Topic: Shift Ball Restoration

[Bossbill]

I try and use original parts.
I have a very nice 67 4 speed shift ball, but wonder what others are doing to restore them to their former glory.

I figure to use the lathe, set to around 1200 rpm and use various fine grits of sandpaper to remove slight imperfections. Follow up with rubbing and polishing compounds and then re-letter.

What would you do?

[5F08KGT]

I believe the '67s are pretty much like the '64-'66s, I believe the originals are some sort of special material and NOT just plastic.

You might contact Bill Healy the Ford shifter Guru and ask him how he does it....

[Bossbill]

The appear to not be solid black. There are some flecks of other materials in them (under magnification).

I finally did refinish mine using various grits while it was spinning in the lathe, but I kept the luster on the low side. Plus, it appears there are voids in the ball.

Not sure of the required luster level as I don't trust the repops as a guide.

[67350#1242]

Some sort of bakelite material - it won't ever take on a high gloss shine unless clear coated.  I like the semi gloss.

[Bossbill]

I should add some details on lettering.

I took out a majority of the white with a dental pick. If the paint resisted the pick, it was staying put.
Using a very small detail brush and some Testors white I painted the shift pattern letters again trying not to get too much outside of the lines. If you failed at staying inside of the lines as a kid, fear not!
Taking some dry craft paper I wiped off the majority of the white not inside of the letter grooves.
It's then followed up with the same craft paper soaked in a bit of lacquer thinner. The picture above shows the brown craft paper soaked in thinner. Depending on how much white haze is left over, a followup of dry craft paper would wipe up the rest.

The idea behind the craft paper is that is has a little bit of tooth, so it does wipe away paint. But it does not have the fuzzies of paper towels, which would reach into the recess and pull out the paint.

I also use this method to re-letter the fuse box.

[5F08KGT]

The appear to not be solid black. There are some flecks of other materials in them (under magnification).

I finally did refinish mine using various grits while it was spinning in the lathe, but I kept the luster on the low side. Plus, it appears there are voids in the ball.

Not sure of the required luster level as I don't trust the repops as a guide.

The IS different from the '65-'66s.....I thought the '67s were the same, I learned something today!

[Bossbill]

Yes!

The 65-66s are concave on the top and have a quarter circle chrome eustachian on the bottom as a lock nut. That means the bottom of the ball is flat.
The 67s are a squished round (flatish on top) with a much smaller flat surface on the bottom and a simple jam nut.

 

[Bob Gaines]

Yes!

The 65-66s are concave on the top and have a quarter circle chrome eustachian on the bottom as a lock nut. That means the bottom of the ball is flat.
The 67s are a squished round (flatish on top) with a much smaller flat surface on the bottom and a simple jam nut.

I thought I would add info to this older thread in that early production 67 Mustangs used the same shifter knob as 65/66. Just a guess but maybe through Dec 66 before transitioning to the typical 67 version.