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Aftermarket Gearstick Knobs

I possess two aftermarket gearstick knobs, purchased because the stock item just feels awkward in my hand. The first one I bought is a turned mahogany knob produced by Joe Portas of Colorado, who goes by the handle "Knobmeister". It looks like this:

That's not the original finish. When it arrived from the USA, the knob was finished in polyurethane varnish. I found the varnish chipped too easily, so I removed that with fine emery paper and have refinished the knob with wax and french polish, which gives a nice sheen but at the price of requiring regular re-waxing. This knob now only gets used in the depths of winter, when it gets too cold to use the metal Voodoo one:

The picture shows my (standard size) Voodoo knob, in the "Pearl" finish that was introduced for the year 2000. This is the commonest aftermarket gear knob for the MX-5, and has a very nice feel in the hand. The picture also shows the brainstorm spun aluminium trim ring at the base of the knob, which costs extra but finishes it off very nicely.

Prices ? The Knobmeister is only available from the manufacturer in the USA, and will cost around $40 or so, depending upon whether you want any engraving on the surface, or lead weighting in the knob. Voodoo knobs cost around 30 pounds depending upon finish and can be got from www.donutz.co.uk in this country. The brainstorm trim ring cost me 9 pounds, also from donutz.

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