I made this DIY shifter badge

[0l0id]

Greetings Comrades!

Thought I'd share a recent DIY project which served two purposes for me:

• helping procrastinate planning the technical drawing class that I teach.
• putting a shift pattern back onto my gear lever!

Backstory: My recently bought Golf TDI came without a shifter badge. Which is no big deal except it looked incomplete without it. Ordering a 6-speed one from ebay turned out costly and would take a long time to ship. So I took matters into my own hands. Definitely not a factory level job but for DIY I think it's pretty decent:

1. Measured the arclength of the shifter cap, and modeled one in Rhino. The arc length is estimated. It just has to be steeper than that of the silver insert, so it can sit on top of it.
2. 3D printed it using an Ender 3 printer.
3. Coated with PLA gloss epoxy
4. Spray painted with gloss black primer/paint combo from Home Depot
5. filled in the lines and numbers with white gel pen from Daiso.

et Voila:

SHIFTER CAP - 3D MODELED IN RHINO

• 0l0id
• Mar 12, 2024

Just realized the screenshot here is old - the curvature of this needs to be Muuuuuuch steeper to clear the bulge of the shifter insert...

SHIFTER CAP - 3D PRINTED

• 0l0id
• Mar 12, 2024

SHIFTER CAP AND THE SHIFTER INSERT

• 0l0id
• Mar 12, 2024

SHIFTER CAP - COVERED WITH GLOSS EPOXY

• 0l0id
• Mar 12, 2024

SHIFTER CAP - PAINTED AND LINES FILLED IN

• 0l0id
• Mar 12, 2024

SHIFTER CAP - INSTALLED IN PLACE

• 0l0id
• Mar 12, 2024

 

[0l0id]

Side note: a friend not far away has a resin 3d printer which does a much much cleaner job. He is taking a crack in printing one for me, which I will hopefully post here soon

 

[T1MMBOJONES]

impressive!

 

[hskrdu]

Thanks for sharing! I've wanted to turn a 20th AE shift badge into a 20th AE TDI shift badge for years. The distillation of 3D printing might make it possible.

 

[0l0id]

Thanks for sharing! I've wanted to turn a 20th AE shift badge into a 20th AE TDI shift badge for years. The distillation of 3D printing might make it possible.

@hskrdu, great idea - I actually didn't think of the 20th AE shift knob - it looks really cool. That's the one with little craters all around right?
maybe I should swap mine out altogether for that one haha...

Also, your avatar has horizontal red stripes on the I of the TDI - curious was that a special edition or did you paint it? My 'I' is kind of a faded blue...

 

[hskrdu]

The 20th AE GTI received a brushed aluminum and leather shifter with dimpled golf ball knob, in continuation of the long-running tradition of GTI "golf ball" shifters. The 20th AE version was also a little different (in the Mk4 era) because it was a 6 speed, although there is a similar version with a 5 speed pattern. The Mk7 GTI shifter is very similar, but other versions have been less fussy. The 20th AE version has the bright red "GTI" in the shifter badge, which doesn't quite fit for cars badged either TDI or GTD or something else. The cap can be popped out, but recreating a perfect version with the proper diesel representation requires a 3D printer or other tools, along the lines of your project. You could certainly replace yours with a 20th AE version, but they are a little pricey when in good condition.



The "I" in that avatar is military rank insignia. The bar is chromed metal with red inlays, and almost perfectly matches the sizing of the OE VW Mk4 letters. When Fred changed software here I updated my avatar using rank insignia and spare letters from badging projects (the badges on my car are serif letters). If your badges are faded, you can replace with new (many are on ebay and available from the European market, or from the local dealer / salvage yard), or you can use vinyl inlays.

For anyone interested, here's an article about Gunhild Liljequist, who selected the tartan GTI interiors and suggested the golf ball shift knob. I think the type 2 already had some tartan, but I guess VW wanted the GTI to be more subdued but she insisted.

This Is The Woman Who Gave Us The Volkswagen GTI's Golf Ball Shifter And Plaid Seats

Some of the most distinguishing things about the Volkswagen Golf GTI are the plaid seats and the golf ball-style shifter. They’re iconic touches to an iconic hot hatchback, and they were the ideas from one Gunhild Liljequist, an interior designer who worked at Volkswagen for some 30 years.

jalopnik.com

 

[MrCypherr]

I would love the Mk4 20th GTI Shifter in my car. Its one of my favorites, But I know those are threaded I believe and wouldnt really fit.

 

[hskrdu]

It's been a long time since I installed, but I don't think it was threaded. From memory, it just used the small metal pinch ring like other Mk4's. I'll try to check my old pictures.

 

[MrCypherr]

If its clamped on like the rest of them newer cars, then having a shifter like that, that says TDI would be cool.

 

[hskrdu]

Yes- I really like that version shift boot and knob, but wish it matched my badging. I think the UK had an anniversary GTD, but I can't find any pictures of a special shifter.

 

[J_dude]

If its clamped on like the rest of them newer cars, then having a shifter like that, that says TDI would be cool.

Even if it's threaded, it's easy enough to thread the MKIV shifter rods.