Auto shift ball

[n/a]

Hi guys, hope all the yankees had a great Thanksgiving!
As you can see from the pics of my car, I have a wooden Nardi steering wheel. (I still have the original wheel in storage.)
One of the things I like about the Nardi is that the wooden wheel brings out the other wood in the car. The dash, the parcel tray, the rear window trim. I would LOVE to find a wooden shifter ball too. Not some big, gnarley handle, but a little wooden ball the same size as the black plastic one. Any ideas where I might find one?
Thanks.

Steve W.
1968 280SL
www.stevewaddington.com/camaro

[Richard Madison]

Steve:
Nice transport, all of them!

Here's a photo of the wooden knob on my manual shifter, same knob might work on auto. (Don't pay attention to the empty dash, it's all back nicely now.)

The knob has an MB logo on top and seems to be quite old. Since the photo, the knob has been cleaned up and is now a good match for the Nardi. Not sure where to find one but I agree it does look nice with the wood wheel.

Richard M

Download Attachment: dashapart.jpg
21.89 KB

[n/a]

Yes, thats what I'm looking for...or even just a plain wooden ball.
So now that I know they did exist at one time....anyone know where I can find one?
Thanks.

Steve W.
1968 280SL
www.stevewaddington.com/camaro

[Shvegel]

Steve,
 Any woodworker who is halfway talented with a lathe can turn you one in any wood you want. Just pop off the plastic one and have it duplicated.
 I have one in my car which is just a plain wooden ball and it appears to have been on there at least the 25 years that my car sat in storage.

[n/a]

Shvegel,
I don't want somebody who is "half-way talented". I want someone who is "all the way talented"!!!  Or at least 3/4.  

Ok, just kidding. I guess I'll have to find an old Geppetto somewhere. But if anyone has an idea where I could find one..please let me know!

Merci, Danke, and Thank You.

Steve W.
1968 280SL
www.stevewaddington.com/camaro

[Ben]

Steve that knob that Richard has is exactly the same as the one I've just taken off !!

I prefered the white plastic knob as my car is white and I've a white steering wheel too!

If you want I would post it to you as I dont intend to ever put it back on. This knob is old by the way but its your if you want it !

Regards,
Ben in Ireland.
'64 230SL 4sp.
'03 CLK Kompressor

[n/a]

Steve,
I have the same knob, which I refinished when I did my dash wood. Since I am only "half-talented" and mine looks great now, you should be able to make the knob that you get from Ben look like new!
Just kidding, but you will want to refinish it with polyurethane top coats to keep it looking good.

Regards,
Stan

[LFrank]

Off wood topic, but: my knob is black and wheel is white -- does this mean that one or other was replaced at some time?

LFrank
Washington DC
65 230 sl - auto
DB334/Hellblau

[Bob G ✝︎]

Steve:
      The shift knob to have is the one Veldem B Hann sold in the 1960 wood with the crest emblem in the center. I have one if we can fine some one to dupiciate it I would be more than happy to have them use mine as a model. I took it off and replaced it with an Ivory shift knob made by one Dr. Gittlemen and an Ivory Steering wheel to match.


Bob Geco

[n/a]

Thanks guys!
Yes, Ben, I would LOVE that wooden knob. No matter what condition it is in. I will EMail how to send it and thank you, thank you.! Just let me know what I owe you. Awesome!

Bob, do you have a picture of the knob you have? From what these nice folks are saying, the wood part might not be too hard to duplicate, but what does the 'crest' look like?

This is a fantastic site!

Steve W.
1968 280SL
www.stevewaddington.com/camaro

[n/a]

LFrank,
I have only seen a few of these cars around, but only 2 with white steering wheels, and they both had black shift knobs. Just the white steering wheel itself seems somewhat rare, but white wheel with white shifter would be even more rare I would imagine. And it would look great. (I wonder if they ever made the turn signal wiper controls in white?) I decided to go with the Nardi because it is a bit smaller, and I need all the legroom I can get, at 6'5"...and I like the look of it, and like I said, it seems to bring out the rest of the wood in the car. Now, when I get my shift knob from Ben, it will complete the look!

Steve W.
1968 280SL
www.stevewaddington.com/camaro

[Benz Dr.]

From what I can tell almost all Euro cars have black steering wheels and if they're standard shift then they will have a black wheel.
The colours are always matched with the knob and would indicate a change from original if not. Signal wands are always black - white would show up as dirty to quickly. Oddly , older 50's cars have very small white turn signal knobs.

A thing of note:
All standard shift cars are suposed to have the shift pattern either on the knob or in a place where any driver can see it. I had a place refuse to safety the car until I put the right knob back on.
Dan c

Daniel G Caron

[tobacco]

I still use the original Vilem B. Haan wood shift knob my dealer installed (at my request) before I picked up the car in 1971 -- I never saw my original black knob.  One visual cue is the sky blue, rather than navy blue, background color on the knob's Mercedes-Benz logo (their leather key fobs used the same light-blue color).  From the snapshot, Richard's knob looks like a Haan.

The problem with wooden knobs of the time was that they were spline-secured -- mine was constantly loosening and even popping off until I decided to just glue it on the shifter.
 
Vilem B. Haan, by the way, was country's top foreign-car mailorder operation back then, pioneering the high-quality aftermarket gear that we see all around us today. Haan himself (he died a few years ago) was the first president of the Ferrari Owners Club and held membership card number 1.


Bill Greffin
Chicago
#22375

[n/a]

Ben,
I've sent you 2 emails through the forum here. Just wondered if you received them?

Steve W.
1968 280SL
www.stevewaddington.com/camaro

[n/a]

Well, it looks like Ben is either too busy or has changed his mind, so I'm back to where I started. Anyone know where I can find the wooden shift ball for my car?

Steve W.
1968 280SL
www.stevewaddington.com/camaro