Need help making a custom shift knob! (Wondrous pleasures await inside!)

[seven-57]

Where are you wondrous pleasures you ask? Well it's all in the satisfaction of helping this poor guy out with a shift knob!

So I have some plans for my e30 and one of the seemingly simple mods that I want to pursue is a custom shift knob. Now I'm not going to tell you what it is, but the surprise is also part of the wondrous pleasures that I was talking about before!

So this shift knob already has a hole in it. This whole is bigger than the fork/shifter that the knob needs to fit over so I need to fill that space somehow and make sure that it's tight on there. So I've found a couple write-ups on people making custom shift knobs, but they've all done it by using solid objects (like an 8-ball) and drilling a hole into the object and then using a tap to get the threads through. My issue is that I already have a hole in my knob with a bigger diameter than the fork (or threads) will fit on. So I'm thinking I might need to make something that will fit in that hole (maybe some kind of liquid resin that hardens) and will allow me to do the tapping method.

That's just a theory I have though. Any ideas??

[Mr. Tasty]

not sure if serious, bmw knobs aren't threaded.

[bmwguy325is]

just use RTV

[seven-57]

not sure if serious, bmw knobs aren't threaded.

Right. My current shift knob isn't threaded. I just mentioned it because the write-ups I found are threading them by tapping. But in comparison, getting the shift knob I want to use to fit tightly on without threading is something I can't figure out. I feel like getting it to fit snug on would be complicated to sit tightly on the fork of the shifter.

Again, I have no idea how I'm gonna do this, so I'm just trying to get some ideas. Obviously I wouldn't be able to get a threaded knob on without threads on the shifter. Just seems like it might be an easier process in my head

[SkiFree]

not sure if serious, bmw knobs aren't threaded.

Correction, E21 and later nobs aren't threaded (2002 and earlier are).

[Mr. Tasty]

Correction, E21 and later nobs aren't threaded (2002 and earlier are).

you know what I meant ;)

[SkiFree]

you know what I meant ;)

haha yeah. maybe it was my (vain) hope that the "wondrous pleasures" the OP was referring to would have been a classic 2002 wood nob made to fit the later shifters.

[oldmann]

Fill the hole with epoxy, put a piece of stiff cardboard onto the stick, drop the nob into place in the position you want, after it hardens cut off the waste. That nob is never coming off without a saw or cutting disc.

[jaywood]

Thread the rod. Fill the hole with something hard (epoxy works) drill and tap to match the rod

[camip]

How much bigger are we talking here.

[seven-57]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

In terms of size, probably the diameter of a poland spring water bottle and about 10" in length.

[AndrewBird]

Just get a piece of tubing with the same OD add the ID of the hole in the knob and an ID the same as the OD of the lever.