rough stepdown shifter knob

hoggyrubber
hoggyrubber Expert Adviser
edited November -1 in HUDSON
i have a knob that i got off a parts car i just bought but it's in pretty rough shape. the side that was facing up has a real rough texture. the glass was broken out and was exposed to sun and rain. can this be sanded with 1000 grit paper and recoated with something, and if so what? don't worry about it not looking perfect, the car ot's going on doesn't either. thanks, hr

Comments

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    Post some pics...



    You should be able to wet sand it smooth, clean dry and shoot a couple of coats of clear on it to bring back the color and shine. Rattle can clear is OK if you don't have access to 2 part (clear and hardener), just shoot a light coats at first and follow the instructions on the can.



    Begin sanding with the least aggressive paper that will start sanding the roughness out. 1000 should be a good starting point, then 1500, followed by 2000.



    If the knob is very brittle and starts to crumble etc. stop sanding, shoot several coats of clear to fill in roughness and salvage the knob...
  • hoggyrubber
    hoggyrubber Expert Adviser
    thanks for the info. that was king of what i was hoping i could do. sorry i'm not computer fancy enough to post pictures.
  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    hoggyrubber-

    Another thing you can do is if it's cracked and checked, you can sand it a little, just to smooth it up, then use 2-part expoxy to fill in the cracks. After it's dry, sand it the rest of the way, then paint it.
  • hoggyrubber
    hoggyrubber Expert Adviser
    i have to say i did kind of a combo of these ideas and it worked great. i found a red/ ivory knob in a parts car looked totally gone, in fact you could hardly tell it ws red. i also had the grey/ brown one i orig asked about that was awful. i sanded both of then down to using crocus cloth, also using the clear to fill in some cracks. on the red one brought back all the color except one small spot. they light grey one you can see the cracks but the surface is very smooth. it had cracks and splits to start with. it's not showroom quality, but i think it's great they could be saved. thank you both again.
  • hoggyrubber
    hoggyrubber Expert Adviser
    edited October 2010
    here is a picture of the red one. remember it was so bad you could not even tell it was red!
  • 48super6
    48super6 Senior Contributor
    Be sure to use a good quality rattle can clear- one that is clearly rated for exterior use and is UV resistant. Cheaper clears will yellow after a while. Also, I would use an enamel or epoxy- the lacquer may be too "hot" (too strong a solvent) for the plastic- it could soften the plastic right away or wrinkle after a month or so.
    Spray on the clear in a couple of VERY light coats (do not put it on heavy). Allow time for the coats to tack before re-applying. It should come out quite nicely.
    Good Luck!
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    growing up, in the 80's, I used to grab knobs out of the junkyards. I liked saving them, here is my collection of them. Kinda weird, I still got them...

    hudsonknobs.JPG
  • hoggyrubber
    hoggyrubber Expert Adviser
    it's not strange, i would keep them too. looks nice, quite a collection!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories

In this Discussion