Gear knob options?

My knob is quite worn from years of left hand abuse. OK, school boy humour out of the way :troutslap

The leather on my gear knob is a bit too smooth for my liking. It's a very very trivial thing, but if I can replace it for not a lot of pounds then I would prefer to. I was wondering if a knob from an older V40 or S40 would fit, since these have the plastic (or fake wood) insert in the top rather than being leather all over and seem to wear a little better as a result. I did see a couple in the scrappies and they looked reasonable condition. Or are there any other models, later models even, that are compatible (mine is 2001MY V70 with the 5sp manual)?

Looking at the instructions for removal, I would have thought that the shaft itself must be broadly similar if not identical between most of the models and perhaps I'd just need to swap over the support ring along with the donor gear knob if it's from a different model.
EDIT: found instructions for the Ph2 S40/V40 and looks like they would fit. Later C30/S40/V50/C70 are totally different.

Loath to go down the aftermarket route (bit tacky) but has anyone fitted an aftermarket knob, and do they fit OK?

With respect, I get what your trying to achieve, but do you honestly think you'll own your car for another 16 years? I very much doubt it. My point being, your gear knob has done 16 years to the condition it's in now. Therefore, if you replace it with another OE leather gear knob, then it will look the dogs nuts again for a very long time.

There's no way there as much as an R leather knob either, so I'd just get what's meant to be on it. My knob was all shiny any smooth too and the blue stitching had fraid in places. A new knob looks awesome in comparison and you won't regret getting a stock leather knob. :wink:

Lee, Lee, Lee, you are doing it again :troutslap

Have you seen my car? It's ££££! Your approach (same goes for Harvey) is great when you can afford it and your cars both deserve the expense and treatment they get. Mine? We are talking about Shed Of The Week territory. It begs the question, why bother abouth the GK at all then?

I need some more fat in your reply to put it in to context. I've not asked Rufe how much a new knob would be, to be fair, but I'm not expecting one to be cheap (I've seen them at way over £100 from some places online). Are we talking £30, maybe £40? I could just about stomach that at a push for brand new. Any more? Nae chance!

Up until a week ago I thought I'd be selling it soon and be lucky to get a few hundred quid. I've since decided to keep it as a 2nd car for the wife to use. So I'm prepared to spend a bit on some tidying up, but all things considered, it's only a gearknob, and I don't need it to last another 17 years.

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Originally Posted by Gold 'N' Brown

Lee, Lee, Lee, you are doing it again :troutslap

Have you seen my car? It's ££££! Your approach (same goes for Harvey) is great when you can afford it and your cars both deserve the expense and treatment they get. Mine? We are talking about Shed Of The Week territory. It begs the question, why bother abouth the GK at all then?

I need some more fat in your reply to put it in to context. I've not asked Rufe how much a new knob would be, to be fair, but I'm not expecting one to be cheap (I've seen them at way over £100 from some places online). Are we talking £30, maybe £40? I could just about stomach that at a push for brand new. Any more? Nae chance!

Up until a week ago I thought I'd be selling it soon and be lucky to get a few hundred quid. I've since decided to keep it as a 2nd car for the wife to use. So I'm prepared to spend a bit on some tidying up, but all things considered, it's only a gearknob, and I don't need it to last another 17 years.

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If it's that S***, why bother?

Why bother?

Because it's something that has bugged me for a long time. Not enough to push me in to action to swap it out before now, granted. And its future in my ownership has been on shaky ground for such a long time this has always been filed under 'nice to have/but do I want to spend if I'm not keeping it?'. Now I think I'm going to keep it for another few years, and as it bugs me, if I can find a suitable replacement that feels better in the hand at a price I can stomach then I'll do it. So to come back to the question of "why bother" it's principally about the feel of it, the fact that smooth worn leather can be a bit slippery.

All of this is just irrelevant noise. Yet again I find myself justifying why I want to do something and why I need to choose the cheaper option for something. If the actual question in my first post code be answered, I'd be immensely grateful :D

Send it to Royals....they'll re-cover it and stitch it custom to your needs. I enquired last year about mine and they quoted approx £30 iirc

Or get one from a breaker.

I like a nice solid steel one, the extra weight makes the gear change much nicer.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u...927_153218.jpg

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Originally Posted by stephenevans99

Send it to Royals....they'll re-cover it and stitch it custom to your needs. I enquired last year about mine and they quoted approx £30 iirc

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:stupid: ...will look and feel brand new at a third of the price. Why didn't I think of that?

Seriously Gold'N.....it's your best option IMHO.

I did actually consider Royals, but thought it would be more expensive. Would love to get my wheel done too, but for the cost I have other priorities. Still, maybe worth saving and getting both done.

Htomi, none in my local breakers just now and they'll be as bad or worse if they had any. They have a few s/v40s that look reasonable hence why I asked about compatability. Looks like they should fit but I dont have an answer.....yet.

Hopefully I have this sorted. A helpful member who saw this thread has offered me something. I don't have it in my grubby mits just yet so I'll leave it at that and update this once it's in the bag....