Gearknobs

[RobThomas]

Whoo-hoo. Got an original MM gearknob (in primo condition) for £4 at Beaulieu!

[carlosramalho]

Congratulations Rob!!!

[RobThomas]

Thanks. There was also an early MM petrol cap but someone picked it up just before I could reach over for it. Anyone on here? (I know it wasn't Carlo P.)
I also picked up a NOS unchromed MM replacement Grille for chroming. I've given it a quick run under the polishing mop and it appears to be almost ready to go to the plating company in the morning. Very nice and only £75. There were 3 more left there.
Who had the waterpumps? I thought they were a bit expensive but might have been worth getting. My legs were getting a bit too tired by the end of the day so I stopped buying stuff. Maybe next year.

[WPR678B]

(I know it wasn't Carlo P.)

That would probably be due to the fact i wasn't there!
Too far to travel for me and when you already have every possible Minor part you could ever want, whats the point in looking for more eh!
Sadly the time has come for me to start thinning out the Minor parts and replacing them with Volvo 140 series parts!

[RobThomas]

when you already have every possible Minor part you could ever want,

Selling an ALTA head, then??

[austinmorris]

There were some great bargains to be had if you could search them out. A friend of mine picked up a full set of low light bumpers and a NOS low light front grill for £57. From a guy selling Austin 7 parts who didn’t know what car the low light parts were for...

[RobThomas]

C'mon, Carlo. Wotcha gonna sell me?

[Judge]

Whoo-hoo. Got an original MM gearknob (in primo condition) for £4 at Beaulieu!

Does it have the raised positions like this, http://seriesmm.mmoc.org.uk/Rally_pictu ... 004_14.JPG

Edit - ..... and is made of hard rubber, not bakelite.

Mike - Hopefully I will be seeing you on our run to Combe Mill at the weekend, and you can take a closer look.

[RobThomas]

PS. Mike. I won't be needing mine for a few months. Still wanting one to copy? Bear in mind that thear belongs to my wife, so you'd need to be careful with it!![frame][/frame]

I've also got another knob with a similar shape to it that might be suitable for carving into shape but my polishing kit is otherwise engaged at the moment.

[RobThomas]

Judge. there was at least one of those there but it was in a similar condition. Isn't that a series 2 knob?

[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[WPR678B]

Selling an ALTA head, then??

My Dad wouldn't want to lose his door stop for his garage door, so i'm afraid not!

[mike.perry]

Rob,
That is an offer I can't refuse. Many Thanks
What is the general opinion on the material for making copies? Should they be made from the original rubber which wears on the surface and goes floppy on the gear lever and gets sweaty in hot countries or should they be made from a hard material which will retain the gear pattern, fit securely on the lever and last indefinately.
Can you tell from my question which I am in favour of? It comes down to how closely you want to stick to originality. I expect that I would get the same people arguing for and against original/quartz glovebox lid clocks.
Maybe it is possible once the moulds are made, to make a batch from each material.
Regarding the use of plastic I can only comment that my gear knob is as good as when I aquired it from a Series MM in a scrapyard over 30 years ago before noticing some weeks later that the reverse position was on the wrong side.
Comments please.

[Judge]

I think most people know my views on "copies" Mike , and the gear knob shown in the picture is 60 years old. Does that answer your question?

PS It looks like you bought the wrong one 30 years ago, perhaps someone had fitted a copy

[RobThomas]

Hmmmm. Confusion. This gearknob is made of rock-hard Bakelite, not rubber. It is the same as the one posted many pages ago and not the same as the one Judge has just posted a picture of. Which is correct? I thought the rubber ones were Series 2, or are they much smaller?

[Judge]

All I can say Rob is that OJO is almost totally original, and the gear knob is part of that originality. The one Mike fitted appears was not original to the car.
The choice is yours, all I can do is give my honest opinion.

PS I also have an almost totally original early 1954 Serries II and the gear knob is not the same as this.

[mike.perry]

Things are getting confusing rubber or bakalite, embossed or engraved? I have a couple of poor condition rubber gear knobs. I will take a look at the MM in the bus museum to see what that has fitted, probably a M1000 gearknob

[RobThomas]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NOS-GEAR-LEVER-KN ... 255d4a92f7

Hmmm. How about these?


I've just had a look in the Morris servicing guide and the profile and ribbing is similar to ours. I wouldn't suprise me if they changed suppliers through the years, though.

Who has more pics? Ray Newell? Carlo?

[RobThomas]

NWL xxx, the first production car has raised letters on the gearknob but appears otherwise identical.

[Kevin]

NWL xxx, the first production car has raised letters on the gearknob but appears otherwise identical.

The problem with that car is that it was renovated by apprentices from the parts bin and as Bill pointed out to me it has quite a few errors with it.

[mike.perry]

I have 2 rubber gearknobs with threaded brass inserts sticking out underneath which were presumably once encased in rubber. The threads stick to the Morris tradition being M6x1.0mm with 1/4 Whit heads. There is no pattern left on the gearknobs.
The answer may be to use a plastic one for the pattern and the gearknobs made from rubber.