Quote:
Originally Posted by Robwe46m3
I still don't understand how you remove the Plastic M shift pattern from the top of the ZHP? can you explain?
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I just did that
. Punched the middle, drilled a hole, and threaded a screw to yank it out, but it cracked first. I suggest that method, as it causes zero damage to the sides of your knob.
I have another suggestion: when drilling the hole at the bottom for the wires, rather than drilling at the 6 o'clock position as shown on Metak's pic (post #29), I'm going to drill between tabs, which is about the 5 o'clock position. I'll save about 1/2" of drilling, plus should be easier to start. And most importantly, the tabs will retain their full strength to avoid any rattling.
I'm also going to remove as little material as possible from the ZHP so will work on thinning the 'ring' first, and go from there. Need to finish removing the stock lighting, which is not being easy
. Good day.
EDIT: I'm done. Looks OEM, as no wires were spliced/cut. I also didn't have to remove any metal; only metal encountered was when drilling the wire hole. Most of the middle protrusion needs to be removed, so you know. And I cut early the 2 glue 'extensions' at 12 and 6 o'clock positions to avoid any possible damage to the leather, which I further protected with masking tape. And no, absolutely no need for a drill press or vice, even with less than stellar pulse when doing the above
. Oh, and the final size for the wire hole was 9/64". I just had to cut the transparent 'sleeve' to feed one wire at a time (once removed from the connector, that is). And finally built up the area where the boot attaches right below the knob with electrical tape rolled backwards (cut a long piece and rolled it on its sticky side to make a sticky 'pipe') just a little smaller than the knob's ring, and with the leather thickness ended up being perfect. And I also cut 2 opposite 'squares' to hide the small ziptie heads (needed 2 to reach all around) installed backwards so the boot looks perfectly round around the ring (no ziptie heads sticking out the leather). Leather didn't wrinkle at all below the ring since the new base was the same diameter as the opening. Looks 100% OEM, just like I wanted: lighting is identical to stock knob (I sank the LED board a bit lower than flush, since flush lighting looked 'localized', but 2mm were enough), no light 'leaks' at all, leather looks to be coming out of the ring, and I left the boot the smallest size possible without causing stress when in 6th. It was my toughest knob job, but am glad I went for it. Now it's time for a test drive. Hope this helps.