Hi,
I realise some might find this a bit silly but all the same.
While waiting for my mechanic to have time to fix my torque converter problem, I decided to make a part for the gear selector stick in my XK8.
I dont know if it was just missing from my car or if it was never there but in any case I made it for fun
It is threaded on to the gear stick and so easy to remove.

Let me know what you think.




shaping the Stock.




the finished part installed.

 

Not silly at all - very enterprising.

Here's the OE setup:



I've seen vehicles with the metal ring missing when an aftermarket gear knob has been fitted.

Graham

 

Nice job... very nice!!

 

I agree - what a nice finishing touch to the gearshift lever....

 

When I see projects like this it makes me wish I had a metal lathe instead of a wood lathe. OTOH I used to turn beautiful wooden shift knobs for Miata owners out of exotic woods.
​

 

NO!

Not instead, in addition to! I have my metal lathe and mill and so glad I have it; sometimes it's just making aluminum shift cable bushings for a Dodge Neon, sometimes it's making nicer parts . I am not good with wood so I have a coworker do it for me.

 

Thanks Guys
I love my metal lathe
I made the part with an internal M8 thread so it screws on to the threads under the knob. Had to make two tries before It worked out nice. Bit of fun.


Leif

 

A Man can never have too many lathes.
Mine is a Halifax, almost as old as me and I've had it for years.
Unbelievable how handy they can be.

 

Haha! You are correct. That's what I meant to say (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

 

Looks great! Nice machining work!

 

I LIKE IT

 

When I retire in a few years I plan on taking big blocks of Aluminum and large Planks of wood and making them smaller.

Nice work

 

Machining is a lot of fun. Thanks for all the replies guys

 

I'm planning to retire in 2 years; maybe less. When I retire I will be moving about 2,000 miles. I'm going to sell my big tools: table saw, 8" long-bed jointer, a bunch of smaller tools (how many routers does one man need?), and even my old Jet mini lathe.

When I get to my retirement destination I'm going to buy a substantial wood lathe! And, hmm, maybe a small metal lathe and small mill.