917/Carrera GT Style Shift Knob
01-21-2010 | 06:03 PM
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From: Loveland, Colorado USA
917/Carrera GT Style Shift ****
I remember thinking, "What's with that weird wooden shift ****?" the first time I saw an interior shot of a Carrera GT.
And then I learned that it was an homage to the 917, which was very cool. Legend has it that the 917 **** was made of balsa to save weight but best I can determine it was made out of birch plywood and most likely used because it insulated the driver's hand from the heat generated by this tame little 1000hp beastie. I was hoping to find a better picture of the distinctive 'stripes' of a 917 **** but haven't had much luck, if anyone happens to have a better picture, please send it my way!
I've been toying with the idea of doing something similar for our cars for awhile now and finally got it all pulled together.
Some will love it, some will hate it but either way I thought I would share
EDIT: Added DIY in Post #19
And then I learned that it was an homage to the 917, which was very cool. Legend has it that the 917 **** was made of balsa to save weight but best I can determine it was made out of birch plywood and most likely used because it insulated the driver's hand from the heat generated by this tame little 1000hp beastie. I was hoping to find a better picture of the distinctive 'stripes' of a 917 **** but haven't had much luck, if anyone happens to have a better picture, please send it my way!
I've been toying with the idea of doing something similar for our cars for awhile now and finally got it all pulled together.
Some will love it, some will hate it but either way I thought I would share
EDIT: Added DIY in Post #19
Last edited by gregeast; 01-22-2010 at 12:15 AM.
01-21-2010 | 06:41 PM
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01-21-2010 | 10:17 PM
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From: Loveland, Colorado USA
Thanks for all the kind words gents. I think I'm actually going to take one more cut at it with thinner rings so it looks a bit more like the CGT.
Let's see, to answer a few questions:
1) DIY - I'll work on putting something together. The short version is that the metal part is what you find when you peal off the rubber on a stock shifter. It's a bit more complicated than that, I'll post some pics later EDIT: See Post #19 for DIY
2) Console surround - There are actually two different things going on here. The last picture shows the Jager Engineering brushed aluminum 'applique', which is very nice and really is aluminum. I was never quite satisfied with it however, it sits on top of the stock piece and always just looked a little off. So, out with the Wurth wheel paint, sand/prime/wheel paint/clearcoat et voila, you get a fairly aluminum looking piece
That's also what I used on the metal part of the shifter, as I said, more on that later.
3) Trim rings - The rings around the main instruments are from Jager Engineering and the rings around the console gauges are standard on the Autometer Sport Comps.
4) No one asked but the dark wood is maple and the lighter wood is alder. I have a buddy that's has an amazing wood shop and so we played around with different combinations and finally settled on these two.
5) Thanks Doug for the 917 picture!
Cheers
Let's see, to answer a few questions:
1) DIY - I'll work on putting something together. The short version is that the metal part is what you find when you peal off the rubber on a stock shifter. It's a bit more complicated than that, I'll post some pics later EDIT: See Post #19 for DIY
2) Console surround - There are actually two different things going on here. The last picture shows the Jager Engineering brushed aluminum 'applique', which is very nice and really is aluminum. I was never quite satisfied with it however, it sits on top of the stock piece and always just looked a little off. So, out with the Wurth wheel paint, sand/prime/wheel paint/clearcoat et voila, you get a fairly aluminum looking piece
That's also what I used on the metal part of the shifter, as I said, more on that later.3) Trim rings - The rings around the main instruments are from Jager Engineering and the rings around the console gauges are standard on the Autometer Sport Comps.
4) No one asked but the dark wood is maple and the lighter wood is alder. I have a buddy that's has an amazing wood shop and so we played around with different combinations and finally settled on these two.
5) Thanks Doug for the 917 picture!
Cheers
Last edited by gregeast; 01-22-2010 at 12:49 AM.