I also did the seats, door panels, arm rests and a few other areas where it showed wear. I was impressed. It fully dries so it's not a problem for the seats. The shifter still looks fine too.