I jsut bought an auto shift plate on ebay for about $40 which is great considering everyime I see one it's atleast double that. It's not perfect, but I thought I would fix it up and post pics.

Has anybody else done this?

 

Here is what it more or less looked like when I got it. These pics are after I just washed it off a little.

 

For the plastic with the letters (PRDD21), I went to a local sign shop, made a file in MS Word that resembled the lettering, and had them print it on transperant film reversed, and it turned out great.

 

I'm going to try to use the original pieces as much as I can. I could leave it as it is, but I just need something to keep me a little busy when I can't work on the car.

 

Any ideas on how to fix the yellow strip part? It's faded to white where the letters are.

Here's a pic:

 

I think I lightly sanded mine to scuff it a tad, cleaned with brake cleaner (doesn't leave residue behind), and very lightly sprayed with a yellow Testors paint very close to same color. I also used red and redid the red block for Park as well. I THINK anyway - it's been several years and my memory isn't what it used to be (unless the wife is involved, then as far as she is told I remember everything!).

 

Looks like the clear part with black background is fixable - I'd get some black film and just tape it to the underside where it's gotten worn (at the upper and lower edges). Mine was scratched real bad through the letters, and thus why I had the sign shop print me a new piece to install there.

 

I fixed the black part by painting it with black pain on the back. It looks perfect now! Ills see if I can find some paint to match the yellow.

Here's a pic:

 

I need to post my 92 auto shift plate, it is 98%, just did an T56 swap.
also have vats box and know the key code. 92 305 PCM, 93 Vet PCM and 92 air bag computer.

 

Nice work! I've got one that looks about like your before pic and was thinking of doing the same thing you did. Was taking it apart difficult at all, or just a careful X-acto knife deal?

 

It's pretty easy to take apart, just be careful. The whiteish part the holds the light and "sliders" is glued to the actual black shift plate. I just used a flat head screw driver and carefully pried at it until it snapped off.

 

Cool, thanks

 

No problem!

I painted the yellow slider with some yellow pain mixed with white to make it a little lighter. Then I used some normal red for the indicator part. It looks great once installed! Is there anyway to make the bulb light up without installing it in the car to see how well it shines through? I tried using a battery but i didn't work.

Here are a couple pics:

 

Nice work so far. Someone needs to come up with an AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE fix.

 

Yeah, I wish I could fix that too but I have no clue how that could be done.

 

Nah, it's a completely new idea.

https://www.thirdgen.org/shiftindicator

I would tend to think you could fix the rubbed off lettering on various parts of the car with white (or yellow) rub on Letraset lettering. The hard part would be matching the size and font, and the end result probably wouldn't be as durable as the original screen printed lettering. The best tip is to not scrub any lettered parts while cleaning, and avoiding touching the lettering whenever possible, to prevent the wear in the first place.

 

Alright? Well I asked about redoing the whole thing not just the scratched letters.

I already knew about that though, thanks.

 

Something else I did... I did not like the cover piece that slides with the shifter - those little channels collect alot of dust that's hard to clean. I went to art supply store and bought a $10 black plastic portfolio, and I cut a strip out of it, drilled a hole for the shifter, and installed it with small machine bolts/nuts so that I had a smooth sliding shifter cover. You can see here: http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...S/ashtray3.jpg

I've often thought about using yellow Letraset lettering as well. I wonder if you applied it, and then tape off just the little black raised rectangle, and lightly sprayed it with a clear coat to better protect it.

 

Wow that's a great idea! Those channel do collect a lot of dust, but I'm going for a stock look. I love your idea though!

 

Hey, you asked... The point is it's been done, and the tech articles go largely unnoticed and unappreciated. The article covers the most significant damage that was relevant at the time (1999?). Back then most of the time the damage was limited to the yellow strip showing through the black mask. The finished product looked nearly new, there wasn't anything else to include in the article.

At the time I did it, it wasn't even for my car, it was just a part I had laying around and decided to restore. I didn't have a digital camera to document the process. The only pic I have was from about 3 years after. I ended up selling the plate to buddy in about 2003.

 

Letrasets react fine to being clear coated with some paints. Just set up a test panel with a sample of the lettering and the plastic (junkyard) to make sure the clear won't eat the ABS, or the lettering.


The other option is what you see from some of the restoration places... A black decal with the lettering printed on top, and the decal goes over the old surface. I haven't seen them for the shifter plate, but lock buttons, multifunction *****, etc. My solution has just been to buy NOS parts and stay away from the letters.

 

I replaced my broken slider with a strip of carbon fiber vineer that I glued the large plastic washer too.. cam out looking nice, but when I redo my console with a custom one this year, I will spend a bit more time insuring that the plastic doesn't scratch the carbon fiber where it contacts...

 

Do you have any pics of that?

Any ideas on how to fix the cigarette burn? I thought about sanding it down but that would remove the texture. Is this even possible?

 

Soften the plastic with heat, push the raised areas back into the shallow areas. Then recreate the texture. It's hard to tell if it'll look better or worse after trying to fix it.

 

Sounds like a good idea, i'm tempted to try it, but I don't want to end up making it look worse than it is. (I tend to do that)

 

Get a scrap piece from the junkyard and practice... It's easy enough to create similar cigarette burns in a broken piece from the yard, and try fixing the burns before you attempt it on a keeper part. You might even find a nicer panel in the junkyard then what you have now, you never know.

 

I just might try that on the ash tray from my car originally. The previous owner broke it off from the shift plate instead of cutting the hole like he was supposed to (to install the B&M shifter.)

 

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i know this is an old thread but im trying to restore mine and stumbled upon this convo... im confused about what you mean by "print on transperant film reversed"... lol they were able to print an exact replica of the yellow plastic piece that says PRNDD21? or am i talking about a different piece? not sure if thats a dumb question. thanks!