I now have 4 original Porsche Bakelite 901 shift knobs available to a new home. . These are the NLA Bakelite material knobs from the 1970's, not the black Plastic ones currently available. All 5 have prefect Bakelite handles, no scratches, chips or cracks. . .

2 have perfect shift pattern inserts.. There are 2 with inserts that have an extremely minor imperfection in the chrome trim around the outer trim perimeter which is sealed under the glass. . .you have to look hard to see but I wanted to disclose this fact [see last picture]. . All have crush rings installed.
There are no cracks, scratches or crazing in any of the clear buttons.

The 2 perfect ones are $125 each shipped and the other 2 are $100 each shipped.

Note: I had a question from a member who thought these were the current repops which are black plastic or nylon and generally sell for 30 -80 bucks. . Let me clarify the knobs are Old Stock Bakelite ones which had cracked / crazed buttons. I was able to get some new button inserts from Dansk. I machined the old Bakelite knobs to remove the old bad buttons and replaced with new Buttons. They were also polished to remove all scratches from the Bakelite. The optical difference is the number 5 has a slightly slanted vertical line while the original 1970's '5' is a straight vertical. .

Hmmm! So when you were trying to sell all 7 of these knobs to me a couple weeks ago you never mentioned that the shift pattern and clear top were switched out from the repro Dansk knob, I was told that they were original and perfect shape. Here is your PM that you sent me.

"Mike. . I'm on the S Registry site also, and know what they 'could' sell for. .
I'm going thru a lifetime of Porsche stuff cleaning out the stash before my
kids just throw things away some day. . I therefore offered these to the 914 Group
at a reasonable price first, hoping a few guys who needed nice ones for nice cars would benefit. No one has spoken up so far. . Their loss. . .
That being said, I have a total of 5 perfect ones plus the 2 that have the chrome outer trim ring not as perfect as I pictured.
You can have all 7 for $750, That is shipped and fully insured with tracking.
Dave"

So someone called you out on these and then you edited your original FS thread, interesting!!

Second PM sent by you on 914world, which scared me off, requesting payment be sent as "Gift".


"Mike. .
Does that mean you want them ? If so Paypal to
toolguy@pacbell.net
Please mark payment as 'gift to friend' so there is no commission fee deducted. . Send me your address and I can get these out this afternoon after Paypal confirms
transaction. Dave
Dave "

Not sure your insinuation is entirely accurate. . I had one question about the digit five and I immediately added the clairification about the button in the original post.

Please note the pictures. . they never changed and were never edited and no effort was made to hide the shift pattern button. All out in the open . You however, were apparently trying to make a profit and snap them all up cheap. . as you had just sold one on the 911S site at full freight. . I made a veiled reference to that fact in my first line to you in the email, which for some reason you feel is in good taste to publicly post. . . At least it shows the "World" I let you know I knew you had sold over there for more, so greedy I am not. . . I figured you were maybe looking for some easy money ?? . That's your business. . . Wonder what you would have done with the ones from me.??? . Gouge you friends??

It seems maybe you were possibly too eager with visions of $$$ to look at the pictures. . .

The fact of the matter is I spent considerable time making lathe machining fixtures, purchasing the OE knobs and Dansk knobs, along with the associated machining time and cost, not to mention the two I screwed up getting fixtures accurate. .This whole project started with needing one for myself and making few extras to cover my machinist time and material cost. That's all. .

How about giving this a break. you made your statement, let the public decide. .

By the way, these are still available to the 914World members at the same price listed here, which is less than I listed them on the 911 site. . I was and still am trying to be fair to the people here.

And for you, MIKE, Thanks for the free bump to the top/

And requesting payment marked as gift seems to be a common request among other major sellers on this site also. . maybe a few of them will confirm. . I do it for Craig at Camp914 all the time.

You should point out the entire text of our emails to be accurate. . It was you who was the guy requesting to buy all 5 of the perfect ones for cheap. . . as below. .

QUOTE
QUOTE
I will take all 5 knobs for $500 shipped to 60008. If your OK with this, PayPal?

Mike. . I'm on the S Registry site also, and know what they 'could' sell for. .
I'm going thru a lifetime of Porsche stuff cleaning out the stash before my
kids just throw things away some day. . I therefore offered these to the 914 Group
at a reasonable price first, hoping a few guys who needed nice ones for nice cars would benefit. No one has spoken up so far. . Their loss. . .
That being said, I have a total of 5 perfect ones plus the 2 that have the chrome outer trim ring not as perfect as I pictured.
You can have all 7 for $750, That is shipped and fully insured with tracking.
Dave


Dave no problem, that is a good price as is, they would be snatched up right away over on the earlyS. 914 guys are a little different just need to find the right guy that knows what these are.

Mike Fitton

I've never asked for a "gift" payment however I don't mind if making a purchase the seller requests it. One might not be protected as well as a buyer if making a "gift" payment, it's a choice to make or not make.

Nice knobs and I could imagine the pain to properly fixture those. Nice work, but I like my leather wrapped Momo shifter

I always send and buy with "friends and family."

I must be too trusting…..?

If you have too many friends and family payments Paypal can shut down your account. They don't like getting cheated out of their cut.
Most people don't realize when you send payment as F & F your address is not included as there is not reason to as you are just sending money and not buying stuff. .
I never ask for F & F payments. I get many and buyers who do will include a note about the parts they are paying for or ad the shipping address.

Just look at the Title of your ad: "Original NLA 901 Bakelite shift knobs, perfect original condition.

Seems misleading to me. The note about switching out the clear tops and shift pattern from dansk was added much later. Maybe moderator can confirm when the ad was edited, the title and then the note of the switch makes no sense.

Dave this is a hobby for me I have nothing but very satisfied customers I am a very honest seller.

"Gouge your friends"? Some of the people I have sold items to I would consider friends but most of my buyers are just the general public on here, PP and earlyS. The market dictates the price, if the price is too high it won't sell "pretty simple concept".
I have paid through friends and family also but only people I have done business with in the past, first time transaction with a seller and they ask for F&F payment to me is a red flag and leaves you with no recourse if you are not happy with the item because it was misrepresented!

Hey Bruce, Any idea about how many is too many? I seem to have a good mixture of both types of payments and I have not sold very much, maybe the Paypal police will not notice...

I always leave my name and address with a friends and family payment.

Mike, you're sort of correct. . and for others who are interested. . As Mike said this is a hobby for me as well as for the majority of the members of this site. . What upset me was the insinuation I was trying to deceive. .So much for my good intentions as you read this.

This all started with me needing a good original shift knob with a clear button for myself. It seems they sell for around $200 or more when you can find one. Mike had just sold one on the 911S site for $185. .

I originally came up with the idea of changing the crazed buttons for one from the new Dansk one after buying a "New" Dansk version. It was obvious the black plastic Dansk body was definitely incorrect but the button looked real to me. . . . . Being a resourceful person, I thought if I could replace the button on an otherwise perfect old Bakelite knob with a new button, that would solve the problem for my own cars.

And here's a tip for anyone wanting to change a button themselves. . Since they are glued into the knob, simply prying one out won't usually work. . .I found the glue can pull off the chrome on the bottom of the button if you force them out, and the chrome on the sides will chip / distort if you insert a tool to pry. .The last picture posted in the ad shows what can happen to the chrome trim even when being very careful. Therefore, the big question was how to cut / machine the knob away from the Dansk button without touching the button

I then set out to figure out how to precisely fixture, remove and replace one. . Interestingly, and if you've use a lathe before, the hard, round outside of the original knobs make them impossible to hold in a chuck and spin accurately, and gripping them with the required pressure dents/cracks the Bakelite. . I spent a full day making an expanding arbor / spindle to insert inside the knobs, and ruined 2 original knobs testing the spindle for accuracy.

I had bought 8 old knobs from camp914 on April 6th for my project. . After I finally got the process correct and 2 made for myself, I had some remaining knobs from Craig so I bought more of the Dansk items just for the buttons, and ended up with 5 perfect ones and 2 with a flake in the chrome as pictured. . Considering the costs involved I had about $60 in each knob and the time to machine the fixtures and knobs, right at 2 hours each, plus shipping and insurance to any buyers. This certainly wasn't a money making idea, just one to resolve the problem of a knob with a crazed button. . All together I had 3 days in the machine shop making these.

At that time I didn't realize myself that there was the difference on the number "5". .It looked correct to me like an 1970's one. . Apparently Mike also didn't first notice any difference either at first glance. I posted the ad on 5-30 at 7:58 PST, and Mike responded the next morning first thing at 6:49am and was the first contact I had from anyone. .

As I remember, after the deal with Mike F. fell through, I read about the digit "5" variance on an internet chat somewhere a little later in time. . I added the Note to my FS ad immediately when I realized there was a difference. . Up until that point I 'assumed' the Dansk button was an OE identical copy.

At that time I had not sold any of these here, and posted the Note to clarify they buttons when I became aware of a difference.. .
As of now, I still have not sold any here since first posting. What happened is I just posted a FS yesterday on the 911S site and Mike responded in kind to that over there as well as stirring up the shit over here. . . No message to me first, just the rant. . . .

So there is the history of how this all occurred. . I did put one on the 914-6 I just sold and one on my own car. . sort of makes me sorry as I just tried to offer my few extras to other owners. And at the $125 shipped price I listed them for, it was only to recovered some of my materials, machine shop costs and time.

Added Note= to address the request for a Friends and Family Paypay transaction. . this wasn't out first transaction or communication. .

Mikes claim now is I was someone he never did business with before. . . Quote Originally Posted by mfitton View Post
I have paid through friends and family also but only people I have done business with in the past, first time transaction with a seller and they ask for F&F payment to me is a red flag .

Once again, not the entire facts. . I've bought from Mike before and he sent me emails about the S motor i had for sale. . emails going back over the past 8 months. . .
As documented below, I even paid him a little more than he requested in the following transaction. . .
And the lens he sent were indeed exactly as he said and it was a good experience. . we communicated more about the correct 914-6 hold down bolt. . That might jog his memory a bit/ so I wasn't a new guy on the site, or a first time communicator deserving of mistrust.

I'll ask once again, How about dropping this rant, here as well as the 911S site. . .

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nov 4th 2015
re: I purchased a pair of USA tail Lens.

QUOTE
MIke will you take 250 shipped to Calif
Dave Toolguy
=========
I will do that but if using PayPal add $8 so $258. My PayPal is mike@excelgrafx.com

Be sure shipping info is included, these are really nice lenses!!
Mike
=========
Fair enough/ / I'll make it $260
You don't happen to have a spare tire hold down plate and bolt , do you ??
Dave


I have some plates and bolts I will take a look, is this for a 914-6 with a Fuch's spare?

Yes it is, but I think it's the same for all rims/ / If not, you'll teach me something. .
I will take the rear lens for sure. . let me know about the hold down and I'll pay for it all at once. .
I also am looking for a set of USA front turn lens in xlnt condition. .if you have a set, shoot me a price for them also.
Dave
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I would like one of the 125's.

Tobin Bogard
21391 Fleet Lane
Huntington Beach , Ca , 91264.

I'm out of town. Can we do the transaction Friday? Tobin

Tobin. . Thank you for the interest. .

And to prove a point, it's yours is for free.

I sent you a PM to confirm shipping.
Please respond and I'll get this out as soon as I get a reply.
Dave

Tobin,
Update. . Has been mailed. . I sent you a PM with the tracking info

In addition to the Dansk & other repro knobs, Porsche also sells their own new production ones at dealers & on their Classic section of the Porsche website - it's the same 901 5-spd knob as for 911/912 of that era late-60's - early/mid-70's.

As Dave said, the new Porsche sold knobs are made of a plastic body (since Bakelite isn't used anymore AFAIK), & they look correct. IIRC they're going for about $175-200 from dealers/Porsche, although Sunrise (or Suncoast?) Porsche & Sunset Porsche generally offer a better discount at their online parts shops.

IMHO what Dave is doing is to refurbush the NLA/NOS knobs with a new clear & uncracked plastic button (IIRC the originals were clear plastic as well), for an authentic OE shift knob to pass Concours muster - which many never used NLAs won't do due to the cracking/crazing of the clear plastic button due to aging.

So if you can find a perfect NOS Bakelite knob & that's what you want, then go for it.

Otherwise, use a nice refurb (yourself or by Dave/others), or the current Porsche production one for CdE as well.

If yours is a DD or fun car, then use any old knob you want - repro, period correct AMCO, the new billet aluminum repros, etc.

All will pass our Zone 8 concours judging muster where originality is not judged - so long as they're mounted properly, clean & perfectly detailed (& probably at Parade as well).

For myself, I'll be mostly using a nice NOS/refurbed AMCO leather wrapped with Porsche crest knob (1970's Porsche authorized & sold by dealers), which was on my car when I bought it in late `75 & which the OO got it from the dealer when new (I already know the shift pattern ) - & may keep an original new or NOS one on hand if I ever go to Parade, where originality can come into play - depending on the judges & if there were a challenge. I just prefer the crest look, & leather feel on the knobs, but that's me.

Cheers!
Tom
///////

Just out of curiosity, I understand that you can wet sand the crystal and the knob. Much easier and correct. Supposedly most of the crazing is on the surface, and then they are correct, and 100% oem.

I've done that. It works up to a point. It will fix the lightly damaged ones. Won't fix them all. Same with the knob itself. Scotty b did a write up on one and the red heater knob. I went out and bought a $40 harbor freight bench polisher. Makes them look like new. Also does a great job on the ss side mirror and a ton of other things.

Very helpful Tom. Thank you. Mine isn't ad DD but I do like very nice old things as we all do. I am essentially upgrading to his and if I run across something else better NOS ect...I wold probably upgrade again. I have a quick shift kit and i like the og knob look and feel as well. Mine just looks terrible.