Kinda O/T, but someone here will know........

EMSjunkie · March 12, 2006, 01:02:28 AM

Some of ya'all have figured out by now, I'm a little "different"

I want to use a number 4 billiard ball as a shifter knob.

alot of folks have used 8 balls and cue balls, but since the coupe is gonna be purple, and a 4 ball is purple...........so I "acquired" one today, and I need to drill and tap it to fit my shifter lever.

my question is.........what are they made of? :?

can they be drilled and tapped?
not a big hole, about 1/4" dia. and about 1/2 to 3/4" deep

Thanks

Vance

EMSjunkie · March 12, 2006, 01:19:42 AM

OK, I went a did a google search for billaird ball.

found out its phenolic resin.

should be able to drill and tap it, right. :?

would you suggest a threaded insert instead of just tapping the " phenolic resin".

Vance

unklian · March 12, 2006, 02:19:39 AM

For a coarse thread,I would just tap the resin.No problem.

For a fine thread,I might consider an insert,
but would probably just tap it anyway.

I could always epoxy an insert in later if I had to.

phat46 · March 12, 2006, 09:11:59 AM

I did an "8" ball last year for my truck project. It is some kind of plastic, drills very easily, and taps easy too. Don't drill it too big for the size of thread you need, I drilled one a little under the recomended drill size for the thread i needed; it will strip out pretty easily....don't ask how I know....

Jokester · March 12, 2006, 06:15:06 PM

I've got a 15 ball in mine, I found it in my back yard. I went to the hardware store and bought a long nut of the correct thread. I think it's a 7/16" nut about an inch long. I drilled the ball slightly larger than the hex size of the nut. Then I used a file and an Xacto knife to cut the hex into the ball. The nut fit kinda loose, but no problem. I JB Welded it in place and it's pretty solid.

.bjb

Crosley.In.AZ · March 12, 2006, 06:18:41 PM

I drilled and tapped an eight ball ( no insert) for a 67 F-100 truck years ago.

The guy took it off in less than an hour.... "he did not like it"

Fat Cat · March 12, 2006, 11:56:01 PM

Wished I would have known you were looking for one

I have a few left from a rack of billiard balls that I bought at auction and sold of some of them on the HAMB.

I kept the 3 ball for myself because it is green

Dirk35 · March 13, 2006, 09:23:48 AM

In about 1989, I put a 8 ball on my old 76 F100. It had a press on style knob. I just drilled and epoxied it. It is still on there today. Its sun weathered, and the truck was rolled by my sister and taken to the scrap yard, but last I seen it, it was still on there.