The shift knob thread popping got me to thinking. Who else has custom radio knobs? Early in the build of my 53.....hadn't even wired it yet or started tearing into the dead 235.....a used 53/54 Chevy parts vender friend out of cabool Missouri sold me this radio with face plate for $50 shipped.....which was cheaper than id found just the faceplate for lol. Anyway the only stuff it was missing was the knobs. Had a solution for that. Despite my obsession with everything related to being a petroleum primate and both of my biological grandpas and one of my step grandpas being mechanics I came from an artistic background. Dad was and is a somewhat classic nerd. As in had I not been born he would probably have gone to work for marvel comics. I myself had some artistic abilities till I pretty much stopped doing what most people call art in my mind twenties. Won countless art competitions at comic conventions and even won the Crayola dreammakers contest in '93 at 9 years old for doing a 3 dimensional painting of a Chevy chevette and actually getting perspective correct. Fast forward to twenty years ago. After leaving his factory job dad started a comic book and game shop in my hometown. A few years in he started talking to dice manufacturers and started selling custom made dice commemorating different games and events etc. In 2014 he needed to do something for something dealing with pirates and was having trouble finding a jolly roger thatd take to being shrunk for a six sider. He happened to notice my tag in the windshield of my supercharged monte Carlo. Explained to him I'd designed the logo when I had aspirations to open a rod shop around '07/'08. He asked if he could use it which I was fine with. Gave me the option of cash commission or a lifetime supply of them. I chose the lifetime supply. Fast forward to 2021 I take two of them with the most red and drilled a couple holes.... actually had to drill three because the first one blew up. But I smirk a little because its a cool little bit of my personality integrated into my car. What all you guys have?
I've honestly lost a good bit of my traditional artistic ability due to lack of practice. Basically about the time I got too old to really impress women with stuff I drew them I focused harder on building cars. Apparently one of my sisters friends that was a cheerleader in highschool saved a folder of hers that one day on the bus when I was 17 I got bored and scribbled flaming eyeballs, flaming dice, a flaming skull etc on lol. One tidbit I forgot to mention about the dice is it's about the most popular of all the dice he's had done. As in they constantly have to reorder. If I come across the license plate that was the last time I drew it I'll post it
Here’s a thread on custom dash knobs https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/creative-dash-knobs.1043180/#post-11814391
Knobs disintegrated, added bullets. I took about 50 pounds of radio guts out and it’s now just a shell.
My radio in my pic is also a dummy. Eventually going to integrate the factory volume knob to at least turn my hidden radio on and off
If you have a look at old radio and electrical equipment knobs and controls (especially pre-1970) a lot of them can be adapted to suit auto applications. Washing machines, dryers, etc had some neat chrome knobs on them, and would fit a standard 1/4" "D" shaft.
the good ol Marrette or as you folks out side of Canada know them Wire nuts !! same thread as the radio nice little black knob , looked factory Was better then the nothing I had
Besides using matching knobs; I found these nut covers help cover the usual differing retaining nuts making for a more uniform appearance to the dash. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...-IFpBE8kMZoLYCXV4Q9MZMEHh2mWwPh83PyDzS8JzZ2Ug
If memory serves, back in the late 50s high school times, "General Shop" was broken down into 4 quarters. 1st quarter was mechanical drawing, 2nd was wood shop, 3rd was plastic shop, and the last was metal shop. A lot of plastic was glued up in layers and shaped into knobs to get a grade for the quarter. Eventually, some knobs were made to sell in the aftermarket but it all started in high school shop class.
We all made knobs out of plastic glued together for our cars in machine shop in high school. Also cast gas pedals out of aluminum, even made ash trays. My how things have changed.
Hello, Our Westside of Long Beach next door neighbor had a good paying job for a teenager. So, he was stock piling up to buy a nice car. We talked about the various kinds and he wanted something like my brother’s Impala for cruising around with his friends. But, he was stuck on getting a new one and quickly. He did not want to take the bus to his after school job and/or activities on the weekends. He came home one day from the local auto dealership sales lot row, near our high school. The car he bought was definitely a surprise. It was a nice looking new design that no one else we knew had one. No one in our neighborhood had one, either, as most families had big 4 door sedans or station wagons. So, it was his choice as to the style and ability to be economical, as well as being able to go just about anywhere with friends, 4 doors and all. Jnaki So, what did he do to add a little pizazz to his new Corvair sedan? In Junior H.S. since we were both in our favorite class, “Crafts and Jewelry” (plus the teacher was a custom car nut,) we had made a lot of variations of custom knobs for the door locks, the radio and other levers. They were one of the most popular projects from a list of projects for a grade. They were cut, glued together, saw cut to outside design, lathe shaped, circular sander-machined and put together from colorful clear plastic pieces. If the final location required a thread for attachment, the projects got a thread that could be seen through the clear plastic pieces. The buffing wheel was fun as it allowed us to see the final shape and myriad of colors. As it was, we had a small box of matching knobs for his radio, his turn signals and even the funky shift lever, as well as matching door lock caps. Similar in style and looks, but with a shade of silver blue white combo. P.S. He was the only one with these knobs and it looked rather cool, as a custom car addition. He was not a drag race guy, so his 4 door Corvair was a cool cruiser. He eventually bought a set of chrome wheels and it was a long lasting car for his needs. After high school, we would still see it parked in his driveway as we visited our mom’s house, next door. Cool memories of an unusual mild custom car for the times and limited teenage budget. Did he lower it? No, with 4 teenagers, the additional weight lowered the car to cool cruising heights or levels without being illegal. But, add one item and now the body was lower than the rims. The usual two person cruising scene was perfectly low level without heating the coils or altering the chassis. In our high school machine shop, we were able to make not plastic ones, but several machined cast aluminum ones to fit the radio knobs and door locks with smooth sides to prevent window thefts. The little smooth tube, door lock attachments made the interior sleek and did its intended job of keeping those coat hangers useless. But we kept the white ball on the Impala stick shift lever. That was too classic to get rid of at the time. YRMV The white ball was on the same lever when it was a 3 speed and when we had the C&O Stick Hydro installed. Look in the local web search for plastic dealers. Almost every large metropolitan area has industrial plastic warehouses to get plenty of different plastic pieces. They even sell adhesive and now you can attach it to the lathe for a good afternoon’s work making knobs and custom creations. The most time consuming part is waiting for the glue to dry between the sheets and have the project ready to go for the final shaping on the lathe. The lathe will help you shape, but one must go a little area at a time, otherwise, one gouge and a new form is going to end up on your counter. FROM AN OLD POST Color matching to the style of the hot rod or custom car for shows or just a wide array of colors and designs for just about any application in the hot rod world. My wife and I are road warriors. We have been traveling together since our days as a 20 something couple of college kids our to have some fun. From all over So Cal to Baja, Mexico to past San Francisco on the coast and far inland in California’s dry areas, it was fun, fun, fun. As the years rolled by, the road trips included photo shoots and information gathering on hot rods and motorcycles. Plus, we got to see a lot of car shows, rock concerts and plenty of custom hot rods and very nice motorcycles along the way. So, we have been traveling together for 57 years. There were some jet travels in between, but our USA tour and those early California tours were something for a couple of young “kids.” We have continued those road trips throughout our son’s college days in Santa Barbara and have made that area, our home away from home. From surf trips in 1960/63 to the 90’s to the couples road trips with our little dog took up a week plus for each trip. Santa Barbara was a good base and we took advantage of the location. In 2017, we took a grand tour of the Central Coastline up to Big Sur and Monterrey Bay for a memory trip similar to one we took in 1967. Back then, it was not as crowded and we missed the big time concert at Monterrey during those times. It was just too crowded to push our way into the area, so then, we bypassed the area and continued up to San Francisco, plus the north coastal hazards. When we got back to Santa Barbara, we were eating dinner on the main drag of the city, State Street. The street has plenty of outstanding dinner places and they have outdoor seating. It is/was the perfect place to sit, eat and enjoy the cruising being done by various local and traveling folks. We saw this green “woody” wagon cruising by our ring side seats. It was a cool Mercury Comet Wagon. It moved down into the main center of downtown and we lost sight of it for that night, when we were walking down the popular street looking at all of the wares. Jnaki So, we went back to our find of a resort hotel and time marches onward. Then, the next morning, my wife comes up to me and says “…there is a nice looking, old station wagon sitting in the parking lot.” Since she had to take our little dog for a walk, indeed, a nice looking station wagon was in the parking lot. I was totally surprised when it was in the same station wagon, from the night before. I am sorry I did not get to meet the owner and his family. We were upstairs on the second floor...I think they were down by the pool level. When my wife says she likes a station wagon, it is very cool. “Those knobs were pretty cool in themselves, but to be on the Comet Wagon was just a big plus.” “The Kimpton Goodland Resort is a classic place. It is done in an early 1960 style with the beach as a theme. The Ford Woody in the drive way and the Airstream Trailer situated right behind the woody, is to be used for people staying at the resort, shows the character of the place.” We were up there visiting relatives during the Thanksgiving week. We decided to do some relaxing things we used to do back in the 60s and updated 90s, in and around the Santa Barbara/Goleta area. (Old hotel, Pier, State Street, UCSB, surf spots, coastal cruise, restaurants, etc.) The colors of his products are pretty nice. As shown at the top of the post… It had a ton of nice features and looked to be a daily driver. Some of the custom touches were the machined, Lexan type colored shift knob and door locks, the rear ¼ Venetian blinds, the aluminum rain/wind deflector wings and taillights. One item that hasn't been seen since the 60's...shiny curb feelers ! The period correct S/S wheels and whitewalls made it look like a wagon cruising in the mid 60’s. The Comet Wagon fit right into the “theme” of the recently remodeled, Kimpton Goodland Resort Hotel’s surfer style fixtures. One of the most unusual items was the outside fender mirror that had a front facing spotlight. Without being too nosy in a public parking lot, (peeking into the driver’s compartment,) there had to be a remote control of some kind to make it work. It was just too far forward for a long twist lever back to the driver. Maybe, it is used as an extra high beam for those dark, deserted, Highway 395, So Cal to Nor Cal cruises. These mid-size wagons were deemed, “perfect” for the small family. They were not too big and not too compact. But to paraphrase Goldilocks: "Ahhh, this… Wagon… is just right."
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