Murray Missile 

I've only resurrected one Suburban all though I've had 2 or 3 over the decades. It was in a pile of bikes someone dropped off and was in REALLY sad shape. I wasn't even going to use parts from it but as I was wheeling it out to the curb I decided to give it a shot. It still doesn't look like much but if I had thought to take a before picture you would be amazed at the transformation, it was so filthy you couldn't even tell what color it was, I was sure it was brown.

Groover

Ok, so I found and purchased the replacement cable for the Positron II. Going to re-use my old housing. Do I need to grease/oil this cable in any way (and with what) or just run it through? can't seem to find much online about cable grease for the Positron II.

Velo Mule

I would grease the "cable". It should actually be a single piece of steel with some temper in it. This is so that it can push or pull.

Vintage Schwinn

I would lightly grease the new cable with just ordinary synthetic waterproof grease (the automotive/marine type used for wheel/trailer wheel bearings, etc)
Same exact type grease as I use for hand packing into the hanger set--bottom bracket's two #64 caged bearings.
The exact brand that I have used exclusively for decades now is 'GREEN GREASE' (thats the brand name).....the company is based out of TEXAS, USA.
It is a very popular product, and all of the auto parts stores carry it............NAPA, AUTO ZONE carry the 14oz (397 grams)cylinder container for grease gun application for approximately $10 to $11........O'Reillys, Advance, and others for about $0.75 to $1.25 more.
.........It is according to what is printed on the exterior of the 14oz cylinder container: "MULTI-PURPOSE, HEAVY DUTY, SYNTHETIC POLYMER, EP GREASE, industry proven since 1977, Ideal for Marine, Automotive, Trucking, Heavy Equipment, Farm, Industrial Use. Lasts Up to 8X Longer, Saves Time, and Money, Seals and Protects, Sticks to Most Metals, Operating Range -20F to 500F, Superior Rust and Corrosion Protection, Compatible with Many Other Greases, Salt Water Protection, Fertilizer Resistant, Resists Washout, NLGI #2
https://www.greengrease.com
OMNI LUBRICANTS, 708 Valley Ridge Circle, Suite 17, Lewisville Texas 75057, tel 1-877-GO-GREASE, 1-877-464-7327
'GREEN GREASE' --- their slogan for the product is "THE BEST GREASE THAT MONEY CAN BUY"
also stated on the container: COMPATIBLE with lithium and petroleum based greases
Ideal for marine use in both fresh and salt water
* NLGI #2
* 80# Timken rating
* BASE TYPE: Mixed Complex
* OPERATING TEMPERATURE RANGE: -20F to 500F
* DROPPING POINT: 554F
* FOUR BALL EP WELD LOAD: 800 Kg.
* WATER WASHOUT @ 175F: <2.0%

the 14oz/397g product's UPC code: 8 39639 00101 6


Vintage Schwinn is a big fan of GREEN GREASE made by OMNI LUBRICANTS (this stuff is made in USA, according to the container of the product that I have which is now probably about five years old.......assume that it is still true today)





************ NOW THE IMPORTANT INFORMATION: How Vintage Schwinn would lube the new cable? I would get a small piece of aluminim foil(..reynolds wrap..) from your kitchen drawer.........a tiny piece about 6 inches or 7 inches long should be adequate.....................THEN FOLD THIS SMALL PIECE OF ALUMINUM FOIL IN HALF............using a plastic knife, like the kind you get at McDonalds with an order of HotCakes........USE THE disposable plastic knife TO GET Green grease out of the container.......just like if you were placing butter on to toasted bread, or making a peanut butter & jelly sandwhich..................I TAKE THE SMALL AMOUNT OF GREASE NOW ON THE PLASTIC KNIFE AND SPREAD IT IN THE FOLD CREASE OF THE ALUMINUM FOIL...................THEN USE THE PIECE OF ALUMINUM FOIL AS SOMETHING THAT YOU HOLD IN YOUR LEFT HAND'S PALM AND THEN SLOWLY PULL-DRAG THE NEW CABLE THROUGH THE GREASE......The important point is to LUBE the new CABLE.......you don't need so much that it it gets too messy..................YOU ALSO USE THE ALUMINUM FOIL PIECE TO SLIDE ACROSS THE CABLE as if you were polishing it with a Wrigleys Gum foil wrapper from 1959.............you see the aluminum foil piece does not need to be big........you aren't polishing it, of course........it is simply just a vehicle to apply the GREASE...........
......................******* ANOTHER HUGELY IMPORTANT THING TO DO, is whenever you are re-using an old cable sheath IS TO PULL-BACK & FORTH, A SECTION OF OLD SCRAP CABLE, first time, without any added lubrication, to see that nothing currently binds or is stuck.......THEN, importantly, ADD GREASE to a section of OLD SCRAP CABLE, And PULL IT BACK & FORTH A FEW TIMES WITHIN THE OLD SHEATH........ this will get a little bit of lube in there...............AFTER YOU DO THAT, YOU ARE GOOD TO GO WITH INSTALLING THE NEW greased cable that you greased with a piece of aluminum foil folded in half as an applicator sliding along the cable......
....................Hey, this works well for me. I don't know if this method is technically WRONG or RIGHT....... IT WORKS EXTREMELY WELL.
You might find that someone else has a better proceedure.


***** Now, yes, I am a fan of "GREEN GREASE" but as you know, all compareable Synthetic Waterproof Grease (that are made by competing companies in the same section/aisle of the auto parts store) WILL DO EVERYTHING YOU'D NEED IT TO DO IN YOUR BICYCLE, OR WHATEVER AUTO/MARINE or FARM EQUIPMENT APPLICATION, so whatever brand, manufacturer of grease that you do end up purchasing, does not really matter, as all of the synthetic waterproof grease are pretty damn great, so you have no worries on whatever brand that you decide to go with.

Groover

Yes it is a single piece of steel. Old one came out perfectly clean. New one slid right in.

Continued thanks for all the tips, advice, etc here. This forum is amazing.

Groover

So I got to take a nice long ride on the Suburban yesterday. Rode the Monon trail up to Broadripple and back. She does ride pretty sweet. I can definitely tell that the Suburban wants to roll faster than the Speedster. It shifts through all the gears with the new steel cable but it has difficulty climbing up to the lower gears whereas it drops nicely down to higher gears. Going low, it would grind at each step, So much so that I started over-shifting to an even lower gear, then dropping back to the one I actually wanted to be in. Makes me think the derailleur may be bent a bit? Still with all that, as suspected, I pretty much rode in 2 and 3 all the time, Occasionally went up to 4 or even 5 on the flat part with nobody else around, and used 1 to climb a hill. But for the most part gears 1 and 5 seemed totally unnecessary for my style of riding.

The Suburban "comfort grips" (as noted by Vintage Schwinn) are much preferred over the standard grips on the Speedster.

Jeff Wills

I have one almost exactly like that waiting for restoration. Mine looks like it was left at the "beach house" for use when the owners were on vacation- lots of rust spots, dried out grips, etc. etc.

Here's what it looks like. It needs to have the rust removed and rubber replaced but otherwise it's in pretty good shape.

Murray Missile 

That looks showroom new compared to what mine did LOL. The one good thing was that all the grunge on mine kept the chrome fairly free of rust.

Groover

So i just got back to the Suburban after spending some time on the DL. Broke my pinkie finger on my right hand last August. Had surgery to set it in November and just got the pins and splint off a month ago. Finally able to turn a wrench and do some work. I stripped the Suburban down to the frame today and posted all the weights at the top of the thread. The answer to the age old question of "How much does a Schwinn electro-forged frame weigh?" has been answered. The answer is just under 10 lbs (9.7 - without the forks but with the kickstand. 12 lbs with the forks and the kickstrand). If somebody already knew that, I sure didn't see that posted anywhere else in the universe. I'm assuming this weight is probably pretty close for ALL of the lightweight Schwinns of similar build (Varsity, Collegiate, Continental, my Speedster), etc. since they are all pretty much the same once you take all the peripherals off. For comparison, I stripped down my Sanwa fixed gear (steel frame) and it weighed about the same. So this also confirms as was noted somewhere above, "what is it about the Schwinn that makes it so heavy (42 lbs) and the answer is EVERYTHING, but it isn't necessarily the steel frame. The wheels are 2-3 lbs heavier than aluminum, the seat weighs almost 3 lbs, the crankset is 4 lbs... and so on.

merziac

Many/most? of the 40's and 50's Paramount's were Tourists, 3 speeds, not really the Paramount's that we know and love but certainly laid the groundwork for what came later.

Not particularly stellar bikes but fairly cool in their own right.

Here's one we have determined to likely be a late 40's somewhat original women's Wastyn built.

Obviously redone in the 70's with paint and livery of the day.

Pretty cool IMO, Bob Freeman and Jeff Groman wholeheartedly agreed as did ms. merziac.

truthseeker14

Here's a newer Suburban, 3 speed. I was never a fan of the newer logo. I'm not sure how old it is, but it rides surprisingly well. It has cotterless cranks. I like that huge rear reflector on the fender. It's the biggest one I've ever seen. I might get it for my daughter if it fits. How can I tell how old it is? Schwinn's serial number system has been a puzzle to me.

SkinGriz

Enjoying the thread.

Have had fingers pinned back together twice. Not fun.
Both times local anesthesia with a view blocker. But I was watching one of the nurses faces and could read her face that whatever was going on wasn’t very nice to see.

Both times the night after injury excruciating pain.

truthseeker14

I think I answered my own question. It's a 1991 according to the catalog: https://bikecatalogs.org/SCHWINN/199...LL/1991_30.JPG Did Schwinn re-introduce the Suburban in 1991, or is the web site missing some pages?

SkinGriz

How do I know if a bike is a Suburban?

My wife has a bike that is now just a step through frame and fork.

It had north road bars. Stem shifters. 5 in back, 2 up front. Tubular fork. 27” steel wheels. Fenders that seemed aluminum with steel stays. Brown. I think the BB shell is more like 64.(?)mm instead of 68mm.

The other question. Is it worth building up? I’d like to maybe make it a 559 wheel bike with a coaster brake or 3 speed. My concern is being a step through frame will it bend if I hop it off a curb? The other concern is the 7/8 seat post and 21.1 stem.

Thank you.

Vintage Schwinn

SkinGriz:

Generally speaking about the CHICAGO Schwinn SUBURBANS, they were NEW for 1970 and as a whole, they are products of the SEVENTIES!

Essentially, the 1970 SUBURBAN ten speed WAS A REPLACEMENT FOR THE 1969 VARSITY Tourist ('69 was last year for Varsity Tourist & '70 was 1st for SUB 10sp)

*** Now 1970 brought THREE distinct flavors of SUBURBANS.......the most notable being the Shimano equipped SUBURBAN five speeds.....
............the SUBURBAN 10 speeds were EXACTLY like the VARSITY & CONTINENTAL with the exact same 52 /39 and 28-14 French freewheel and Huret Allvit rear derailleur of the schwinn approved version..............SUBURBAN though is an upgrade over the VARSITY as it features the TUBULAR front fork of the Continental, yet the SUBURBAN retains the sidepulls that the Varsity has (weinmann L.S. 2.4 also known as weinmann 730).... The Continental has Centerpull brakes.

Discontinued after 1971 (available in both model year 1970 & model year 1971) was the SUBURBAN 3 SPEED........essentially the old traditional Schwinn 3 SPEED , though this time in 27 inch wheels(630mm) in the 1970 & 1971 SUBURBAN 3 SPEED VARIETY.



The SCHWINN nine inch long seat post that was standard on the SUBURBAN/VARSITY/COLLEGIATE/BREEZE/TRAVELER/CO-ED/SPEEDSTER/RACER....other electroforged Chicago SCHWINN variants of the late 1940's thru the 1982 Chicago end, IS 13/16" DIAMETER (NOT 7/8").
These are 13/16" DIAMETER and NOT 7/8 or 14/16.
These have a 5/8 tip portion where the seat clamp attaches.
Though NINE inch seat post lengths were most typical, YOU DO HAVE MANY LONGER LENGTHS THANKS MAINLY TO THE stingray bike craze of the SIXTIES and very early SEVENTIES. .................The typical stingray Seat Post is approximately 14 INCHES long......the diameter & tip portion are the same 13/16 and 5/8 as all other Schwinns.
WALD currently produces about half a dozen NEW seatposts in the 13/16 diameter in a wide variety of SEAT POST LENGTHS from about Nine Inches to nearly 17 inches. WALD also currently produces these NEW seatposts in 13/16 DIAMETER with either the old-timey 5/8 tip portion --OR-- with a 7/8 (14/16) tip portion so that current day replacement seats with their 7/8 seat clamps will perfectly fit.
--------As you know, you can in almost all cases, simply swap an ancient 5/8 seat clamp sourced from some ancient seat, and swap that on to the seat rails of your new modern seat, IF YOU WANNA RETAIN THE ORIGINAL SEATPOST WITH ITS 5/8 top mount portion...............................***YOU CAN ALSO CHOOSE TO FLIP THE ORIGINAL 13/16 SEAT POST UPSIDE-DOWN WITHIN THE SEAT-TUBE, BUT BEWARE THAT DOING THIS WILL REQUIRE MORE OF THE POST TO BE INSERTED WITHIN THE SEAT-TUBE, BECAUSE THAT TAPERED 5/8 PORTION THAT NOW IS UPSIDE-DOWN WITHIN THE SEAT-TUBE CANNOT BE COUNTED AS PART OF THE PORTION THAT COUNTS FOR MINIMUM INSERTION...........................yeah, it all works just fine as long as you remember that, because 13/16 & 7/8---14/16 are Close Enough that in almost all situations that the SEAT CLAMP can be tightened down 1/16 th More so that the 7/8 seat clamp Tightly Grips the 13/16 Schwinn seat post...............................................you understand that, don't you?
So you got that, and it is simple. Beyond that, you do have various SCHWINN seatpost versions of the CHROMED & plain variety, depending upon which bicycle models of post World War II thru the Chicago end, as 13/16 is their common denominator. WALD also offers some NEW currently produced 13/16 replacement seat posts in plain or chromed...............I don't think that WALD offers as many different lengths in the Chromed variety but NO WORRIES because they offer all the lengths that you'd ever need. Millions upon millions of USED seat posts exist too, so locating whatever floats your boat, or BEE-HIND can be found for a few bucks on the Bay or The cabe or at the co-op's junk pile.


The SCHWINN STEP-THROUGH (women's frames) CHANGED WITH THE 1966 MODEL YEAR...................it has the sort of J bent top bar instead of parallel straight ones..........................THE 1966 and later J bent style OFFERS easier mounting for any elderly man than the parallel straight bar step through frames of 1965 & earlier.

1966 also marks the first model year that SCHWINN employed the 21.1mm STEM. All normal SCHWINN bicycles made in CHICAGO from 1966 to the Chicago end in 1982 have the 21.1mm STEM. --------SCHWINN Engineers INCREASED THE STRENGTH & DIAMETER of the headtube portion of the '66 & later SCHWINN front forks, IT RESULTED IN THE STRONGEST IN THE BICYCLE INDUSTRY.......thus the narrower 21.1mm stem diameter is required with 1966 & later....
***********All of the 1965 and earlier SCHWINNS require the typical American industry standard of 22.2mm stem diameter.
.................................****** Now, of course, one can typically swap a great many different FRONT FORKS, both ancient Schwinn and ancient non Schwinn as well as modern front forks made between say 1985 and today...............WHEN ONE CHANGES OUT the Front Forks, YOU GENERALLY MUST USE THE RESPECTIVE MATCHING-CORRESPONDING stem diameter size WHICHEVER ONE THAT IS.



THE 1966 --- 1982 Electroforged J top bar style STEP THROUGH frames from SCHWINN Chicago, ARE INCREDIBLY STRONG. There are no others from any other manufacturer that are even close.
The 1965 and earlier Electroforged parallel bar STEP THROUGH frames from SCHWINN ARE ALSO INCREDIBLY STRONG.
Basically, you have nothing to worry about, as you aren't planning to ride off of a the the 5th story level of a parking garage on to the street some 55 feet below......you might not survive doing that, but chances are that your electroforged Schwinn frame will, though your wheels likely will be bent like Tacos.
Juvela or Metacortex might wish to comment on all the revisions that Schwinn engineers did to the overall wheelbase length and effective top-tube length for some of the electroforged Schwinn step through and diamond frame Sizes between the late forties and about 1962................maybe some slight differences in some frame sizes depending on what year cluster before further revisions between the end of the forties and end of the fifties to perhaps '62.
All that feature the one piece crank hanger set (bottom bracket) are built like tanks and likely would possibly survive an atomic bomb blast. The 1940's era Schwinns with 3 piece cranks are not nearly as well built, although they were still decently constructed.



Back to why the SUBURBAN 5 SPEED (1970 - 1976 *) is perhaps SCHWINN's best ever all purpose bicycle:
SHIMANO model J 14-32 freewheel 32, 26, 21, 17, 14 with Shimano rear derailleur (GT-100 from 1970---Feb '74)(GT-120 from 1974 on)
......* Exception might be the 1974 Suburban five speed which featured a Thumb shifter made by Shimano INSTEAD OF THE Schwinn SINGLE STIK
1970-1973 has the Schwinn SINGLE STICK and the 1975 on has the SINGLE STIK
Only 1974 Suburban five speed had the inferior Thumb Shifter. it works fine, though it isn't nearly as good as the Schwinn Single Stik

The 46 Teeth front chain crank combined with that 14-32 Model J freewheel built for Schwinn by Shimano GIVES YOU BETTER GEARING THAN MOST Ten Speeds.



THE 1970 - 1977 COLLEGIATE five speed has the EXACT SAME 46 teeth front crank and same 14-32 Model J freewheel and same Shimano rear derailleur.
The Collegiate has the 26 inch (597mm) "schwinn only" 26 X 1 3/8 37-597 wheels/tires
The Collegiate has the SCHWINN Single STIK on every model of the Seventies...... (s) from '67-'73 & (S) '74 onward
Though be forewarned that the '69 and earlier COLLEGIATE is undesireable because it has the French made 14-28 freewheel and Huret Allvit rear derailleur.
The reason that the Sixties era COLLEGIATE is UNDESIREABLE compared to the 1970-1977 Collegiate IS BECAUSE THE USEABLE GEAR RANGE IS SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER ON THE 1970 - 1977 COLLEGIATE.............much better Hill Climbing......plus Shimano quality is light years better than anything from Huret, although Huret fitted on Schwinns was very decent quality, just that the Japanese did everything better than the Europeans.


The Schwinn 7881 handlebars will be what a SUBURBAN will have. These are INCREDIBLE handlebars......THE BEST THAT SCHWINN EVER DID in my opinion as to their tourist type handlebars.......................first seen on the 1967 Schwinn Breeze..................these are 1967 through about 1977 on Breeze, Collegiate, Suburban, Racer, Speedster, and others......
...................ALL 7881 handlebars are EXACTLY THE SAME.............you can see 7881--xx (xx = year) on the portion that isn't visible when the handlebars are mounted. Examples: 7881--67 (1967) 7881--71 (1971) 7881--75 (1975)................you get the picture as 7881--72 would be 1972....and so on, etc..


OLD TIMEY Sturmey-Archer 3 SPEEDS have proven that they can be 70+ years old and still take a lickin' and keep on.....
Everything is still available.
Yeah, you'd have to choose what you'd want with respect to how you divide or allocate those three gear ratios. You do have some choices....
There are hundreds of S-A three speed freaks over on the CABE and there are probably many here on bike forums too but they don't speak up often enough since the Carbon jockeys in lycra/spandex don't consider 3 speeds to be proper bikes or whatever.....




*****************BUILD IT UP................any ancient CHICAGO SCHWINN frame from about 1939 to 1982 will be strong and tough.
Hell, those Northern California idiots that rode Kamakazi style racing down hillsides chose the ancient SCHWINN frames for their "KLUNKERS" for a reason.....
....because the frames wouldn't self destruct......................thus those crazy fawkerz started the mountain bike craze........they certainly had to be crazy or just young dumb and stupid with no fear whatsoever to race downhill the way those fearless pioneers did it. My guess is perhaps a generous consumption of Boones Farm likely fueled their fearless downhill racing.

SkinGriz

SN CG018004 on head tube.

Vintage Schwinn

G, the Second Letter in your serial number = 1971

C, the FIRST Letter in your serial number = MARCH




so MARCH 1971.

truthseeker14

I've been doing a little bit of reading on the newer ones, i.e.,1991 - 1993. The 1991 may have been the last Suburban that Schwinn offered before their first bankruptcy. Was this model one of Schwinn's last efforts to to save the company? Or is that being overly dramatic?

SkinGriz

Vintage Schwinn,
“plus Shimano quality is light years better than anything from Huret, although Huret fitted on Schwinns was very decent quality, just that the Japanese did everything better than the Europeans.”

Marty McFly

SkinGriz

I agree that the 7881 handlebars are really good.

I have them on another bike with the straight part roughly pointing at the back axle.

I might turn this bike into either a tringle (3 up front, 1 in back) or take the SA 3 speed off another bike for this bike.

truthseeker14

I did pick up that 1991 Suburban that has a Shimano 3cc 3-speed hub (see my earlier post in this thread). Love the ride except it does not shift well. The shifter was a bit gummed up and after cleaning it, it shifted a little better, but it's inconsistent. Does the hub need lubricating? If so, how does one go about it?

Velo Mule

@truthseeker14 that Suburban looks great. The chrome and pretty much everything else looks perfect. It looks like it was stored inside.

The Shimano 3 Speed hubs had a plastic oiling port. People usually think that plastic is "less good" than metal, but with oiling ports, plastic ports keep the oil inside better. Now on to the hub. Generally, the Shimano 3 speed does not have a great reputation, however, Shimano made small improvements to it over the years and if you keep it oiled it should hold up just fine. My dad had a Sears/Murry 3 speed with the Shimano hub, but no coaster brake. I used the bike a lot and as a teenager, I was not gentle on, but it held up well.

The other problem with Shimano 3 speeds is parts availability. The only place to find them is used. The shifter has gotten expensive because it is critical to the function of the hub and easily broken. Perhaps someone can design a 3D printed version of the plastic cover. Otherwise the shifter is good. It uses a ball for a for the positioning detents. You will have to carefully remove the cover and clean inside the shifter. It is simple so, it should be easy.

If this were my bike I would put a few drops of 30 weight oil in the hub and clean the shifter and ride it. It may well last a long time. Oh, one more thing is if the shifting is still poor after the shifter is cleaned and working properly, then the problem may be the cable and housing have too much friction in there. Depending upon what end is on the cable adjustment barrel you may not be able to remove the shift cable from the housing. If there is a cable anchor on the adjustment barrel you may be able to remove the cable from the housing.

Keep us up to date on this Suburban. I think that this is a Taiwan make bike, but I don't know that for sure. That again is not necessarily bad. The Taiwan made Schwinn's were made well. I had a Schwinn World made in Taiwan that was excellent. I had to pinch myself because this was a low end bike in Schwinn's line up but it was a joy to ride.

Enjoy riding your Suburban.

truthseeker14

Thanks. I did not see a plastic port. Maybe I'm not looking at the right place. There's nothing on the outer cylinder of the hub itself. The axle is hollow and has a removable shaft, and it looks like lubricating fluids can be injected into the axle but I'm not sure if I should do it. I found out that the shifting problem comes from where the housing sits into the shifter. It was hard to notice at first but it's broken and instead of the cable being pulled, the housing gets pulled a bit into the shifter. I am trying to make a new piece out of plastic and epoxy for the cable housing end to sit. It won't be pretty. The question is how ugly will it be.

It is a nice bike. I ride typically road bikes with drops, and it was a joy to ride a classic cruiser. I think it is very similar to the Collegiate that Schwinn offered in 1990. As far as I can tell, the Suburban was reintroduced in 1991. I think that's what I have (serial number is SD107554, and i'm guessing the third character means it's from 1991. The frame is interesting. Even though it's steel, the welds have those little ripples that are typical of aluminum bikes. The cranks are steel but cotterless and they angle out a bit from where they attach to the spindle, i.e., the cranks are not at 90° from the spindle.

Velo Mule

It sounds like your hub doesn't have an oil port @truthseeker14 . That's too bad because it makes maintenance so much easier. Your are correct, you can take the bell crank mechanism off the axle, remove the shifter rod and squirt some oil in this way. It is good that you have a plan for the shifter cover. They are tough to find. I think your plan to use epoxy is a good one. Then use a Dermel, drill and files get the details and fit right.

I wonder if a more modern Nexus three speed would work? They use a similar bellcrank disguised in a housing. That is one of the problem with these Shimano 3ccc hubs, there is not a lot information on them, at least not in the US. Perhaps in Asia these have a better following.

As has been mentioned above there were millions of bikes with these hubs, so a co-op could be a good resource.

truthseeker14

Well, it turned out prettier than I thought. I ditched the idea of using plastic and used a piece of teak wood that I shaped and drilled and glued with epoxy to the shifter. The shifter cover had a remnant of the seat for the cable housing. I had to file this all away to have a smooth surface for the wood. I'm not a highly skilled wood carver but I like how it turned out.