Tequipment gear knob disassembly

Hi Does anyone know how the aluminium top on the tequipent gear knob comes off? Is it just clipped on or is there a hidden screw?

I'm sorry I can't advise. Give royal steering wheels a call, I bet they take them apart when refurb'ing.

Thanks for the suggestion - but Royal went on their holidays today. I want to try and refurbish the top myself and just send them the leather part.

It does come apart as mine was dismantled by GP leather tech last month in order to restore the leather and polish the alloy.. it was explained to me but I can't remember the procedure. its not clipped on I do know that.. The Porsche crest is the same as on the key.. I believe £20 from Porsche if you break it getting it off as its only glued on. sorry I can't be of more help. Johnny

It certainly doesn't pry off... I tried that! I could see no obvious way of unscrewing it/unbolting from underneath. Maybe if you could get the shift pattern insert off there would be a fastener underneath, but could see no obvious way if getting that off either without damage. Ended up masking the leather to respray the silver, then touched in the leather with dye, but it wasn't badly worn.

I don't want to pry any harder than I have tried for fear of damaging it. I also think there might be screw under the cap insert - but there isn't any obvious way to get the cap out without damaging it in the absence of a perfectly sized suction cup.

GP Leather tech have a photo on their face book page and the gear knob has been disassembled- but impossible to see how. What wizardry is this they are using :?:

Thanks to a chap on eBay that retrims these - I know know the secret! There are 2 screws under the cap. The cap has a small bit of heat glue under it and is completely flush with the main piece so it's impossible to get anything under it. The trick is to pry under the lower part where the emblem is. I tried every piece out of my plastic interior kit but a large flat screwdriver is best. This bends the aluminium piece ever so slightly (and pulls bends it around the screws slightly) but causes the cap to lift slightly. I then got a chisel under the cap (as the chisel is thinner than anything else I had) and gently worked my way around it. Once that was off there were 2 brass screw staring at me. I took them out and it came off easily. I then flattened back where it had bent around the screws and refitted and it sat flush perfectly. Photos showing in reverse order....

Utter genius! I'm almost tempted to have another go at mine as I'm not completely satisfied with the quality of the paint job on top, though I will probably end up making it worse! I wonder if there is a way of loosening the cap glue by heating it... As well as making the whole thing easier to refurb in bits, getting the cap out will make for a much crisper edge if you respray the alu insert. Your shift pattern looks in good condition, mine was quite worn so I had to paint over it, then gently scratch the silver paint away revealing the original black again, but its not as bold as it was originally. Goodness knows how to do that differently.

Assuming that central hole also goes through the otherwise hollow shift knob itself, I'm assuming you could insert a rod in through the bottom of the knob and drift out the shift pattern insert with a few hammer taps..? Or is there no hole through the top of the knob? (not 100% clear from the photos)

there is no hole through the top and there is also a metal bracket inside the knob so drilling is not a simple option - but I did consider that. With regard to heating it - I omitted the fact that I heated mine - hence the glove. I did it for 2 reasons - I wanted to make the main piece more supple when I was levering it out with the screwdriver and also to soften the glue. I think if you are going to go through the hassle of taking it off, you should retrim it. The going rate seems to be about £40. There is a risk of damaging the leather. With regard to painting. The edge/lip of the cap and the recess in the top of the casting are so fine, that you will need to mask very well to ensure the cap sits properly afterward. I was going to repaint mine, but having second thoughts having looked at it closely. I'm going to contemplate it later with the parts in my hands agian.

Many thanks for this thread, I would never have got the cap off without it. FYI to heat it I used my wifes carding/craft heat gun like this one https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/hobbycraft-heat-tool/635099-1000 really strong narrow blast of heat. 2 questions if anyone can help. 1-The crest on the front of the alu bit is replaceable? Someone said it is available from porsche but I can't see it on any parts diagram, can anyone tell me what I need to ask for or is it available elsewhere? 2-Once I have polished out the scratches do I paint it or is it meant to be left bare?

The crest is available... its the same one as on the remote key, if memory serves. Should be easy enough to compare if you have a key with the badge on. https://www.design911.co.uk/fu/prod...er---996----Cayenne---Carrera-GT-99663744300/ You could polish the metalwork, but the OE finish is painted in 'Alu-look'. I could not find a proper paint code, so I took the shifter into a local auto paint shop to make up some paint for me, they got pretty much there.

Thanks for the info Robertb. Unfortunately the key crest is not the same size, frustratingly it is just c 0.5mm too large for the indent. Re the paint, I saw on another forum a post saying that Ford Silver Frost is a very good match. I am going to try that and then some satin lacquer. I'll report back on how it looks. If it's rubbish it's not difficult to strip it back and start again.

Damn, always assumed the badges were the same... I'll be interested to see how you get on- I'm not 100% happy with the top of mine but it was a dramatic improvement on the worn state it was in before. How do you plan to deal with the shift pattern?