Barry in Wyoming

After this thread on the old board I thought I fully understood the differences between the Honda aluminum and titanium shift knobs. Also, I thought that the dull gray knob in my trunk was the never-installed titanium knob and the bright, shiny, steely knob on my shift lever was the stock knob.

I based that mistake on my misinterpretation of this thread.
http://honda-acura.net/forum/Forum21/HTML/003600.html

Well, since my F20C is sick, and since the weather was great in Sheridan today, I spent the afternoon catching up on S2000 chores: washing, installing Mingster's dead pedal, installing Rick's leather shift boot, installing the titanium knob, installing Rick's leather console cover.

When I unscrewed the bright metalic shift knob I knew right away that my dealer had indeed installed the titanium one before delivery and it was the (now scratched) aluminum one rattling around in my trunk.

The stock knob weighs 150 grams and is dull.

The Honda titanium one weighs 255 grams and is bright and steely looking.

If you wanted a comparison, the titanium one looks the color of polished stainless steel pots and the aluminum one is duller and darker.

I guess this is obvious to everyone else, but it had me confused.

TrojanHorse

OK, now I'm confused. When I took delivery of my Stook the shifter knob was missing (someone on the showroom floor stole it) and I had paid for the Titanium one. After some scrabbling around in the Parts department they produced a knob which I assumed to be the Titanium one as shown on honda-accessories.com below. Anyone have a photo of the stock and titanium knobs readily available?

RT

Ti knob has goldish tint and no grain (heavier weight).

Al knob has machining grain (lighter weight).

Zoinks

The al knobie is brushed, he Ti is shinny and dark. I think the Ti knob makes the shifting more responsive due to the added weight. Maybe I'm on crack

RT

Agreed, the heavy knob keeps you from feeling the crunchiness. Had a '94 Miata prior to the S2000 and the stock knob felt like it was filled with lead. The first thing I noticed when it was "upgraded" was the unsilky unsmoothness.

BTW, that doesn't mean you're not on crack though

Barry in Wyoming

Here's 1Randyc's pic from the old board. The knob on the right is titanium, polished, brighter and weighs about 255 grams. The knob on the left is duller, brushed not polished, aluminum and weighs about 150 grams.

The shift pattern is identical on both when new.

Utah S2K

Thanks Barry
A picture is worth a thousand words!
What ever happened with you piston issue?

Barry in Wyoming

Well, after installing Rick's console cover, Rick's visor stickers, Rick's leather shift boot and leather shift condom, and installing Mingster's dead pedal, and attempting (but failing) to hard wire the Valentine One, and then after cleaning every piece of glass, chrome and paint on the car and even applying Zaino Gloss Enhancer F20C still sounds like it's got a marble loose!

My brother in law who is a car guru and is in management for one of Honda's suppliers thinks it sounds like a bent valve stem.

Tomorrow or Tuesday the new head gaskit should get in and then the dealer will take the engine apart enough to diagnose the problem. After that, it is AHM's call concerning engine repair or replacement.

I've driven about ten miles since the noise and the dealer is only 1.8 miles from me.

Jon Corbett

what the hell? I though titanium was lighter?!!

Barry in Wyoming

The specific weight of aluminum is 27. Titanium is 48. Iron is 56. Thus, titanium is heavier than aluminum but lighter than steel AND stronger than steel. So titanium pieces can be made lighter than similar pieces made of steel.

Wouldn't it be great to have a titanium S2000 instead of a steel one, or instead of an aluminum NSX. Think of the price for that!

The titanium tent pegs I use for backpacking weigh a tad more than the aluminum ones I use, but are far stronger.

Check out this site for the periodic table. http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/