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Custom shift knob....the Force is with me ;)

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  • Custom shift knob....the Force is with me ;)

    What's up guys, wasn't sure where to put this thread so I just decided to throw it in Off Topic since all this new forum happenin is confusing me. Pretty much, we all know H2Oi is coming up in a couple weeks and we're all looking to do something unique and fun. Well here's my mini-project and intro.

    If anyone really knows me then you'll know that I love Star Wars. Awesome stuff. I also just picked up a really clean, rust free e30 maybe 7 or 8 months ago. The car runs great and is simply supposed to be a fun daily for me while I'm in school. The only thing I really didn't like about the car was this dumb body kit it came with. It's got this e46-look body kit on it that kind of gets underneath my skin a bit. Since replacing the kit seems like a hassle at this point in time I just decided to make the best of it. So one day I decided to combine my silly love for Star Wars and this silly body kit and just do something fun.

    I had one of those cool Force FX lightsabers (the ones you used to beat the hell out of your friend with in Sharper Image) and decided to make it into a custom shift knob. Seemed like a fun enough idea and it's definitely cooler than those dildo shift knobs. Before you ask me something like, "Why the hell would you do that?"...let me just respond by saying, "Why the hell not?" It's just for shits and giggles. So here's how it went down. (Sorry for the iPhone quality pictures. It's all I got).

    First, I bought a dremel. Luckily it came with a cutting and sanding head so I didn't have to buy anything extra. Also picked up an old OEM shift knob from this guy in Maryland a week or two ago. The idea was to cut/shave the rubber shift knob until it sat in the battery chamber of the lightsaber hilt.



    Cutting up that shift knob.



    Wrapped myself up in a sweater, dishtowel face mask, and snowboard goggles cause that hawt burnin rubba just wasn't doin well for ma skin.



    The finished product of my cut/shaved shift knob. Think I did a damn good job.



    Now I had to get the LED blade out of the hilt. Lucky me, I had the old style Force FX lightsaber that doesn't come apart, which would've made this 10x easier because I wouldn't have had to cut the thing with a dremel. Anyway, my roommate and I decided to just have some fun wacking the shit out of it against our porch railing.



    Then I had to cut and sand a couple pieces off of the hilt in order to make it comfortable to fit in my hand. Also had to cut the blade right to the tip of the hilt so it looked clean and "deactivated".



    Here's the end result of that job. I couldn't get down deep enough to cut the entire LED strip out of the hilt, but in the end I was satisfied since it made it look like the emitter that shows out of the lightsaber when deactivated anyway. RAWK ON



    Here's the open bottom of the hilt where the battery would go. The battery chamber is where the cut shift knob is going in.



    Any another shot of the hilt.



    Then bought a mess of JB Weld to make sure that sucker stayed in there. Can't be mis-shifting cause this thing is wobblin around in thurr.



    Buttered the knob like a biscuit with JB weld and stuck it in the battery chamber.



    Now I'm just letting it harden and cure so I can try using it as a knob in my e30. I just have it sitting in a mess of rice so it can sit upright and balanced to make sure the knob doesn't tilt in the battery chamber.



    And that's what I have so far! I'll take a fancy picture of it mounted in the car in the next day or so after it's cured. It was a fun little weekend project
    Last edited by seven-57; 09-16-2012, 06:15 PM.

  • #2
    shoulda made it functional so it made crazy lightsaber sounds when you bang gears.

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    • #3
      I can't say the thought didn't cross my mind. I just realized that I'd never turn it on though. I'd probably wanna kill myself after hearing it every time I shifted haha

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      • #4
        it'd be worth it for a couple minutes... true , totally not worth the hassle.

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        • #5
          thats awesome as i've read all the books, but on second thought it looks could really tear your hand up
          Hatchbacks, wagons... It's NOT all the same. You want in? Don't get a mazda 3, get a mazda 6 wagon. Don't get a wrx get a legacy wagon. and theres a reason the A3 isn't called the A3 avant... Scion does not make a wagon it makes a weird van, but no wagons

          Sincerely,
          The Wagon Mafia:Inner Circle
          P.S. Is your tail a wagon?

          Show cars are lame.

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          • #6
            Dude, I won't lie, I've read the books too LOL I'm reading the new Darth Revan book. It's damn good too. But yeah, there was a piece of the lightsaber that would bother the hell out of me for a good grip, but I cut it off and sanded it down so now the hilt fits comfortably in your hand and such. I tested it a bunch of different ways to see which way I liked it best and I'm definitely satisfied.

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            • #7
              Oh my, this is awesome.
              - Kielan (Key-lin)

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              • #8
                Need mounted pics asap. I wanna see how this comes out. :

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                • #9
                  The JB weld has cured but I don't think I have enough in the chamber to make hard shifts yet so I'm gonna mix up another batch of it and let it cure overnight. So I'll mount it tomorrow afternoon.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Kielan View Post
                    Oh my, this is awesome.
                    Thanks man. Btw, my car is gonna be on BWS coils in the next couple days. I'm just waiting on Jaze to ship them out to me. I'm hoping to have them installed by the end of this weekend.

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                    • #11
                      that's a pretty interesting knob. +1 for ingenuity.
                      025garage

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                      • #12
                        Okay so I just got home and test fit it just because I got impatient. I came to the realization that I don't need to put in another batch of JB weld, but either way, it's too dark out to take a good picture so I'll do it tomorrow and post it up. I took it on a test drive too and it was fucking fantastic. I played the Star Wars theme the entire drive too. Fucking glorious.

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                        • #13
                          Rained like crazy in DC today. Twas dark and gloomy, so I'll try posting tomorrow if I get a little sun. Sorry guys.

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                          • #14
                            As a:
                            1. huge nerd
                            2. star wars fan
                            3. someone who thinks shift knobs are cool


                            I am super psyched to see how this turns out.

                            -Updated 07-29-2013- _ padraig@deathsquad.ca _ _

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by padraigmk3 View Post
                              As a:
                              1. huge nerd
                              2. star wars fan
                              3. someone who thinks shift knobs are cool


                              I am super psyched to see how this turns out.
                              I'm going to get some lunch so you'll see how this turned out in about an hour

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