Transmission, Automatic

Auto Shifter Handle Repair

Auto Shifter Handle Repair

When I got my 928, the shifter handle was a little bit loose, and the leather a little worn looking. I was not going to pay an over inflated price for a replacement handle that would probably end up breaking in the same way again, so I decided to repair the one I had. The leather cover was removed from the plastic handle. The plastic handle is two pieces that have been glued together. I carefully split the handle into it's two halves with a sturdy utility knife. Next I got a metal tube that was a slip fit over the shifter shaft in the car that the handle screws to. The plastic hole in the two halves of the shifter handle were was enlarged so that the metal tube would fit in there with the two halves positioned back together. A hole was drilled near the end of the metal tube for the screws that hold on the handle to pass through. The tube was glued into one half of the plastic handle with a good epoxy, and the two plastic halves were glued back together with the epoxy. Epoxy was then used to rebuild the area of the handle where the plastic had broken away. The entire recessed hole where the screw heads fit into was filled with the epoxy as well. When the epoxy had all hardened, holes for the attaching screws were countersunk for flat head screws, instead of the pan head screws originally holding on the handle. I got a scrap piece of leather from an upholstery place for free. The leather was cut using the old piece as a template, allowing a little bit for stretching. The repaired handle was covered with the new leather piece, and reinstalled into the car with flat head screws. The handle now looks absolutely like new, is so solid that it feels like it's been welded on, and will never loosen or break again. Total cost: about $3.00 for the epoxy and two flat head screws.

Mike Schmidt
'88 928S4 Black/Black "PORSCHE" cloth
928 Owners Club Charter Member
PCA Chicago Region

928 Tips Home     Greg's Home