I have a C4 transmission & generally speaking the shifter is solid. However, the button comes out of the shifter way too easily.
I’m assuming that was originally an anti theft feature because shifting gears is impossible without the button, but now it’s just plain annoying.
Is there any other shift knob that just stays in one piece? As long as it works and fits properly, after market is perfectly ok.
That one’s broken. WCCC sells new reproduction buttons to fix that.
Yes, I just got one. I figured I’d go for chrome this time. What type of fastener holds it on the shaft?
Do you put the buttons in first or do you put the handle on the shaft first?
The shop manual shows exactly how to remove or install it. It can’t be removed or installed with the handle in place.
Update. I got a replacement handle and button from WCCC. Overall the unit is nice but had one tragic flaw.
The shifter handle screw is WAY to short. As a result, it went through the handle, fell into the indentation in the shaft leaving me no other option then drilling it out. Because the metal is soft, I was forced to drill and tap a much bigger bolt so it wouldn’t strip.
You can see what happened. I plan on cutting and carefully grinding the bolt to match the curve of the shaft, maybe figure out some way to wrap it. There’s no way it’ll look original. I just want it to look not so Jerry rigged. Functionally, the handle is good and tight, shifts smoothly and precisely.
I thought that was just a set screw. There shouldn’t have been any way to thread it through. Unless a previous owner had already drilled it.
it is just a Set Screw, goes into a detent on the shifter shaft, the detent should not go all the way thru.
Well it sure did!! Even on the original handle, that screw was extremely recessed.
I’d probably have to replace the entire shifter & handle to reverse this. I’m thinking about making the new larger screw flush & wrapping the shifter with leather or some other material. Of course this won’t be at all original but should still look more natural, maybe sort of how people wrap the steering wheel with custom material but scaled down obviously.
No… The Allen set screw included was factory original, something else went awry here. If you want to try again we can give some phone support and sell you the second one at cost. That monster sized bolt will drive you crazy over time.
It looks like a 1/4-20 bolt, you can get a set screw that size it would look a lot better
I hope it’s a grade 8….use some locative….you never know
I think I can CAREFULLY trim the bolt face off & then use my dremel tool to polish it flush after cutting in a notch fot a flathead screw if necessary. The dremel has a mini cutting wheel. Oh well, another hour or two well spent…
If it’s flush & left alone, it’ll be a golden circle, perfectly tolerable.
That’ll be a second trip to the carwash to vacuum out metallic shavings.
I also located some chrome pin striping tape. If it’s completely flush, I can make it very hard to notice.
Still, the other benefit of the new shifter is that it’s thin enough to get the console off easily without removing it.
