Alloy stalks

[squirrelz]

Looking around at all the exciting goodies for the interior, I noticed that there are 2 different types of alloy stalk:
Zertec
www.zertec.co.uk/images/dash-04.gif

and Leventechnology
www.leventechnology.co.uk/tvr_images/steering_column.jpg

Has anyone got better piccys of these, and or comments on look and feel?

[philshort]

I got a set as a gift, but they are still in the box as they didn't fit so well. I don't think they were either of these, but they did come from a TVR dealership up North West.

If anyone else has bought these and made them fit I'd be interested to know how!

Phil

POSTSCRIPT: Just in case it was not clear, the set I have are NOT Leven Technology, I have many Leven parts on my car and am 100% satisfied with all of them - buttons, filler caps, handbrake, pedals, blower switch. All total quality gear, even the packaging is too good to throw away!

The stalks I have are S**Sh***, apparently bought from Ch********* N***. They are for all "Vauhall/Opel configurations" according to the fitting instructions. Can't see how they would fit the Chimaera withou extensive application of body english, they foul the dashboard on the right column stalk.

Edited by philshort on Wednesday 16th January 22:10

[richb]

Got the Zertec ones and they fit perfectly, and IMO look excellent. R...

[Graham]

Zertec and i think there fab, they are supposed to resemble f1 paddle shifts they look good and feel great.

they are easy to fit once you get your head round having to cut up the existing plastic things...

G

[becky]

I have a set of Leven Technology stalks on my 1998 Griffith 500 and they have transformed the appearance of the interior. They are also very good to use. Fitting is very simple once you have taken a deep breath and got the hacksaw blade to cut through the fitted stalks. My car has extensive other Leven kit on it and everything is excellent. I'm about to fit Leven pedals. Leven themselves are very helpfuland very willing to talk you through fitting.

This is my first message on this board. Really enjoy the rest of the messgaes and have learnt a lot.

As for the car itself.......15 months on after a long wait and the grin factor is still enormous....nothing else comes close to it!! Even tooling around and burbling is brillinat and as for when you light the blue touch paper.....

What do others think about Kerridges for routine servicing? They very kindly perservered with a problem wih the temperature gauge reading hot in error and did a lot of work to solve this under warranty even though they were not the supplying dealer. I would also speak very highly of Fernhurst having spent many visits there before I was finally able to buy the dream car.

[Marshy]

Ditto re: the leven bits. I've got most of the shiny bits now and they're well made and fit well. Chopping the old stalks off is a heart in mouth operation though!

[dan]

I'll echo the comments here.

I got Zertec Stalks (prefered the shape) and Leven buttons, Handbrake, Fag lighter etc.

I'm very pleased with all of them, they certainly improve the interior of the car. The stalks in particular, as I used to have a trusty, but clapped out Cavalier and the old ones always reminded me of that.

[darrenlens]

I have just received my Leven stalks and I am now trying to pluck up the courage to change them over. Has anyone got any tips that may be of use??

[Captain Crimson]

I fitted them on my Griff with no problems. Just take a deep breath and go for it with the hacksaw. Make sure you steer clear of the trim!

Good luck.

[dan]

quote:
I have just received my Leven stalks and I am now trying to pluck up the courage to change them over. Has anyone got any tips that may be of use??

When I finally decided to get stuck in I was suprised how easy it was.

Basically -

Remove two black plastic screw cover from the colomn shrowd, and undo screws(you may need to turn the steering wheel to get at them)

Remove the 2 screws from under the shrowd.

Drop the steering colomn to its lowest setting and remove top half of shrowd (you may need to wiggle it about a bit.

Drop the lower shrowd, (you dont need to remove this)

The stalks are clipped in place top and bottom, unclip (i managed this with my thumb nails, but you could use a small screw driver)and slide out perpendicular to column.

You then get just enough room to unplug the electrical connector(again a couple of thumbnail clips)

Et Voila!

The plastic of the stalks is very soft so a good hacksaw cuts through them very easily so you can get a good clean cut (I normally make a horses ar*e of this sort of thing but it was easy)

I'm not sure how leven stalks fit, but their instructions for the other stuff I had from them was very clear.

Fit Stalks and do reverse of above to refit to car.

I probably took me less that 45 mins to fit my Zertec Stalks, from rumaging around the garage for the screwdrivers to driving off down the road... Oh... and they haven't fallen off yet either

Obviously I accept no responsibility if you are even more cack handed than me and screw it up

Edited by dan on Thursday 17th January 11:15

[darrenlens]

Thanks guys, I'll have a go tonight.. Next question, I have fitted the brake and clutch pedals of my Leven kit but not the accelerator yet. Has anyone done this and is it hard??

PS. I'll post some pictures when all is done.

[Marshy]

If it's a chimaera, there's enough room to do the stalks without removing them from the sterring column.

[LevenTech]

With the Leven stalks we DO NOT recommend that you dismantle the shroud and remove the stalks from the car. The more you disturb the more that can go wrong! It can all be done with the stalks fitted to the car and is quicker and easier this way. Full step by step instructions are provided with the stalks and like most jobs with all the parts in front of you and the car it will become much clearer. (This applies to both Griffith and Chimaera.) If for any reason help or advice is needed please call us.

[kinky]

Are they easily adaptable for an 'S' ?

[sipow]

Yeah what aboot the Ss


tvrgnut

[darrenlens]

Sorted! Did the stalks last night, a lot easier than I thought, what an improvement.

www.fotango.com/p/eba00166282f00000004.jpg

What do u think???

[MajorClanger]

Very nice indeed! That's my job for the weekend... should be fun!

MC

[squirrelz]

Darren, can you do some close ups of the stalks?

[darrenlens]

Yep, I'll do some today.

[richb]

On the subject of alloy bits I've also replaced the horrible black plastic bonnet release pull with a nice alloy knob, which is in fact a Griffith door push button! Pretty easy to do. I just hacksawed off the old plastic knob leaving the stalk, and then aradited a 20mm length of alloy tube over the remaining plastic stalk and araldited the new alloy button into the tube. Looks exactly as if it was designed like it! Rich...