Billiard Ball Shift Knob

[scottinAZ]

Always liked the look of a billiard ball shift knob (dont know why, just do), so I made this one up.



Originally I just bored out the back side of the ball to fit the shaft, however friction wasnt enough to keep the ball in place on the shift lever. Today, I got bored and decided to do something about it. This thread is the result

Took a piece of steel the appropriate diameter for both the ID on the billiard ball, and the OD of the shift lever, and made the appropriate hole.



Then took an old screw, and used that to make the cross piece that prevents the knob from rotating on the lever.



Bored out the hole in the ball to the OD of the insert



Inserted the steel adapter into the ball. The grooves in the shaft will hold enough JB weld to make the insert permanent



Installed into car. Need to move the shift boot up a bit to cover the bit of lever that is visable.



The screw is a bit offset, and large enough diameter that it grabs into the groove on the lever. if this is not enough, Ill put set screws into the knob to secure it.

Total cost to make the knob was under 5 bucks (for the ball) and about an hours labor time on this:



Not the fastest, but it kept me out of trouble on a boring day.....

[warmseth]

Feels period correct. :D That is a polarizing design to be sure, but I for one, like it!

[Raxe]

I really really wanted to do this with a red 3 ball on my hellrot 318is, but I lack the skills and don't feel like learning. Nice work.

[Robotin]

love the old school style... i have a crystal door knob sitting around my house from my old truck... i wish i could use it....

ive always wanted to use a 9 ball....or custom make a bmw/e30 ball.... with M flag...

[downforce22]

nice, looks cool.
but clean that ash tray and center console area, disgusting!

[scottinAZ]

but clean that ash tray and center console area, disgusting!

the camera flash makes it look worse than it is......

[kway]

Nice! I'm thinking a 2 ball (blue) would go pretty nice in my Lapisblau '84...

[BoxDriver86]

I like this almost as much as you like Mountain Dew.

[mikeedler]

I used to have a bowling pin as the shift knob/lever in my old mini-truckin days 1994 gonna have to see if I can find a pic. Had a PBR tap in it for a while too- way before it was hip!

[iamsam]

i did this also, but I tapped a 9/16" thread into the ball and tapped the shift lever and just threaded the ball on using some plumber's tape. If I were to do it again, I would mill a flat into the ball where the tapped hole is and use a jam nut on the shift lever to help hold the ball in place.

[scottinAZ]

i did this also, but I tapped a 9/16" thread into the ball and tapped the shift lever and just threaded the ball on using some plumber's tape. If I were to do it again, I would mill a flat into the ball where the tapped hole is and use a jam nut on the shift lever to help hold the ball in place.

I thought about doing this as well, but this way, I can go back to a normal shift knob if I so desire. No permanent changes were made to the car.

[Fusion]

Had this in my old car and loved it.
Gives you a different throw because of the weight, but I liked it.

[Isostar13]

Looks great. How's the feel/weight? Not too slippery?

[scottinAZ]

it has a bit of heft to it, no moreso than a factory weighted knob, and fits my oversized meatclaw damn nice. The ball I got doesnt feel slippery to me, but then again, I dont often drive with sweaty palms (the hair on them helps too)

Keep in mind that I made this from a genuine billiards ball, it isnt a knockoff plastic readily available premade knob. if you have ever played billiards, you know what they feel like.

[Jand3rson]

You need this now to go with that:


And a pair of these: