Restoring your Vintage Ford 4-speed gear stick knobs is a fairly simple project. To make the job easier, you’ll need a power drill, 1/2-20 tap, several grits of sandpaper, rubbing compound. Other supplies you will need are Armor All, Mink Oil, and White Appliance Touch-Up Paint.
To get started you will need to check the condition of the knob, some of these knobs are old and have taken some abuse over the years and sadly some are not resettable. What you want to look for on the knob is the shift pattern, determine if the shift pattern numbers and lines are in good shape with deep stamped numbers and lines. If they don’t look right, it will be hard to get a clean look when you finish the project because you have to lightly sand the knob to get a fresh look and if you go over the line in the sanding process, you sand them down.
Once you’ve determined you have a good restorable knob, clean it with carburetor cleaner and wire brush the paint on the shift pattern and numbers. Install the knob on the 1/2-20 faucet and insert the faucet into the drill press. Turn on the drill press and start with 100 grit sandpaper first, if you have a Mustang or Galaxie shifter with a dished top start sanding the sides of the knob first. Sand down any chips or scratches, then move on to a finer grit sandpaper like 150 fine and finish with a fine crocus paper. Do the same for the concave area but start with 150 thin paper using your finger to apply pressure. Be careful not to go overboard, take your time to smooth it out. Also while sanding the paper can get hot so be careful, I don’t recommend wearing gloves because they can get caught in the drill bit.
After sanding check the knob, make sure there are no chips or scratches, if so leave it in the drill press and use some rubbing compound to smooth it out even more. I use three types of compounds, the first is a heavy duty cleaner and then a polishing compound and I finish with a clear plastic cleaner and buff and finally buff with a clean rag. Each compound may need to be applied for a couple of minutes to achieve a smooth, clean appearance. Be careful in this process with the rags as they can get caught in the drill press.
Clean the knob, take a small dental type tool to remove the rubbing compound from the shift pattern and you are ready to paint the pattern and numbers. Use white appliance touch-up paint to paint the gear pattern and numbers. You don’t have to paint just the pattern and numbers, it’s easier to apply the paint on the face of the pattern. Allow to dry and spray with a carburetor cleaner paper towel and wipe the top of the knob until any additional paint is removed and the shift pattern and numbers are clean and white.
Paint can stain the knob, so just clean it with carburetor cleaner. Then take Armor All spray some on a paper towel and wipe it on the goatee to bring out the black color. The last step is to apply a bit of peppermint oil and rub your goatee to bring out the shine. If all goes well, you’ll have a beautifully restored goatee in about 15 to 30 minutes. I have done many of these restorations for resale and they have turned out very well. What I think makes it easy to do is the material of the knobs, which is bakelite. You can sand this stuff down and leave the knobs pretty clean and looking good.
This process works well with Ford shift knobs for 1964 1/2 -66 small concave for Mustangs and 1962-67 Galaxie and early Falcons and Fairlanes etc. and the standard 1967-68 and ’69 Mustang interior. All other knobs, like the wood grain for a deluxe interior Mustang, are not good to restore if you have a good original, keep it, or get a good quality reproduction.
