Tech: Low buck Lokar Lever

One man's junk is another man's....Lokar shift lever.
I didn't want to pay a bunch of money to get a longer Lokar shift lever so I made one. Here's how I did it with common garage tools and other junk I had laying around.
I had an old set of golf clubs sitting in my basement- I don't golf but thought I might find some use for them someday. I peeled the handle off and lopped off the press fit head. The taper was almost perfect for this application.

 

I went to the hardware store and bought a 3/8- 24 and 5/8- 18 bolt to use for the ends. The handle was too thin to attempt threading. I drilled a 1/4" hole down the center of the 3/8 bolt and cut the head off. This will be used for the top.

 

I drilled a 5/16 hole in the 5/8 bolt which will be used for the bottom. Since the handle tapers and is too wide at one end, I needed to use some 5/16" brake/fuel line as a liner for the cable running down the center.
Insert a 1/4" rod through the 3/8 bolt and in to one end of the fuel line (The 1/4" rod is to keep from distorting the inside- use aluminum so you don't weld it in there!). Once they were butted up nicely, I tacked them together. After cleaning up the welds, I inserted the whole thing down the center of the club handle. I again placed a 1/4" rod inside the liner and welded the liner, bolt, and handle to become one piece.

 

Now is the time to make your bends. I made a cap to go over one end and packed it with moist sand. Make your bend gradual because you are not only bending the handle but the liner too. You don't want any narrowing or else it will bind up on you. I only wanted a small bend in mine so it's not on my kids lap while driving. Dump the sand out when you're done. To make the lever a little stiffer, I poured some resin between the liner and lever handle.
At this point, I removed the original shift lever and threaded the 5/8 bolt in to see how much thread I would need. Cut the bolt down to the length you need. Next I threaded a nut (blue in diagram below) on the section of bolt I cut (orange). I inserted the bottom end of the lever handle inside the other end of the nut and welded it up (red). It's a good idea to not run the 5/16 liner (green) all the way to the end of the threaded piece. There is a small piece of sheathing on the Lokar cable which will not fit in your 5/16 liner.

 

Next you will need to find some sort of suitable 1/4" flex shaft to extend the existing shaft to the top of your new lever. I used throttle cable from a lawn mower. Here are a couple other suggestions.
*Speedo cable (minus plastic sheathing)
*Throttle cable sheathing- the ones made with round wire look like they would be better than the flat wire ones.
*Solid 1/4" rod would work if there are no bends
I tacked a small screw in end of mine so I could join the two pieces together and keep them aligned.

 

At this point you can reattach your original push button handle and be done. Since I wanted to use a different knob, I picked up one of those Lokar adapters.
End result......big shiny stick to show off my McPhail skull.

 

Very cool. If you're using moist sand when you're bending, I'm assuming you're bending without heat?

 

You are correct. The handle is tempered but it bends fine without heat. Just go slow.

 

You used a golf club to make a shifter handle? To quote the Guinness guys, "BRILLIANT!"
I can use my 3 iron handle and my driver handle for shift handles! Thats the single best use for 'em.... they sure as hell dont help by being in my bag!!

 

and use the club heads for knobs/handles

 

I love the low buck tech. Its the best kind! Good info. Never thought of using a club for a shifter. Thats thinking outside that damn box!

 

Wouldn't one of those new style putter heads make a cool "T" handle?

 

so now you can claim to have FORE! on the floor.


Come on! It's not like you weren't thinking it.

Looks great.

 

Swear to God Grumpy... wasnt thinking it!