Here's a clever hack from Instructables.com for making a $5 pen that feels and writes like a super-pricey Mont Blanc "writing instrument."

Just buy a refill cartridge for a Mont Blanc, trim it to fit in the barrel of a cheap plastic ergonomic pen, and hey presto, instant writing instrument

Yes... and then you can drive your Yugo to the BMW dealer for gas... instant driving machine

I think the better comparison would be if you took your yugo to a shop and had them replace the engine with a BMW's

Or you can buy a super el cheapo MB knock-off (if there is one) and modify ist so you would have one that looks and works like a real MB.

Bill

Uh...why, though? I don't think the MB ballpoint refills are that great to begin with...

Exactly. I use Fisher refills in my MB BP.

I sometimes daydreamed of lathing down a disposable Mitsubishi uniball and putting the result into my MB roller ball to get the fancy pen body AND good writing. Of course, I'm sure there would have been an ink explosion before it got small enough.

My dad spent some time in Germany in the late 50s - early 60s. He was on the autobahn with a friend at one point doing 80mph when a Volkswagon Bug police car flew by at nearly 100 mph. Supposedly they used a bug body with a Porche engine and Porche suspension.

John

And Pilot gel refills are archival quality, super smooth and have great pigment.

Yes. Buying a high priced plastic rollerball is especially incomprehensible - the thing that drives writing quality is a cheap disposable component. The rest is a tube. Unless you're buying, oh silver sterling or a something like a Raden body - or at least weirdness like the Porsche fuel-hose pens, it seems utterly mad.

For God's sake....


You can tell the time with a £2 digital watch. You can wear charity clothes to keep warm.

These self depreciating, smug comments are tiresome. We all love to pose!

I once had a Rabbit I called Darwin.

It was the natural product of the evolution of the Bug.

Never went 100 though.

Only 95...

I forgot who makes those, but there is an aftermarket maker that will fit Porsche turbo engine into a Beetle. Might be Oettinger, I'm not sure. It's been years since I read that article.

I seem to detect considerable sarcasm in your post!

You might want tot get your sarcasm detector adjusted because I was just posting something for people who like the MB refills but can't use them in most other pens.

K

that is hillarious

No sarcasm intended just necessity---A while ago I was given an all brushed stainless steel and chrome clip BIC rollerball--rubber grip, ~1/2 inch diameter, cigar shaped pen. Rather attractive I thought but the refill was missing. I went to my stock (read mixed bunch ) of odds and ends and found that a Mont Blanc rollerball refill fit it perfectly. It is a great user and that sort of "teal" ink is nice.

Because someone wants to use the refills that MB makes but doesn't want to pay the amount for the 'holder' it is hillarious?

I use MB racing green in my Pelikan because I don't have a MB fountain pen, is that funny too?

K

No. Some of us don't give a damn. We buy things because they work better or please our own sense of taste, not because someone will recognize a brand.

And if you are buying a pen just to pose with, why object when people say that?

Back in college, I heard the same from a friend of mine who wanted to put a Porsche engine into his bug. Dunno if it's true or not - he never did find an engine.

Can be done and has been done numerous times. Usually it's the 914/4 engine with a greater bore, replaced cams, added supercharger, ...

Besides replacing the engine and the suspension, the engine stilts need to be replaced, undercarriage needs to be strengthened, the roll cage is usually installed, sides of the body are stiffened, brakes have to replaced, transmission should be replaced, and then you have one not-quite-conventional bug. Only for car lovers, that thing. It is much cheaper to just start with an early-80s 911.