Gear knob thread size 12 / 14mm

[MF74]

I'm trying to find out when the thread size for the gear knob went from 12mm to 14mm. I think it was vans built before August '85 had 12mm and after Aug '85 had 14mm. Could anyone confirm that for me please? Thanks

[Plasticman]

also depends on whether someone has changed box ie 4 to 5 or changed a stick out, what have you got fitted and why the need for the info , just curious
mm

[MF74]

Hi, its an original 4 speed van, not messed about with. I'm getting a new gear knob but I'm not able to measure it at the moment as it's stored away from home & under a cover, and I know it was built May 1985.

[Mk2Tony]

I think as a general rule early Aircooled vans had 12mm and the later watercooled stuff had 14mm, but I think they did run them alongside each other for a short period of time. have a look on brickwerks at the gearshift repair kits and they have chassis number breaks of what year ran what

[MF74]

Perfect thanks Tony, that's exactly the info I was looking for! This is what it says;-

'To be specific about things...

Vehicles up to chassis number WV2 ZZZ 25Z C 200 000 Have a 12mm shaft.
Vehicles from chassis number WV2 ZZZ 25Z D 000 001 Have a 14mm shaft

Now, as usual, it's not that simple! seems like VW ran the 2 diameter shafts along side each other for a little while, so, from 25D 000 001 to 25D 051 380 AND you have special order S799 (injection engines 1.6i and 2.0i) then you also have a 12mm shaft.'

[Mk2Tony]

No probs dude, I bought a gearshift repair kit off them the other day (made so much difference to my gear change!) so seen the info then, glad I could be of assistance!

[MF74]

Cheers Tony.

Ok so next question:-

I'm pretty sure now that from that info mine's a 14mm thread, but the gear knob I want to use is a 12mm.

What is the easiest way to get it to fit? Could the shaft simply be swapped for a 12mm one? Or rethread my existing shaft to 12mm using a tap & die set? Is the shaft easy to remove?

[Mk2Tony]

I think the shaft is fairly easy to remove from what I saw when repairing mine, and I don't see why you couldn't swap a 14 for a 12 as VW ran them side by side anyway so should be interchangeable.
I think that would be the easier option than trying to re-tap 14mm down to 12mm as its just a case of un-bolting it and swapping them over I wouldn't have thought it would take longer than 30mins max. If you were going to go down the route of re-tapping I think I would do the thread in the gearknob rather than try to re-tap the gear lever, not sure how hard it would be though

[MF74]

Thanks again Tony. I will look into getting a 12mm shaft and just swap them over. I don't really want to rethread the gear knob as it's only plastic so not sure it would work without it cracking.

[Mk2Tony]

No probs, yeh I would go down the same route as you I think and change the lever, like you say it could crack the plastic trying to re-tap it, I'm sure someone will have a spare 12mm lying about somewhere that they would be happy to part with for a few pennies, if I see any about I will let you know

[MF74]

Great thanks very much

[CovKid]

It does pay to upgrade the gear knob but don't make the mistake of basing your choice entirely on cosmetics. I went through FIVE of them before I found the perfect solution. I've had 'light up' ones, racing style ones, all sorts of garbage until I came across an old Audi (stock) one that is spot on. Its takes out the minor (and often irritating) vibrations I used to get through previous ones including its original one. Not sure what its made of, some sort of damped composite, but the difference was marked when I fitted that. Threw the others in the bin. Best place for them

[MF74]

Thanks for the advice. It should be ok though as it's a stock VW one I'm replacing it with.

[CovKid]

I suppose the point I was making is if it has no give in it (ie solid material like the original), it won't be any better, no matter how good it looks online. Most luxury cars tend to have ant-vibration ones fitted as standard whereas much of the aftermarket ones do not - including things like hollowed out pool balls which can look kind of fun but not particularly pleasant to use.

[baj25]

I extended my gear stick using one of those kinked extenders (er, obviously...), it puts gearknob in a much better place than standard. If you could get one of those (or make one, piece of P really) with 14mm female and 12mm top end, job done. If you bought a 14/14mm one, be a doddle to put a 12mm thread on top. HTH, Bri