New VT 5 spd gear knob installation

[THE_DUDE_]

Hi, I've bought a new genuine 5 speed gear knob from ebay to fit to my VT as the old one was broken from not knowing how to remove it properly. When I tried to fit it it won't slide onto the shifter, the hole at the base of the knob is too narrow compared to the original one. Does anyone know what to do to make it fit? I can supply pics of the old and new knob if necessary.

[cander24]

Yeah i've seen that happen before, but it was with an aftermarket getrag shifter assembly. How much too small is the hole? Won't go on with a little persuasion? Can you enlarge the hole a fraction?
If all else fails PM me as I have the original getrag 5spd knob from mine for sale.
Cheers

[spauldj308]

The plastic insert has come out of the centre of the old knob, it's what happened with mine. Clamp down on it with some multigrips, and reef it upwards. It should come off.

[THE_DUDE_]

Well, I've got a billet short shifter in the car, It's designed to take the factory knob so I can't see why a new one wouldn't fit, I tried being persuasive but unless something's designed to stretch there's too big a size difference. I don't know where the original shifter is but I inspected it when i first had it removed for the new one and there weren't any plastic bits on it or new shifter now.

[cander24]

Same scenario as me when I tried to fit a new one to my billet shifter. Seems the billet shifter shaft is actually a little thicker than stock and the newer knobs (which according to holden part no from memory are vt-vy) are a fraction smaller. The two combined together = no go. Never measured to confirm though.

[THE_DUDE_]

I got my mechanic to put on the new gear knob and they got it on without any hassles, on inspection of the old parts I found the gear knob had an inner plastic sleeve that i wasn't aware of. this would explain the hole size differences.

When i removed the old knob, the sleeve stayed on the shifter which is what caused all the trouble.

[spauldj308]

Like I said.