Wooden shift knobs from CGAutowood (Page 1/1)
Will NOV 10, 06:23 PM
Since the Storm Trooper has had a mahogany Grant #704 wheel in it since the day I bought it, I tracked down https://cgautowood.com/ for a mahogany shift knob.
Their customer communication is terrible and it took 2.5 months to make, but they made a couple more at the same time, so they have some stock to ship. The product looks beautiful and feels great.
Naturally they use an M16x1.5 threaded insert required for the Fiero shifter. I had them recess it 1 3/8" into the knob so that it duplicates the height of the stock knob. I had them include a Pontiac arrowhead, although they could use a different badge, a shift pattern or no marquee at all at the request of the buyer.









The knob was stiff to thread onto the shifter. I bought these from Home Depot:
https://www.homedepot.com/p...TMHX16X1-5/305502873
https://www.homedepot.com/p...DWTT16X1-5/305699909

The die just took the paint off the shifter. The tap cut a nice pile of chips out of the CGAutowood insert, pic below. After I chased the threads in the knob, it spun onto the shifter very easily.

[This message has been edited by Will (edited 11-10-2019).]

pmbrunelle NOV 11, 12:05 AM
Cool! I don't see it on their website yet; I suppose one would have to call to order this part?

What determines the installed height of this knob, or the stock knob for that matter? Does the tip of the shift lever just wedge into the tapered part of the female threaded hole, or is there some sort of stop?

This is semi-appealing to me, as I have a grey shift knob in an otherwise tan/brown interior. The wood knob could help solve that mismatch.
robymon NOV 11, 12:36 AM
Nice upgrade! It adds a classic touch.
Rick Morehouse NOV 11, 09:49 AM
That does look great. Perhaps, just maybe, an aluminum, steel, Teflon washer could be inserted in the threader bung that could allow ya to have the Pontiac emblem aligned fore & aft. JUST an idea.
Will NOV 11, 10:04 AM

quote
Originally posted by pmbrunelle:

Cool! I don't see it on their website yet; I suppose one would have to call to order this part?




quote
Originally posted by Will:

Their customer communication is terrible



Call them. Emailing is a waste of time. I don't expect this product to show up on their website.



quote
Originally posted by pmbrunelle:
What determines the installed height of this knob, or the stock knob for that matter? Does the tip of the shift lever just wedge into the tapered part of the female threaded hole, or is there some sort of stop?




quote
Originally posted by Rick Morehouse:

That does look great. Perhaps, just maybe, an aluminum, steel, Teflon washer could be inserted in the threader bung that could allow ya to have the Pontiac emblem aligned fore & aft. JUST an idea.



For the stock knob, I *think* the end of the shifter hitting the bottom of the hole determines height.

For the CGAW knob, the bottom of the insert running out of threads on the shifter determines installation height. I had them recess the insert 1 3/8" in order to duplicate the height of the stock knob.

Yes, one could experimentally shim it to get the arrowhead pointed in the right direction.