Yes, There is a God!

[pabster]

Hey Bru, post a pic of this knob- I don't know RRs at all and I'm curious to see what you worked so hard to get.

Congrats- every time you use that knob, you'll remember all the work it took to get it there.

 

[Bruzilla]

Here you go. The knob is at the end of the switch post.

 

[bigredbird]

@pabster: front view, installed.

 

[pabster]

Damn, that rallye dash is nice. And yeah, the knobs are styley as hell. Well done. For those of us who have the standard dash, the only thing I like about it is the horizontal speedo that you can bury at extreme speed, and on mine there's a spot where the clock would go, but they didn't opt for it so it looks like crosshairs for the front machine guns.

 

[bigredbird]

on mine there's a spot where the clock would go, but they didn't opt for it so it looks like crosshairs for the front machine guns.

Your Mopar came with those, too? I thought that was supposed to be a rare option. :grin:

 

[super-bee_ski]

I bet there was some kind of factory defect on those.

We had about 50 97-ish Astro/Safari vans in our fleet at work, and the heater knobs (there were three of them) all broke off of almost every van within a year.

Now I see that specific replacement knob in the "Help" section!

The part that goes on the shaft had a slot, and a spring clip that kept the plastic tight to the metal shaft. All of them broke or cracked opposite the slot, basically removing 1/2 of the "socket" for the shaft.

I had a wicked-fast 1992 Eagle Talon TSI TURBO, Fully loaded.
Wonderful car, very very responsive and FAST.
BUT: I would continously have to replace the "clip" on the drivers side sun visor. It would always "snap" allowing the sun shade visor to droop.
Yeah, it's the "little things" that are the most annoying!
"Super-bee_ski"

 

[Bruzilla]

I talked to Ronda last night, and she knows some folks who can do molds to make replacements of these knobs. She brought up a good point though. Chrysler apparently wanted to save .002 cents or so per knob by making them hollow, so you have an outer knob with a center that's hollow except for the center stem with the hole for the switch staff. And as we all know with rotary knobs, people usually don't just turn them as much as they need to, and instead turn them as far as they will go, which stresses the plastic stem until it finally breaks, the knob falls off, rolls under the seat, and eventually gets sucked out by the vacuum at the car wash... never to be seen again.

So her idea was to make a solid replacement that would look identical from the outside, but would be solid inside and indistinguishable from the original unless you pulled it off the switch and looked at the back. Best of all it would be pretty much indestructible. I thought that was a pretty good idea.

 

[YY1]

Sign me up for at least three (price point considering).

Hardest part might be the blue/green inlay.

Might cost as much to do that as it does for the whole rest of the knob.

 

[Bruzilla]

In keeping with my Pittsburgh sports thing, I'm painting the entire inlay chrome yellow, so it's easier for me.

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

I have a small stash of used rallye dash wiper knobs, I’d be willing to part with some. Drop me a line if you need one.

 

[khaley71]

Wow didnt know the wiper knobs where so hard to find.

 

[Bruzilla]

If you get bored some night, search ebay for rallye clusters. There's usually seven or so for sale at any time, and most of them will have a headlight switch and knob, but it's super rare to find one with a wiper switch and hardly ever with the wiper knob.

 

[Jake]

Tonight when I get home, there will be a box in my mailbox. And inside that box will be the rarest of Roadrunner parts... the windshield wiper knob for a rallye dash! It only took me eight months to get one, but I finally got one.

LOL, I know that feeling. I felt that way after finding the roof trim piece for the 3/4 vinyl top on my 71', that didn't look like it had been used in a sword fight. It only took about nine years or so

And don't ask about finding the plastic fasteners used to put it on....:confused5:

 

[71ChallengerSE]

I didn't know they were so hard to find both my rallye dash cars have them including the SSP I got for free, I guess I'll pull one off and make a mold of it now just in case i brake one.

 

[Bruzilla]

That's why I'm not bothering to put mine on. I know its just gonna break. I'll wait until I get a new and improved one.

 

[YY1]

Our local Adult/Vo-Tech school just got a new ABS plasic "printer" style prototyping machine.
I know the instructor, and the administration.

If I can get a good one, I'll see what they think it will cost to reproduce, and maybe I'll seed the project and offer 1/2 the profit as a donation if it works out.

 

[bigredbird]

That's why I'm not bothering to put mine on. I know its just gonna break. I'll wait until I get a new and improved one.

I'm just never gonna take my car out in the rain. That way, no need to ever use the wipers or touch the holy relic. :notworthy:

 

[Bruzilla]

Our local Adult/Vo-Tech school just got a new ABS plasic "printer" style prototyping machine.
I know the instructor, and the administration.

If I can get a good one, I'll see what they think it will cost to reproduce, and maybe I'll seed the project and offer 1/2 the profit as a donation if it works out.

I looked at one of those printers for another project I was looking at doing. They are great for doing one or two prototypes to verify dimensions, fit, etc., but suck for production. They take a long time to make even a small item, you have to have a CAD file to tell the printer what to make, etc.

I'm going to go with a solid knob, which should be easy to produce in numbers and will last pretty much forever. My sister-in-law also mentioned she could get them made in pewter, which would look pretty cool.