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Quote:
(this is HH's quote from another thread)

I'm back at this exciting job of re-attaching the window crank knob on my '54 Clipper. The end that is giving trouble is the "shaped head" of the pin (or shaft) that is pressed through the hole in the crank handle. Looking at the pin, I noticed it was the tiniest bit flanged or mushroomed on the end (I presume this is what HH meant by "shaped"). This tiny flange is supposed to hold it from backing out of the hole on the handle once the knob is "snapped" in, probably past another little flange in the plastic hole.

I believe that as the knobs are turned, they constantly wear on whatever plastic flange is on the inside of the hole on the crank handle.

I thought everything was fixable on a Packard, but this one has me stumped. Where is the little jeweled needle bearing one would expect in a Packard?

Big problem: the end of the pin, or shaft, only goes in until it is flush with the back side of the hole. No way to crimp something onto it to hold it in from behind.

I tried making the "shaped" end of the pin or shaft a bit bigger, by filing flat across the end to create a burr. It held somewhat but not good enough.

This must be a common problem with these window crank knobs. For example, the passenger side on mine is the one that came off. The drivers side is loose. The two back ones are perfect. Apparently, Mom liked the window open just a little more than Dad did, or was in more of a hurry to get it up and down! Either there weren't any kids or they weren't allowed to mess with Dad's windows.

If I had a drill press, I'd be tempted to drill a small, short hole in the middle of the end of the pin (shaft) and tap it for a small threaded fastener. A small hex-head bolt would bottom in the hole just a tiny bit short of tightening the head on the shaft.

Once the knob was secured by the bolt, it would still rotate inside the plastic like it should. The bolt head would need good clearance from the upholstery so it wouldn't leave marks (which I suppose is why they went with the flush-fitting shaft in the first place).

That's the only idea I've come up with since a whole afternoon shot on things that didn't work.

This is an example of a small detail that's readily noticed by anybody who sits in the car, but is a bear to fix. Any help would be appreciated.

I don't have a handle exactly like yours but suspect the 47 may be of the same construction with a different shaped knob. Taking an old damaged one apart, the shaft appears to be a one piece item with a knurled section in the plastic and another smooth section in the handle. The shaft has a flat section which would in effect be a washer on the knob side -- goes thru the hole in handle and then the handle end of shaft peened or riveted over. The knurled section is .220 and then gets slightly smaller -- maybe .187 although I could not measure it without taking the shaft all the way out.

No idea how plentiful handles would be in your color but am sure used ones are out there.

If that is not feasible, a possibility on yours is to remove the knob and then take the shaft out and see if you could enlarge the hole in the handle and knob. Along the lines you mention, use a slightly larger shaft made from a screw. It would take some experimenting to get everything just right and to fit in the knob. Another option might be to get the prewar shaft piece from Yesterdays Radio and see if you can add a bushing to repair the slop or whatever is needed to adapt the shaft to your handle. It looks as if the shaft would need to be shortened slightly and it probably would glue into the knob with epoxy rather than have the molded or knurled attachment. If you went with a screw, glue would probably need to happen there too. Looking at the premade shaft, I wonder if a threaded round standoff from McMaster and an ordinary screw could be made to work.

Borrowing a snip from Yesterday's Radio catalog you can see he has new knobs and what the shaft looks like. If you are careful you can probably remove the shaft from yours and reuse the knob. I heated the shaft rivet head ONLY with direct heat from a very small butane torch. Once the shaft was heated, plastic softened slightly & I could pull the knob off. I think it would go back on the same way with no difficulty.

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Thanks HH,

If I have to go to a new knob, that one in the pic looks just like it. There's nothing wrong with the knob or shaft that I can see, though. As far as I can see, the little shaft is probably heat set into the plastic knob. I imagine the knob will break if I try much fiddling with it. I'd rather find a way to re-set the existing shaft by drilling a little hole in the end of the shaft. I like your idea of using glue. That way, I wouldn't need a perfect fit for the new piece.

This will be a delicate operation, but I think it's less prone to screwups on my part than most other things I can think of.

Quote:

Expect it is heat set as was the 47 knob. As mentioned, I heated the rivet end of shaft with a small torch which got the shaft just warm enough that it pulled out without too much drama or anything breaking. The shaft part thru the handle looks fairly small -- 3/16 or so. It might be a challenge to drill straight but maybe an option.

Quote:

HH,

The "rivet end" you mentioned gives me a clue. There is no rivet at the end of the shaft on the knob that fell off, but there is a little depression in the metal that looks like a rivet could have been in there.

Here is what I did:

Cut off the head of a wood screw that was just a little bit wider diameter than the shaft. Epoxied the flat head of the screw to the end of the shaft. Now I have a tapered end to push through the hole on the crank handle, and a wide spot to keep it from coming back out. I think that the original setup for these knobs was that they were a "press-in" fit, like I hope I have now.

I still haven't had the guts to try it (might break something in the handle when I "press" it in). If I feel too much resistance, I'll grind off a little bit of the screw head and try again. Painstaking, but if it works, I save myself from getting a new knob and maybe the handle too.

The beauty part of it is, if it works, I don't have to mess around trying to glue something on when the knob/shaft is in position.

The bad part is farting around with something this small, and yet important to the impression the car gives. It really slows you down.

I'll see if I have enough charge in the camera to take a pic of how I "modified" the shaft, but I won't post it until I see if it works. No use showing something that turns out to be the wrong way to do it.

Thanks for your reply on this nagging, little, maddening problem.