My first attempt at restoring a 70’s - 80’s SR5 shift knob. Originally, the knob was a textured rubber with a stitching impression pressed into the mold. I recovered with a high quality leatherette and did my best to restore a cracked crystal. It was worth the effort and I’m very pleased with the results. Looking forward to restoring one with a crystal that’s in better condition. Yes, I’ll be selling on eBay, but won’t be cheap.

Enjoy!



Starting with a trashed knob

Rubber dried-out and cracking

Emerald Green shift crest. IMO one of Toyota’s best looking

Had to carefully pry off the crest from the knob without further damaging the crest

Crest in really bad shape

Scrubbed clean with a little epoxy added to hold the fracture together

Very tedious job with dental picks removing all the old paint. The emerald green was tough to remove

Hand stitching the cover to the knob. After several trials I got the pattern tight enough for a good stretch fit. Add a little rubber cement for good measure.

Finished stitching and positioning the leatherette

Silver inlay

Red reverse

Emerald Green paint is a perfect match for the original color. Crack adds a little character

Black Leatherette

Black Leatherette

Grey Leatherette

Grey Leatherette

 

Unfortunately, the paint on the underside of the crystal kept delaminating when gluing it to the knob. Here’s the same knob with a reproduction domed shift decal.

 

The shift knob looks great!

 

My personal favorite. It’s also in my truck.