Going through my m3, I'm trying to make the shifter less flip floppy. So I bought a z3m shifter for it. It is made out of two pieces rubber bonded together (see pic) and there were two issues. It needed to be bent and wasn’t, and the rubber was weird - partly not adhered to the shaft and had slop.
The worn-out shifter it was replacing was also the rubber bonded style but was firm with no slop.
Here you can see the bend and the two pieces.
The one I got is the top one but the existing one in it is bent like the others.
Anyway, I ended up spending about an hour cutting and tearing out the rubber and got them separated. The shaft from the bottom part goes all the way up to the end of the top part.
The shaft is steel and the top part is aluminum which means I can’t just weld it.
Any thoughts on what I could use to bond them back together that would not have any slop (I don’t care about nvh) and withstand the heat and vibration without cracking or delaminating?
I’m also going to see if I can’t get a steel rod that is the right diameter and just weld it to the end. But if I can’t, I’ll rebond it.
What to use?
Liquid nails? (Will it crack over time? It will be kind of thick)
Epoxy?
Ideally something I can get at homedepot! But I can order whatever would be guaranteed to work.
Windshield urethane, maybe. Fill the aluminum thing, jam the steel stick in. I'd try to come up with some sort of support structure to hold it all where I wanted it to be, because gravity might cause trouble while it is setting.
pirate
HalfDork
3/22/21 12:21 p.m.
As said in other posts. If you never have to take it apart again try 3M Marine 5200. I've used it for many boat projects as well as things I never want to worry about coming apart. Available at Home Dept and Lowe's.
This might be a bit overkill for what you're doing, but I'm bonding my race car project together (aluminum to aluminum and aluminum to steel) with 3M DP420:
https://www.mcmaster.com/7467A51/
And you don't have to buy the expensive 3M dispenser, either. There's a $15 one on Amazon which I'm pretty sure comes from the same molds as the 3M one.
JBWeld (or any reasonable 2 part epoxy for that type of task)
What's the clearance between the two parts and what to you have access to for tools? Lathe, drill press, welder?
ProDarwin said:
Braze them together?
No clue if this stuff actually works but I get Instagram ads for it all the time so I want to try it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085GLVYYD/?coliid=I3TS1DH0TBNAVR&colid=2ZDDH4TZ206ZT&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Belzona 1161 - A premium metal to metal adhesive
Mr_Asa
UltraDork
3/22/21 2:24 p.m.
JB Weld will work.. make sure to seperate the two metals completely with the epoxy.. or you could create a galvanic cell.
https://www.grabberman.com/Media/TechnicalData/127.pdf
JBinMD
New Reader
3/22/21 6:21 p.m.
Apexcarver said:
JBWeld (or any reasonable 2 part epoxy for that type of task)
That would be my first choice. Sand/scuff surfaces for some tooth, clean with acetone, fill with JBWeld, done.
I bought the 3m stuff then had hesitations with how thick it would be, figuring it is meant to adhere pieces together and therefore maybe not suitable for filling voids. I've always wanted some of that stuff it wasn't a waste.
I decided to go with good old Jb weld
this is the dry fitting You can see the two washers
i got two washers that just fit in the aluminum part and go over the shifter I put one towards the bottom and one that just fit in the top (as the shifter is held upside down). This should more or less center the shaft while it dries (cures?).
did it last night I'll check this morning and see how it's doing
I marked the two for alignment as there is a slot in the top that engages the shift knob Glad I caught it as having the knob askew would simply not be an option
