Removing Scratches on Shift Knob

Installed this shift **** this weekend in my 993. Love the way it feels. The aluminum (at least I think it's aluminum) has a few holidays I would like to buff out. Has anyone done this? Any tips? I've read how to fill scratches and polish generic aluminum, but I'm wondering if that would ruin this finish etc. Any advice appreciated.

Ideally I think you want to sandblast the metal part in order to replicate the factory-original finish. If you buff/polish it it will become flat, smooth and shiny quite quickly which is probably not what you want. You can then apply a matte or satin clear coat over it once you have the desired finish. I believe this is what it originally would have had too, or perhaps a silver coloured paint. Certainly some sort of coating, which should help maintain the finish once it�s done.

I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I think it is unlikely to be bare aluminum so if you try anything on it, you would likely harm the coating. If you want to verify that it has a clear coat, you could get yourself a 10x eye loupe and look closely at the edge of any of the scratches. You should be able to see where the metal is bare from the scratch and the missing coating. I'm decided that the scratches on mine simply reflect the jeweled hand of the lady who paid $105K for it in 2002.

Thanks for the insight. I tried to remove the aluminum part but it appears to be glued down, so I may have to live with the scratches.

That�s a good looking shifter, and the red interior looks striking. I�d forget about the light scratches (you may make it worse), but do try to seat the shifter properly. There appears to be a large gap along the right side. It should pressure fit into place with no gaps like that. The right side snaps in first, and the the left side comes up and presses against the tension clips.

Spot on @Foxman The wire in the boot is bent, and too flexible. Any pressure on it and it bends instead of snapping into the groove. I have purchased an old 993 shifter to act as a wire donor.

I have a 996 version in that same colour I think its in pretty good condition if you're interested in buying it

I appreciate the offer, but one of these is plenty, and it goes with the 3 other shift ***** I have. Yes I have an issue

Looking at the ****, I am not sure if it is plastic or metal, as l have found that the manual release handles for the frunk and rear hatch on the 99 -2000 models were metal and heavily coated with aluminum paint. I removed the paint, found the metal was rough and needed considerable sanding, and used a buffing wheel to finish. Here are the handles before the final polish. I haven't located the decals yet, but I will install them into the recently black leather-covered holders that are mounted on the floor. At least when I scrape my shoes across them, they can be polished out rather than the usual abraided, scratched look.

Quotes source post: 19367578

I'd be tempted to create custom decals for those - maybe an ejector seat and missile launcher icon...

My car is a 2000 C4 Cab and had very scratched release handles. I refinished the two levers as follows: Removed plastic finish and sanded smooth. Refinished using 2 coats of Dupli Color BPR0032 Scratch Filler Gray Primer, followed by 3 coats of Dupli Color BFM0424 Ingot Silver Metallic top coat (Ford color), then 3 coats of Dupli Color BCL 0125 Clear Top Coat. . After the color coat and before the clear coat applied water transfer symbols depecting the front frunk and rear engine lid. The water transfer symbols artwork was created on Inkscape software with a pdf file for printing on Hobby Lobby Water Transfer Decal Paper (102500000) ($8.49). The color is a very good match and I am happy with the results.