FlyinTomato

have you considered compression to secure the sleeve to the shifter shaft? probably more work. but it will eliminate the whole set screw ordeal. a compression collar could be used on the bottom of the sleeve which will be hidden inside the leather boot.

LPMM

No I have not but the bottom set screws do not bother me since they will be hidden from view by the boot. Chris wants to put 2 on each side at the top to prevent any movement from the sleeve when shifting, but I am thinking they are totally unnecessary if the tolerances are tight enough, or at worse we could have just one facing forward.

Mr.Alex

Thanks again for all the effort you are putting into this. Having gone through your proposal I have to say I like your idea. Having the keyed style sleeve with the one set screw on top and two on bottom (hidden by boot) sounds like a great idea. Hopefully he sees it that way too. For some reason I am not understanding why he won't play with the *****/weights. Its not like this is an OEM look anyway, so it shouldn't matter whether its for Porsche or Subaru, etc.

Streetdaddy

Are you guys doing a shift pattern on top?

LPMM

If this works out I'll most likely do it but with no paint in the engraving, I prefer it subtle like the OEM one.

Mr.Alex

Is it safe to say he was not ecstatic about your proposal?

LPMM

LOL, you must be psychic! We've been going back and forth and I it appears that I will officially throw the towel after the email I received 20 minutes ago. The response to my proposal on the sphere was that it did not make sense to do a brass insert since it would mean removing some material from the stainless male thread, thus negating any weight gain by the brass. Basically, six of one, half dozen of the other and I get that. Regarding the sleeve, he said it would be round inside and not keyed to the OEM shifter because it is difficult to do and it would drive costs up. I get that one too and these two are not deal breakers in the grand scheme of things, but the other one had me puzzled.

About the top set screws, Chris replied the following: "the design I have is proven to work. I have no desire to modify it and create a product that will fall off the car during use". Hmmm, a bit of a drama queen there and I mentioned that it would be difficult for the stainless sleeve and **** to "fall off the car" since there was almost 4" of OEM rod inside, with set screws at the bottom to secure everything in place. I even suggested FlyinTomato's idea about a compression collar to which Chris replied that he does not make compression collars and that his design has 4 screws on the sides to clamp the flat bar section.

He has a design that he wishes to stick to and I can respect that but to me, having visible set screws in the middle of a stainless shaft is an eyesore and not acceptable. Back to the drawing board, there has to be a different solution.

EDIT: We may have a compromise... Chris responded that he took another look at my first proposal and that he could make it work. Stay tuned!

Rainmaker

As the person who pointed you in Chris' direction, sorry it didn't work out. On the other hand, I ordered one in stainless steel and it should be here in a week or so. I'll post pics once I get it.

Mr.Alex

Sucks. I appreciate the effort. Depending on how it ends up with Rainmaker, I might still go through with what what you guys already came up with. Unless you crafty guys come up with something else.

HiWind

still tuned .. thanks for all the graft Laurent

DobermanDad

Also still very interested.

Poli84

Bugger, not sure how i missed this post but I did and subsequently ordered another.
Thanks for the offer nonetheless.

Thanks mate, i ended up ordering one of these through and eBay search.

Streetdaddy

Poli84,

Did you ever get it put together? Post a pick when you do .

DobermanDad

Is there a black gaiter available that allows for an aftermarket shift know? One that doesn't cover most of the ****.

LPMM

Back in December, I asked Chris to put the top set screws in the threaded area so that they could be hidden under the collar, however he mentioned that there was not enough material to do so. We got a little side tracked and after all the back and forth, we finally came up with a compromise where 4 smaller set screws would be used instead of 2 larger ones for the top portion. This way, they can then be hidden in the threads under the collar and provide enough clamping force to keep things secured. More importantly, Chris is comfortable with this design.

So, we are back in business baby! I sent all my measurements to Chris and I am awaiting confirmation and pricing.